Lake City

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OGFmapicon.png 41.5622°S, 141.4685°E
Lake City
Sauganash
City
Flag
CountryFlag of the FSA.svg Federal States
 • StateMinnonigan Flag.png Minnonigan
 • CountyLake County
Population
 • Estimate (2023)2,165,773
 • Census (2020)2,143,886


Lake City, officially the City of Lake City, is the most populous city in the state of Minnonigan, with an estimated population of 2,143,886. The city and its corresponding metropolitan area straddles the Stone River along the shores of Lake Sauganash, colloquially known simply as "The Lake".

Lake City is a transportation hub of the southwestern Federal States, at the eastern end of the Ondassagam Waterway system of rivers, lakes, and canals connecting the westernmost two Grand Lakes for large freight vessels. The city is also a major railroad hub connecting railroads heading to the northwest with railroads from the east. By going through Lake City, trains are able to conveniently connect to the Grand Lakes and both coasts without traversing the western mountain range in the northwestern Federal States.

History

Fort Drummond

The first non-Native Archantan settlement in the Lake City area occurred in 1804, when Federal States expeditionary forces identified the mouth of the Stone River as a strategic asset, controlling waterborne transportation between the fertile Stone-Thomas basin that comprises most of central Minnonigan to the shipping corridors of the Grand Lakes and with it an important trade route to the East Coast of the country. Fort Drummond, as the fort was initially named, was located on the low western bluff overseeing the Stone Rapids. A small trading post near the fort prospered for several years, with the assistance of friendly Native Archantan tribes nearby. The most influential of the Native Archantans was Sauganash, an elder of the Winnemac tribe who spoke fluent Ingerish.

In 1817, the Federal States government approved a massive public works plan to build a canal between the Thomas and Canton Rivers that would allow larger lake vessels to sail directly between Lake Amanecer and Lake Sauganash, bypassing Lake Betaouais and the proposed Deodecan canal between Lake Amanecer and Lake Betaouais. To finance construction of the canal, two new communities were platted: Canton, at the western end of the canal itself, and Lake City at the mouth of the Stone River opposite Fort Drummond. This plan to plat out Lake City did not sit well with the Winnemac, who saw the canal project as a harbinger of native relocation. In 1821, at the height of the fervor between the Federal States citizens and the Winnemac – and exacerbated by an extended drought – Fort Drummond mysteriously burnt down to the ground overnight. The settlers assumed it was an attack by the Native Archantans and subsequently raided and sacked native settlements. Sauganash pleaded with the settlers for peace to no avail. The mob continued terrorizing the native population for five days until a unit of the Federal States Army deployed from Wallawaukee arrived to restore the peace. However, by that time, the damage had been done: Sauganash and the Winnemac fled to what is now Nishowigan for safety.

Days later, conclusive evidence was found that determined the Fort Drummond Fire started from a lightning strike, not arson. While the rebuilt fort would be named Fort Sauganash in honor of the Native Archantan guide, an official apology to the Winnemac tribe would not be made until 180 years later at the dedication of the Native Archantan Relocation Memorial in Obigamide Park in 2001.

Ondassagam Waterway and the Railroads

Following several failed starts, the Thomas and Canton Canal opened in August of 1838; Lake City would be incorporated on December 3 of that year. The canal was successful for only ten years when it was made functionally obsolete almost overnight by the opening of the Sauganash and Northern Railroad between Lake City’s West Bank Station and Ondassagam in 1848. While goods would still need to be offloaded from ships, the trip from Lake City to Ondassagam generally took 14 hours by canal but only three hours by train. The railroad was also more reliable, with winter cold freezing the canal and requiring frequent ice breakers to maintain a navigable channel. However, the larger canal network remained an asset for domestic freight travel, with the northern branch of the Ondassagam Waterway allowing waterborne freight to directly pass between Lake Sauganash and the Akogama River by linking the Stone and Gray river basins. (This allowed for agricultural and industrial goods to bypass the City of Wallawaukee entirely, which started the long-standing rivalry between Wallawaukee and Lake City.)

As railroads expanded across the Federal States, Lake City quickly became a focal point in the national railroad network. Trips from Lake City to the northwest up towards Jundah were more efficient, avoiding much of the mountainous terrain in the northwestern Federal States; trips toward the eastern seaboard were able to run fast and smooth along the water-level routes near the Grand Lakes; and the railroads could avoid building expensive major spans over most of the larger rivers in the region by crossing the Stone River in Lake City. This chokepoint at the Stone River was of crucial importance and was the location of intense competition between the various railroads. To minimize congestion, both in terms of river and rail traffic, the State of Minnonigan only permitted a single rail bridge over the Stone River: a massive, eight-track shared bridge above the Stone Rapids. To serve the bridge, the Lake City Union Railroad was formed, owned in equal shares by the various railroads that serve Lake City. The Lake City Union Railroad would also construct the massive Lake City Union Station, as well as the Flagler Yards classification facility on Lake City's South Side.

Three railroads built additional stations and facilities of their own in central Lake City: the Minnonigan Central Railroad (MCRR), which does not utilize the Stone Rapids Bridge and is not part of the Lake City Union; the Sauganash and Northern Railroad (S&N), which focused operations almost exclusively west of the Stone River; and the Lakes, Mennowa, and Northern (LM&N) Railroad, which wanted a less congested passenger operation approach from the northeast to better compete with Minnonigan Central. While intercity rail service to and from Lake City was consolidated by the national passenger railroad at Lake City Union Station in the early 1970s and Minnonigan Central's original Central Station has since been turned into a National Historic Site, the two other surviving stations (LM&N's Great Northern Terminal and MCRR's Suburban Station) both continue to be used for commuter rail operations. S&N previously had a dedicated terminal along Sunset Boulevard at the West Bank, but consolidated operations with LM&N at Great Northern in 1937 to better serve the exposition and downtown Lake City.

