A LOT BREWING IN ST. CLAIR

Post-pandemic, development hits on all cylinders in small city

For a small city with a population of just 5,900, St. Clair has a big roster of current or just completed economic development projects.

ey include large industrial expansions by the likes of Magna and Cargill, but also smaller projects that will have a big impact.

ey range from Troy-based Hamlin Pubs doing a $1.5 million complete renovation of the former Drifter’s Inn on the Plaza courtyard that overlooks the St. Clair River and is the city’s entertainment and commercial center; the nearly completed construction of the $3.8 million 15,500-square-foot, 370-seat Boardwalk eatre, a professional performance venue on the far southwest end of the Plaza; the purchase by the Dearborn-based LaFontaine Automotive Group of Bill MacDonald Ford last October; the ongoing $426.6 million, 740,000-square-foot expansion of the Magna International Inc. plant in the city’s industrial park; and the ongoing $68 million construction of a ve-story evaporation facility at the Cargill Inc. plant on the river to increase production of the company’s iconic Diamond Crystal kosher salt by 25 percent.

Cargill hopes to nish construction this summer and Magna in the fourth quarter. (See related story, this page.)

John DeAngelis and Jim Tavano, owners of Hamlin Pubs, are targeting the Memorial Day weekend to open their eighth bar and restaurant, and the Boardwalk is planning on beginning rehearsals in May and launching live shows with “Hello, Dolly!” on Aug. 4.

 Post-pandemic, development hits on all cylinders in small city.

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