Rapid Expansion and Rapid Transit

Lake City's strategic location combined with Minnonigan's open expanses of flat land led to a population boom at the turn of the 20th Century. Land was quickly platted and sold off to developers and homesteaders based on the Minnonigan Land Survey (intentionally skewed to give larger plats of land compared to the mile-grid system used by other West Lakes states), which gives Lake City its strong gridded street system. To aid in developing and selling land, rapid transit was often constructed alongside streets and public utilities. Since many of the transit lines were constructed alongside the neighborhooods they served, to this day most of Lake City's rapid transit operates on elevated structures rather than underground in subways. Four private elevated railroads were organized to serve Lake City in addition to the steam railroads which provided commuter service to and from downtown:

  • Stone River Elevated Railroad Company, 1891
  • East Side Elevated Railroad Company, 1891
  • Southeast Elevated Railway Company, 1894
  • Metropolitan West Bank Elevated Lines, 1894

In 1898, the four elevated railroad companies agreed to construct the Joint Loop in downtown Lake City over Congress and Huntington Streets and over Federal and Carnaby Avenues. The Joint Loop allowed all four railroads to bring trains into downtown to serve shared stations and allowed the companies to turn trains around without requiring large amounts of land for terminals. Following the opening of the Joint Loop, the network of elevated railways became known simply as "The 'J'". In 1936, as the various private elevated lines found themselves in varying degrees of financial instability, the Minnonigan State Legislature created the Lake City Transit Authority to take over all public transit serving Lake County in 1938.

To relieve congestion on the Joint Loop, the LCTA set out to construct new subways through downtown Lake City in the early 1940s. Subway Line #1 opened in 1943, which added a three-track tunnel under the Stone River and a through City Circle to new portals along Johnson Street (what is now the Green Line) and at Mennowa Park (what's now the Orange and Blue Lines). Subway Line #2 opened in 1947, under Waubenon Avenue and Rudolph Street, which allowed what are now the Red and Yellow Lines to get taken off the Joint Loop as well. With no revenue service remaining on the Joint Loop itself, a bitter battle soon began as to whether or not to tear down the Joint Loop through the business district, which was experiencing significant negative development pressures due to suburban sprawl. As a compromise measure, the Joint Loop was repurposed as an elevated trolley terminal loop for the West Side Traction Lines to improve reliability and efficiency of trolley service.

While the subways were ostensibly built to improve rapid transit access to and from downtown Lake City, critics are quick to note that the new subway tunnel under the Stone River resulted in a net loss in track capacity (the tunnel includes only three tracks, whereas previously the Coliseum Bridge had a four-track main over the river and the Traction Bridge also included two heavy rail tracks), and the repurposing of the Joint Loop was more intended to remove trolleys from street level (thus speeding up automobile traffic downtown) rather than an efficiency measure for transit service.

In advance of the Pax Nova Games, in 1997 the LCTA opened a third downtown subway under Market Avenue, which more directly connected Expo Gardens with event spaces in Lake Park and near Shelter Cove. This line became the Purple Line, connecting the northeastern (Taylordale) Orange Line branch with the eastern (Daviston) branch of the Red Line.

A Century of Progess

To celebrate Lake City's first centennial and the city's transformation from a swampy trading post to a transportation hub of the Federal States, the Lake City Chamber of Commerce hosted a world's fair in Exposition Gardens in 1938. The fair, which ran from September 1937 to May of 1938, attracted an estimated four million people to Lake City from around the world. Themed "A Century of Progress", the fair's legacies to Lake City include the international gardens with representative plant species from all eight continents; what is now the Lake City Zoo; the famous Lake City Public Market; and the Sporting Coliseum (now the Lakeside Bank Coliseum), which today hosts the Lake City Minutemen gridiron football team and the Lake City Centurions baseball team.

Tensions in the Tapestry of Neighborhoods

Given Lake City's explosive growth in the early 20th Century and the need for large amounts of unskilled labor, the city was a common destination for new immigrants to the Federal States. While many of these immigrants assimilated into the culture of the Federal States, small pockets of homogenous immigrants emerged as new immigrants sought out neighborhoods with large amounts of other immigrants from their homelands. Neighborhoods such as Little Ispelia prospered in South Point as waves of Ispelian immigrants arrived. However, not all immigrants were welcomed by the community as a whole; neighborhoods such as Little Mecyna, Sloughtown, and Little Commonia quickly became regarded as slums. In the 1950s, as Lake City and Lake County began planning their first superhighways, some of these neighborhoods were explicitly targeted for "urban renewal", with the new superhighways seen as a convenient excuse to disrupt entire neighborhoods and encourage "undesirable" residents to assimilate into other parts of Lake County. While some superhighways were planned to separate wealthier neighborhoods from poorer neighborhoods, some superhighways were placed with nearly surgical precision to disrupt undesireable neighborhoods as much as possible. This movement reached its climax in 1961 with the opening of the East-West Expressway, which nearly singlehandedly wiped Little Commonia off the map. The opening of the Lake Shore Highway triggered a backlash against this kind of "urban renewal", which led to two important moments: the cancelling of the Airport Freeway through Montrose and Superior Square in 1966, and the Minnonigan State Legislature's Transportation Equity Act of 1969, which required all new superhighways in southern Minnonigan to reserve right-of-way for rapid transit to serve local neighborhoods.

Modern Lake City

Today, Lake City remains a crucial transportation hub for the southwestern Federal States. In addition to the modernized Ondassagam Waterway network that still moves millions of tons of bulk freight annually and the numerous freight railroads serving the Port of Lake City, Lake City International Airport is one of the Federal States's busiest airports for both freight and passenger flights. Former industrial areas including the Warehouse District and the Westbridge Yards are finding new life with new residential and commercial development. While the population of Lake City remains relatively flat, the larger metropolitan area continues to grow and expand.

Geography

Lake City lies entirely within Lake County, except a small portion of Lake City International Airport in Rush County. Lake City officially has an area of 546.37 square kilometers, but 158.68 square kilometers are open water portions of Lake Sauganash. Lake City’s population density (non-Lake portions) is 5,529.90 persons per square kilometer, which is somewhat in the middle relative to other major cities in the Federal States.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Lake City has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), with a variety of weather throughout all four seasons. Breezes off the lake help moderate temperatures generally inside the Outer Beltway.

Education

Lake City Public Schools oversees public education throughout Lake City, including elementary schools, high schools, libraries, and community colleges. The University of Minnonigan at Lake City (UMLC) operates just east of downtown, while several private colleges are located throughout the city.

Transportation

Roadways

Street Grid

With a few exceptions, Lake City’s street network follows a strict grid, due to the flatness of Lake County’s topography and the speed in which most of the city was platted to accommodate rapid growth in the late 19th and 20th Centuries. In the interest of speed and consistency, with the exception of downtown all of Lake City’s streets were initially numbered, increasing moving away from Lake Street on the east-west axis and Stone Avenue on the north-south axis. This led to significant confusion throughout the city and by the 1920s was seen as detrimental to growth and commerce. In 1924, based on the recommendations of the Street Simplification Committee, the following changes were made:

  • North-South avenues east of the Stone River would remain numbered, increasing from Stone Avenue east to the state line. This was done to avoid as many impacts on downtown businesses as possible.
  • North of Lake Street on both sides of the Stone River, numbered streets were renamed in alphabetical order. While streets that serve downtown were largely unaffected, streets north of Kane Boulevard can be observed using this scheme (7th Street was renamed Gallatin Street; 8th Street was renamed Hancock Street, etc.). After all letters were exhausted, streets were renamed for other states and large cities in the Federal States. In some far northern parts of the city and in nearby suburbs, numbered east-west streets remain.
  • South of Lake Street and east of the Stone River, the street grid was originally numbered moving north from South Point. This was additionally confusing, since street numbers increased from South 1st Street near the ferry to South 48th Street just south of Lake Street, then reset to 1st Street just north of Lake Street. Instead, South 1st-26th Streets were renamed to lettered avenues, starting with Avenue A and moving up to Avenue Z. North of Avenue Z, the street names from the Bunker Hill and Schatteman Villages subdivisions – which had never been numbered – were extended east. Numbered streets near the port district were given names from sailing (Porthole, Galley, Sail, etc.) and commodities (Iron, Ore, Copper, etc.).
  • West of the Stone River, the numbered north-south avenues were renamed alphabetically, similar to streets east of the Stone River.
  • The “slanted” grid in Lakeview was similarly renamed converting numbered streets to alphabetically-named streets.

Expressways

Originally planned and designed by Lake County, the Lake City Superhighway System is currently operated and maintained by the Minnonigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) as part of the 900-series expressway network. Much of the downtown expressway network predates the Federal States' motorway system and, as such, routings of particular motorways can be slightly circuitous. In an effort to standardize motorway numbering, most belt and auxiliary routes on the FS motorway network are all considered "child" routes of FS-2, starting with FS-902 close to the urban core and decreasing to FS-502 in the far suburbs. Segments shown in italics are tolled.

Motorways of the Lake City area
Number Routing Notes
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State Line Expressway
Prairie Parkway
Stone Basin Expressway
Hutchinson Bridge
West Side Expressway
Dunes Turnpike
Lake Shore Expressway
Connects Lake City with Minneuka, ME; Massodeya City, MC; and Ostally, Deodeca.
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East-West Expressway
Downtown Expressway
Cherry Avenue Expressway
Connects Lake City with Wallawaukee, SN. Currently terminates at the East Bluff Interchange with FS-2 and FS-20 near Expo Gardens.
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Fitzgerald Expressway
Outer Beltway
Northeast Expressway
Exposition Expressway
Hutchinson Bridge
West Side Expressway
Southern Minnonigan Turnpike
Connects Lake City with Stanton, NC and Deodeca.
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South Point Expressway
Flagler Skyway
East-West Expressway
Caldwell Bridge
Lakeview Expressway
Central Minnonigan Expressway
Connects Lake City with Wahanta, CL and Jundah-Stuart, TA.
315MN StateHwy blank.png
Bradford Bypass
Lake Shore Drive
While not officially part of the expressway system, SR 315 is an important expressway-like arterial through the Bradford neighborhood and Caldwell Park, circulating local traffic to and from the bridges over the Stone River.
502Fsa shield blank.png
Patrio Extension
Fort Gadwick Turnpike
Tri-State Beltway
Outermost bypass of Lake City.
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Prairie Parkway
Stone Basin Expressway
An outer eastern bypass of the Lake City metropolitan region, allowing traffic between Miller, IR and FS-91 to better bypass the city and access LCX airport. Most of the route is located in Iroquesia.
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Caldwell Turnpike
Central Minnonigan Turnpike
Veterans Memorial Turnpike
A northern bypass of much of Lake City, crossing the Stone River near Burnham and providing a more direct route to and from LCX airport for Iroquesia FS-20 traffic.
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Western Bypass
Central Minnonigan Turnpike
A western bypass of Lake City, including more direct access to freight areas west of LCX airport.
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Northeast Turnpike Suburban "diagonal" route connecting Lake City's northeastern suburbs to FS-20 via FS-702.
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Cicero Expressway
Outer Beltway
Outer Beltway Extension
A circulator route around Lake City's core, also serving the South Point Ferry and Kimball Harbor.
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Daviston Feeder Short spur route connecting Daviston to the Cicero Interchange (FS-91/902).
990MN Expressway Blank.png
990MN Turnpike Blank.png
Fort Gadwick Turnpike Southwest segment downgraded from expressway standards to a trunk highway following the construction of the Patrio Extension and subsequent re-routing of FS-502. Later extended as a tolled spur to connect with the Southern Minnonigan Turnpike (FS-20) near Farmington.

Expressway Removals

Following the construction of the initial expressway network, there was significant city-wide backlash to expanding the network through the urban core due to the significant disruptive impacts the first few expressways caused, dividing neighborhoods and furthering Lake City's racial and class segregation. The Montrose Creek Expressway, which was intended to better connect the West Bank to Lake City International Airport, was officially cancelled in 1978 following intense opposition in the Village of Montrose and western Lake City (although significant land acquisition had already been executed).

By 1997, one of Lake City's first expressways, the Inner Belt, was due for a total reconstruction north of the East-West Expressway. The expressway, which had divided central Lake City neighborhoods for decades, was instead replaced with a boulevard between the East-West Expressway and the Exposition Freeway. The project was hugely successful and led to the subsequent abandonment of the Green Valley Freeway (which previously fed into the Inner Belt) and the deconversion of Bridge Street through Exposition Park back to a surface-level street.

Public Transportation

Map of the 'J' rapid transit system, West Side Traction Lines, and other light rail lines.
Map of the 'J' rapid transit system, West Side Traction Lines, and other light rail lines.

Public transportation in and around Lake City is operated by the Lake City Transit Authority. Within Lake City, the LCTA operates 6 heavy rail/metro lines, 10 light rail/streetcar lines, several bus rapid transit lines, and dozens of local bus routes. The LCTA also oversees SMARTbus and SMARTrail, which provides local bus service and commuter rail service to suburban parts of the region. (SMARTbus/rail is an acronym for Southern Minnonigan Area Regional Transit.)

Subway

Lake City's metro system includes 6 separate color-coded lines (and one shuttle) and is colloquially referred to as "The 'J'", which previously stood for the "Joint Loop" that served downtown Lake City until much of the Loop itself was removed and/or repurposed for the West Side Traction trolley lines in the 1970s following the completion of the first two subways. Unlike many other metros, outside of downtown The 'J' is primarily elevated, although there are also significant sections underground and at-grade. As part of Lake City's 900-series expressways, some lines also operate in the medians of expressways in Lake and Jasper Counties.

The 'J'
Line Name Service Late-Night Service
LCTA Red Line Lakeshore Line  Rum Junction  South Point   Expo Gardens  South Point 
 Kimball Harbor  South Point 
LCTA Yellow Line Central-Lake Street Line  North Riverside  65th/State Line 
LCTA Green Line East-West Line  Meridian City  Larkwood   Rum Junction  Larkwood 
LCTA Gramercy Shuttle Gramercy Shuttle  Swiftwood  West 52nd  No late-night service
LCTA Blue Line West-Northeast Line  LCX  Winnemac Park 
LCTA Orange Line West-North Line  Dunes Hwy  Burnham Rd  No late-night service
LCTA Purple Line Northeast-Daviston Line  Taylordale  Daviston-Harbor St  No late-night service

Trolleys and Light Rail

Following the construction of the Downtown Subway and the Rudolph-Waubenon Subway, in an effort to decrease street congestion the Joint Loop was reconfigured to serve the West Side Traction Lines, seven interlinked trolley lines serving Lake City's West Side. These lines cross into downtown Lake City via the Traction Bridge and circle the Joint Loop, while two (D-Dodge and W-Western) lines serve West Side neighborhoods without directly connecting to downtown. Additionally, three overnight-exclusive trolley lines serve the West Side when the other Traction Lines are not operating.

In addition to the Traction Lines, the LCTA also oversees three separate light rail lines (the Crosstown Light Rail and the South Point Streetcar), as well as the LCX Monorail.

The Traction Lines and light rail lines are referred to by letter. Traction Lines are shown in dark blue and serve the Joint Loop (except for the D-Dodge and W-Western lines). Owl service overnight trolleys terminate at Traction Bridge and do not circle the Joint Loop.

LCTA Bus Rapid Transit/Light Rail Routes
Letter Route Name North/West Terminus South/East Terminus Hours of Operation Notes
A Addison/Dodge Line Dodge City Transit Center Joint Loop Daily, 0530-2000 Evening service east of Western provided by B trolleys
Overnight service east of Western provided by Y trolleys
B Addison/SMU Line Martinez Rd-SMU SMARTrail Joint Loop Daily, 0530-2330 Overnight service east of Western provided by Y trolleys
Overnight service west of Western provided by X trolleys
C Canton Line Kimball Harbor Red Line Joint Loop All times From 2330-0530, trolleys terminate at Traction Bridge and do not circle the Joint Loop
D Dodge Streetcar Martinez Rd-SMU SMARTrail Dodge City Transit Center Mon-Thu 0600-2359; Fri 0600-Sun 2359
E Crosstown-East Side Light Rail Gallinipper St Green/Orange Line Deerbourne SMARTrail Daily, 0600-0100
F Crosstown-South Side Light Rail Gallinipper St Green/Orange Line 33rd/Lake Yellow Line Daily, 0600-0100
H Howard-Kendall Line LaSalle Fields Joint Loop Daily, 0500-2330 Overnight service to Woodlawn Gardens provided by Z trolleys
L LCX Monorail LCX Terminal Core Centropolis Transit Center All times Fully automated; funded by the Lake City Aviation Authority
M Montrose Line Dodge City Transit Center Joint Loop Daily, 0500-2330 Overnight service to Natoma Park Hospital provided by Z trolleys
Q Old Quarry Line Old Quarry Transit Center Joint Loop Daily, 0530-2330 From 2000-2330, service operates via Thomas Avenue as T trolleys
S South Point Streetcar Avenue G-Docklands Red Line South Point Ferry Mon-Thu 0600-2359; Fri 0600-Sun 2359 Loop; operates late night for events at The Venue at Docklands Casino
T Thomas Avenue Line West Bluff Loop Joint Loop Daily, 0530-2330 Evening service continues to Old Quarry Transit Center as Q trolleys
Overnight service provided by Y trolleys
W Western Avenue Line Highland Fields-Western Ave Green Line Bradford Park Transit Center Daily, 0530-2000 Overnight service provided by X and Y trolleys
X Western Avenue Owl Service Martinez Rd-SMU SMARTrail Bradford Park Transit Center Daily, 2000-0530 Overnight only
Y Northwest Side Owl Service Highland Fields-Western Ave Green Line Traction Bridge Daily, 2330-0530 Overnight only; trolleys terminate at Traction Bridge and do not circle the Joint Loop
Z West Side Owl Service Dodge City Transit Center Traction Bridge Daily, 2330-0530 Overnight only; trolleys terminate at Traction Bridge and do not circle the Joint Loop

Commuter rail

Rail ridership plummeted beginning in the 1940s as Lake County's expressway system opened, making driving to and from Lake City significantly more convenient while also encouraging suburban sprawl in areas not served by commuter rail. As the railroads began abandoning passenger services, in 1968 the Minnonigan State Legislature formed the Southern Minnonigan Commuter Railroad (SMCR), a state-owned commuter railroad to subsidize passenger service hosted by struggling railroads and to purchase lines and rolling stock from failing railroads to maintain passenger rail service in and around Lake City. After years of mismanagement and deferred maintenance, the Minnonigan State Legislature authorized a full takeover of SMCR by the LCTA in 2003. SMCR's services were fully integrated with the LCTA and targeted improvements were made to stabilize the commuter rail service. LCTA would rebrand SMCR as "SMARTrail" (Southern Minnonigan Area Regional Transit).

Currently, the Lake City Transit Authority operates numerous SMARTrail routes throughout southern Minnonigan, southwestern Seneppi, and northwestern Nishowigan in conjunction with several railroads. Lines 1, 2, 3, 3X, and M are operated by the Sauganash and Northern Railroad; lines 4W, 4E, and 4X are operated by the Minnonigan Central Railroad. All other lines are operated directly by the Lake City Transit Authority.

SMARTrail
Line Name Line Number Downtown Terminal Suburban Terminal(s) Hours of Service Notes
South Shore Line 1 West Bank Terminal Ketiguah, MN; Marketville, NI Daily, 0530-0200 Service to Ketiguah limited to peak periods only; off-peak, transfer to/from Marketville Shuttle trains at Rum Junction
Marketville Shuttle M n/a Tucker, MN; Marketville, NI Daily, 0600-0100 Operates shuttle service between Marketville, NI and Tucker, MN. Lake City-bound riders can transfer to South Shore Line SMARTrail trains or LCTA Red Line trains at Rum Junction.
Grand Portage Line 2 West Bank Terminal Queen's Landing, MN; Ondassagam, MN Daily, 0430-0200 Half-hour headways between Portage Park and Lake City.
Thomas River Line 3 West Bank Terminal Des Prairies, MN Daily, 0500-0200 All peak-period trains run express between Oakhurst and Westbridge Yards; for local service, use Route 22 Line trains.
Route 22 Line 3X West Bank Terminal St. Lucy, MN Peak periods only Local service from St. Lucy to West Bank Terminal via Oakhurst.
Saint Lucy Line 4W Suburban Station Wilson Bridge, MN Daily, 0430-0200 All trains run express between Centropolis and North Riverside.
Green Valley Line 4E Suburban Station Green Valley, MN Daily, 0500-0200 Peak period trains run express between Centropolis and North Riverside.
Smithsburg Express 4X Suburban Station Smithsburg, SN Peak periods only All trains run express between Laurents and Centropolis, then make all stops to Suburban Station.
Murphysburg Line 5 Lake City Union Station Corsten Highway, MN Weekdays, 0500-2000 Evening and weekend service provided by SMARTbus+ express service via the Green Valley Busway.
Northeastern Line 6 Lake City Union Station Smithsburg, SN; Vandalia, SN Daily, 0430-0200
Winnemac Park Line 7 Lake City Union Station TBD, SN Daily, 0500-0200
East Side Line 8 Lake City Union Station TBD, SN Daily, 0500-0200
North Shore Line 9 Lake City Union Station Miller, SN Daily, 0500-0200

Interactive Map

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Airports

Lake City International Airport

Lake City International Airport (WAAT: LCX, ANACA: BALC) is the primary airport of Lake City in the state of Minnonigan. Known locally simply as LCX, Lake City International Airport is a major international hub for the southwestern Federal States. With seven runways and nearly 200 designated gates, Lake City is one of the highest-capacity airports in the world.

History

Lake City International Airport was first planned in 1952 to relieve overcrowding at the older, smaller Gunnison Airport on Lake City's northeast side. With little room to expand and growing noise concerns from affluent neighborhoods near Independence Park, the city chose to construct a new airport on the far western edge of the city rather than invest in further upgrades to Gunnison. The airport opened in 1963 with only what's now Terminal 3 and Runway 6L/24R completed.

The airport grew rapidly as Federal Airlines and Southern Airlines both made LCX a major hub in their networks: what is now Terminal 1 opened in 1964 (and would be largely demolished and rebuilt in 1992); additional concourses opened along with a parallel runway and cargo facilities in 1977. Runway 18/36 (now 18L/36R) opened in 1982, with Concourses P, Q, and R opening shortly thereafter as Federal Airlines' new Terminal 5 hub. In 1988, crosswind runway 13/31 opened after local concerns about noise in Meridian City and the Lakeview neighborhood of Lake City.

In 1993, the Lake City Aviation Authority announced the planned closure of Gunnison International Airport by the year 2000. In preparation for Gunnison’s closing, a massive Terminal Core expansion project was planned as well as a new Runway 18R/36L. This new runway expansion was easily the most challenging LCX expansion to date, requiring extensive condemnation proceedings for over 30% of Meridian City, most of which was residential. A modernized Terminal 1 -- which required the destruction of most of Terminal 2 -- opened as scheduled in 1995; however, due to legal challenges, Runway 18R/36L would not open until 2008. With the success of SkyRide Airlines at Gunnison Airport while the 18R/36L legal challenges were playing out, the LCAA reversed itself and voted to keep Gunnison Airport open.

In 2014, the terminal core was extensively remodeled and restructured. As part of the restructuring, a “global terminal” concept was unveiled for Terminal 3. A new Concourse H was constructed in a "satellite" style with 38 gates, with all international arrivals using these gates regardless of airlines (except for Federal Airlines and Southern Airlines, which continued to use their hub terminals). Passengers are then able to clear Customs without leaving the secured area, allowing for faster, easier connections to domestic flights. The 2014 restructuring also added gates in each terminal that can accommodate dual-jetway operations for the world’s largest jets.

An 15-gate expansion to the International Concourse in a new Concourse K satellite was completed in 2015, with long-term plans to add an additional 11 gates if needed.

Vision 2020

In 2004, the state government of Minnonigan and the Lake City Aviation Authority announced the LCX Vision 2020 plan, an ambitious plan to detangle LCX's runways to greatly increase airfield capacity. Previously, LCX could use no more than four runways simultaneously, only under certain wind conditions, and with Runways 06R/24L and 13/31 below capacity to avoid potential conflicts. During some weather events, LCX could only operate safely on two runways. The Vision 2020 plan dramatically improves operations during inclement weather by adding three runways parallel to the 06/24 pair, allowing seven active runways during favorable conditions and no less than four runways even during inclement weather. Vision 2020 also included a western passenger terminal connected to the Terminal Core via an underground Airside Transit System (ATS) to allow travelers from southwestern Minnonigan to park, ticket, check bags, and clear security without needing to enter the Terminal Core through the congested Balmoral corridor. The western terminal also opened up new areas of Jasper County to commercial development.

Runways
Runway operations at LCX.
LCX utilizes five primary flight operation schemes based on winds and weather conditions. East VFR and West VFR both utilize all seven runways; IFR operations during bad weather still allow the use of up to four runways simultaneously. LCX also participates in a nighttime noise abatement program, where all incoming aircraft between 11:00pm and 6:00am utilize Runway 36R (to force approaches over Lake Sauganash) with Runway 5L/23R utilized for takeoffs depending on wind direction.

LCX has seven runways, which makes the airport one of the largest in the world. The seven runways are situated such that all seven can be used concurrently during good weather, with up to five runways available concurrently during inclement weather. Five runways are oriented parallel to each other on an ENE/WSW axis, with two crosswind north-south runways available for takeoffs and landings over Lake Sauganash. Recent improvements to the airfield have included several strategic runway shortenings to reduce conflicts and improve safety and efficiency.

Generally air traffic operates on "West Flow" (65%) or "East Flow" (35%) based on prevailing wind patterns. Both patterns allow for unrestricted takeoff operations on the 4000-meter Runway 18L/36R, with special accommodations available for 4250-meter wide-body operations on 18R/36L if needed.

LCX Runways
Name Length (m) Length (ft) West VFR West IFR East VFR East IFR Notes
5L 3,500 12,000 closed closed Landings Landings During West Flow VFR operations, Runway 23R can be used for either takeoffs or landings, as needed based on demand.
23R Variable Arrivals closed closed
5C 2,290 7,500 closed closed Arrivals closed Recently truncated to avoid potential conflicts with 18L/36R.
23C Departures Departures closed closed
5R 2,290 7,500 closed closed Departures Departures Recently truncated to avoid potential conflicts with 18L/36R.
23L Arrivals Arrivals closed closed
6L 3,500 11,500 closed closed Departures Departures
24R Arrivals Arrivals closed closed
6R 3,000 9,900 closed closed Departures closed
23L Arrivals closed closed closed
18L 4,000 13,500 Departures Departures closed closed Longest runway in regular service. Runway 36R used for overnight arrivals.
36R closed closed Departures Departures
18R 3,250 10,500 Departures closed closed closed Runway 18R begins at Taxiway H2. See below for 18X/36X, special extended operations.
36L closed closed Arrivals Arrivals
18X 4,250 13,950 by pilot request only Runway 18X/36X is the callsign for the extended Runway 18R/36L, which is available in all patterns for extra-large and/or wide-body jets that cannot be otherwise accommodated by Runway 18L/36R. Used sparingly as operations require closing Runways 5L/23R and 5C/23C.
36X by pilot request only
Terminals

Currently LCX consists of four airside terminals (Terminals 1, 3, 4, and 5) with a Landside Terminal outside security. The Landside Terminal is open to the public and includes shopping, a food court, the LCTA Blue Line station, and The Wilberding at LCX hotel. There are long-term plans to add additional gates in the new International Concourse K, and to construct three new concourses in a future Terminal 6.

With the opening of Runways 05L/23R and 05R/23L, the West Terminal was opened in the northwest corner of the airport. The West Terminal hosts no gates, but does provide landside amenities (parking, ticketing, baggage check, security, etc.) for travelers. Once clearing security, passengers can take the Airside Transit System (ATS) underground tramway to the Terminal Core. The West Terminal is also served by the LCX Monorail outside of security. The West Terminal allows travelers from areas south and west of Lake City to drive directly to the airport and avoiding highway congestion in the Balmoral area of Montrose.

LCX Terminals
Terminal Concourse Gates (total) Airlines Destinations Notes
1 A A2-A32 (16)
Southern.png
International:
Bako-Huz, FlagKofuku.jpg Kofuku
Ynn, Suya Ahn
Fiskerlandstaed, Template:Fiskland
Sainðaul, Warohan, (Izaland)
No odd-numbered gates. Primarily used for shorter routes with smaller aircraft.
B B1-B9 (8)
C C1-C35 (31) Gates C2 and C32 are equipped with dual jetways. Gate C20 is a remote stand for oversized aircraft. All Southern Airlines international arrivals utilize Concourse C.
D D1-D3 (3)
3 E E1-E3 (3) All other domestic airlines including:
PenqAir
Warwick, PQ
Burton, PA
F F1-F12 (12)
G G1-G8 (8) Gates G1 and G8 are equipped for dual-jetway operations.
H H1-H38 (38) All other international airlines including:
Duncanheim Royal Airlines
FreedemiAir
Izaland Airlines
Uletha Eastern Airways
Kattenden, Duncanheim
Quentinsburgh, Freedemia
Khaiwoon City, Khaiwoon
Bako-Huz, Kofuku
Sainðaul, Warohan, (Izaland)
Gates H1, H21, and H22 are equipped with dual jetways.
K K1-K22 (15)
4 L L1-L12 (12) TBD
M M1-M15 (15) Gate M1 is equipped with dual jetways.
5 N N1-N13 (13)
Fedair logo.png
Domestic:
Jundah-Stuart, TA, FSA
Morsboro, NA, FSA
Stanton, NC, FSA
International:
Malojdeh, Neo Delta
P P1-P21 (17) Gate P5 is equipped with dual jetways.
Destinations

LCX is conveniently located in the southwestern Federal States and serves as a major international hub for the West Lakes region. A sample of distances from LCX to other major international airports:

  • Domestic
  • Jundah-Stuart International (JSI): 1,100 km
  • Huntington International (CDI): 1,457 km
  • Stanton International (STI): 1,547 km
  • Benjamin K. Hedstrom International (Warwick, BKH): 1,578 km
  • Arecales International (ARC): 6,833 km
  • International
  • Bako-Huz International (BAK): 5,190 km
  • Xiongjing International: 7,123 km
  • Khaiwoon International (KHA): 8,541 km
  • Frank Trostel International (Safrisco, SAF): 8,543 km
  • Gobras Worldport (GWP): 8,924 km
  • Internationaler Großflughafen Freistat (STC): 9,928 km
  • Sean Bond International (Quentinsburgh, SBD): 10,197 km
  • Iola International Skyport (IOL): 12,615 km
  • Unity International (St. Richardus, UIA): 13,081 km
  • Tarott-Kemburg International (TKX): 14,553 km
  • Winburgh Sandell International (WIN): 15,342 km
Ground Transportation

The LCX Terminal Core is located immediately southwest of the West Side Interchange, where the Outer Beltway (FS-24/89) interchanges with the Southern Minnonigan Expressway (FS-20/24), the latter of which heads directly into central Lake City. The Airport Freeway (SR 900) connects the Outer Beltway with the Terminal Core; the freeway also serves the hotel and entertainment district of Balmoral in Montrose. Short-term parking is available in Parking Deck A and surface lots B and C in the Terminal Core; the LCX Monorail links the Terminal Core to long-term parking lots D and F and Parking Deck E as well as Economy Lot G outside the Consolidated Rental Car Facility northeast of the airport on Balmoral Avenue. To improve passenger flow to and from the southwest, the West Terminal was opened in November 2018 with direct connections to the Minnonigan Turnpike System.

Lake City Transit Authority and SMARTbus transit buses do not serve the Terminal Core directly; however, they do serve the LCX Monorail Long-Term Parking station for passenger connections. Intercity buses and hotel shuttles use the Intercity Bus Transfer Facility in the Consolidated Rental Car Facility (which is also on the LCX Monorail). The LCTA Blue Line terminates in the Landside Terminal under Parking Deck A, providing direct access to all terminals. The LCX Monorail also connects to LCTA Orange Line, LCTA Pink Line, LCTA Silver Line, and SMARTrail (2) trains at Dodge Transfer. A branch of the LakeLynx high speed rail network opened in 2021, offering direct connections to the West Terminal.

Gunnison Airport

Gunnison International Airport (WAAT: LKX, ANACA: BALK) is the secondary airport of Lake City. Lake City’s primary airport before the opening of Lake City International Airport in 1963, Gunnison’s small square geographic footprint earned the airport’s nickname as “the world’s busiest square mile”, even though the airport has since been expanded to take up a larger footprint.

History

In the early 20th Century, the land the airport sits on was owned and farmed by Herbert Gunnison, an eccentric farmer. Gunnison owned one of the first aircraft in the southwestern Federal States and built a grassy area on his property for takeoffs and landings. In 1922, Gunnison opened his field to other leisure aviators, selling fuel and leasing hangar space. (As a veteran of the F.S. Armed Forces, Gunnison refused to accept payment from military aircraft or postal aircraft.)

Gunnison died unexpectedly in the spring of 1924. His family, with no interest in farming or maintaining an airport, donated the land to Lake County contingent on the family receiving 10% of fuel profits in perpetuity. The county accepted but was not financially able to finance upgrades to the field. An agreement was reached: on July 1, 1924, Lake County would take ownership of the land; the following day, the County – as landowners – immediately sought annexation to Lake City, who would then levy sales taxes on airfield transactions to finance improvements. The first paved runway (4/22) opened in 1927 along with a small terminal building on the east side of the airport near the Lake City and Northeastern Railroad.

The airport grew quickly, with the construction of crosswind Runway 14/32 (now Taxiway N) in 1933 and a larger passenger terminal further north on 42nd Terrace. In 1940, a second northeast-southwest runway opened, adding significant capacity to the airport. To accommodate the new generation of jet aircraft, Runway 5/23 (now 5C/23C) was lengthened in 1947, with 14L/32R following suit in 1949. A new, modernized terminal was constructed on the west side of the airport with convenient access to 35th Avenue. In the southern portion of the airport, hangars and industrial uses are common, with direct freight rail access. Gunnison Airport briefly hosted the Paxton Aeronautics assembly plant before Paxton sold their aircraft division to MacDougal Graham in 1972.

Gunnison Airport was briefly the busiest airport in the Federal States in the 1950s, earning Gunnison the nickname of “the world’s busiest square mile”. However, larger, louder aircraft combined with the airport’s small, constrained footprint led to growing concerns about noise and pollution in Lake City, especially in affluent areas such as the Independence Park neighborhood under the approach to Runway 5.

In 1952, the Lake City Aviation Authority unanimously approved a plan to build a new, larger airport on the western edge of Lake City to relieve Gunnison. Gunnison would continue to operate, but commercial aviation dramatically decreased following LCX’s opening in 1963. By 1982, commercial flights diminished to only 12 scheduled flights per day; half of the passenger terminal was closed entirely. Gunnison Airport was entering “death spiral” mode, where the LCAA deferred terminal and apron maintenance due to low usage, which led to more commercial operations moving over to LCX.

In 1993, the Lake City Aviation Authority announced the planned closure of Gunnison Airport by the year 2000, contingent on construction of a new terminal at LCX and a new runway to increase capacity. While the new terminal opened up as scheduled in 1996, legal battles from residents and businesses dragged out over land acquisition for the new runway. Per the LCAA agreement, Gunnison could not close until the new runway at LCX opened, leaving the airport in an uncertain limbo. The Gunnison family – by this point extremely wealthy and still collecting a 10% profit on aviation fuel at the airport – sued the LCAA for a proposed illegal taking by planning to shutter the airport.

While these two legal cases were making their way through the courts, a small domestic airline began operations at Gunnison Airport. SkyRide Airlines opened with a discount model, using all-coach seating and focusing operations on smaller secondary airports (like Gunnison), which were cheaper to operate out of than primary airports (like LCX). In doing so, SkyRide could offer dramatically lower passenger fares. The business model was a huge success, with SkyRide quickly expanding operations at Gunnison.

Meanwhile, the abandoned smaller hangar spaces throughout the airfield provided private pilots and charter flights ample space to base their aircraft rather than using the large, expensive hangars at LCX. By 2006 – while land acquisition for LCX’s new runway was still ongoing – the LCAA reversed itself, not only cancelling the closing of Gunnison but also funding an airport modernization plan. The modernization called for a massive landside expansion, pushing the airport’s western boundary as far west as the Outer Beltway to relocate landside terminal activities west of 35th, allowing for more of the airport to be used for gates and post-security amenities. As part of the overall modernization, Runways 14L/32R and 14R/32L were decommissioned, with a new 11/29 pair constructed with expanded land east of 42nd Terrace, allowing for larger jets to use the airport. Crosswind Runway 5R/23L was also extended over 35th Avenue, and a short new runway was also constructed to allow light aircraft to more easily take off and land without interfering with commercial traffic.

Operations

Gunnison International Airport consists of a Main Terminal just west of 35th Avenue, which houses most landside operations of the airport. There are three satellite Concourses A, B, and C -- A and B exclusively used by SkyRide Airlines -- connected to the Main Terminal via pedestrian bridges over 35th Avenue and connected to each other via the Gunnison Food Court. Immediately south of the Main Terminal is International Concourse D, shared by all airlines.

Gunnison Airport Passenger Facilities
Concourse Gates (total) Airlines Destinations Notes
A A1a-A28 (30) SkyRide.png Domestic
B B30-B33 (4) SkyRide.png Domestic
C C40-C52 (12) All other airlines Domestic
D D60-D69 (10) All airlines International All international arrivals use Concourse D.
Ground Transportation

Gunnison Airport is located immediately northeast of the interchange of the Northeast Expressway (FS-20) and the Outer Beltway (FS-20/902). Access to the Main Terminal is provided directly from the Outer Beltway. A short-term parking deck is attached to the Main Terminal building. Additional outdoor parking lots are located along North Street, south of the airport. Lake City Transit Authority and SMARTbus transit buses share a transit center on the lower level of the main parking garage. The LCTA Green Line serves the Main Terminal; shuttle buses serving parking lots and rental car facilities also serve the East Gunnison SMARTrail station on the Northeastern (6) Line.

Culture

Exposition Park

The Lake City Park District Horticultural Center in eastern Exposition Gardens, looking south towards downtown Lake City

Exposition Gardens is the largest park in Lake City. Dating back to 1891, the park was the site of the 1938 Global Exposition. Today, Exposition Gardens is home to the Lake City Zoo, the Lake City Public Market, the Randall Stephens Convention Center, and four of Lake City’s seven professional sports teams.

History

1891-1934: Central Park

As Lake City rapidly expanded at the end of the 19th Century, city leaders noticed a significant lack of open spaces in the city. In 1888, the city council passed the Citywide Health and Wellness Initiative, which among other improvements called for the creation of five major parks to be scattered throughout Lake City: West Park, near Metamora; Lake Park, to be constructed on reclaimed land near downtown; South Park (since renamed Obigamide Park), on the Lake County government reservation; East Park (renamed Independence Park in honor of the Federal States centennial), at 21st Terrace and Minnonigan Street; and Central Park, spanning from Federal Avenue to Trinity Avenue and from 9th (now Ivesdale) Street to the Lake City Union Railroad at 16th (now Quincy) Street. Each of these parks would have its own commission to oversee planning, construction, and operation of each park using revenues generated from new taxing districts created specifically for each park.

Heavily inspired by Memorial Park in Stanton, Central Park was intended to be a mix of carefully designed natural areas including a large lake, manicured gardens, and fields and play spaces for more active recreational uses. The Central Park Commission selected prominent landscape architect Horace Altgeld to design the park. However, Altgeld’s death in 1890 led to a far more basic design being used for the park’s 1891 opening, although the Zoological Gardens opened as planned. While plans for a more refined park were desired, a major stock market collapse in 1902 and subsequent economic downturn forced Lake City to consolidate the five park commissions into one Park District to oversee all parks in Lake City. Following the economic recession, in an effort to maintain and stimulate economic development downtown, the Park District chose to focus on creating Lake Park using landfill from the Port of Lake City dredging operation in Little Lake Sauganash rather than upgrading Central Park.

As Lake City continued to grow, business groups started taking more seriously the idea that Lake City should host an international exposition, both for matters of civic pride and to generate new revenues. In 1934, Lake City officially announced that it would host the 1938 International Exposition in conjunction with the city’s centennial. The exposition would be hosted in the mostly-clean-slate Central Park. Construction on the exposition grounds began in 1935.

1934-1938: International Exposition

The 1938 International Exposition was known as the Century of Progress Exposition, celebrating Lake City’s centennial, with a particular focus on the transportation technological innovations that made a Lake City an important hub in the Federal States. The exposition opened in September 1937 and ran through May of 1938.

The exposition itself was focused on a new east-west promenade constructed along LaSalle Street, which was then renamed Exposition Boulevard. Exposition Boulevard was extended east to the Trenchent Transfer train station, where many fair-goers arrived for the exposition. This area became known as “The Concourse” and was a popular neighborhood in its own right. (Most of The Concourse and Exposition Boulevard was demolished in 1959 to make room for the Exposition Expressway, now FS-24.) The Lake City Union Railroad also constructed a massive new terminal on the fairgrounds, which were expanded to accommodate the station. The exposition’s administrative offices were located in the floors above the headhouse. Today, the Exposition Transportation Building is one of three remaining structures from the fair, although it sits abandoned and deteriorating.

Along Exposition Boulevard in Central Park – subsequently renamed Exposition Gardens – were various pavilions showcasing international advancements in electricity, communication, agriculture, industry, the arts, and more. At the center was the Four Corners Fountain, a pond in the shape of a six-pointed star with 18 individual fountains representing key milestones, events, or organizations in Lake City’s history. At the center of the fountain is the Four Corners Monument, an iconic Art Deco metallic structure of a globe. Eight small gardens surround the fountain, each with ornamental flowers from a different continent. Also surrounding the main fountain are eight small square fountains, each representing one of the eight continents. Representatives from each continent were invited to stock their pond with local aquatic life that visitors would be able to interact with. The ponds are heated to protect the aquatic life from freezing during the cold Minnonigan winters. To this day the ponds remain a modern visitor attraction.

While the exposition was focused on technological innovation, the fair also became a major culinary destination. In advance of the exposition, the Lake City Public Market opened in 1936 as a central hub for wholesale meat, vegetables, fruits, baked goods, and more for the expected influx of restaurants and visitors. The Public Market thrived and continues to operate today.

Across LeBeque Avenue from the Public Market is the Global Village, four covered open-air pavilions overlooking large gardens and a second fountain where international restauranteurs could serve foods during the fair. Unique to the Exposition were dedicated gardens for growing small crops from their native lands, which also allowed for guided tours and demonstrations of farming techniques. While these gardens were intended to become a permanent feature, most of the foreign plants did not survive the cold winter and there were additional concerns about invasive species, so the gardens became community gardens for local residents.

An estimated 3 million visitors attended the exposition and, while most arrived by train, the exposition showcased the potential for commercial aviation within the Federal States, and was seen as a major catalyst for expanding and improving Gunnison International Airport.

1939-1969: Decline

While some of the structures used in the exposition were designed for long-term use, most of the buildings constructed were intended to be temporary and moreover did not anticipate occupancy during the colder winter months. By 1942, only three buildings constructed for the exposition remained in Expo Gardens: the Exposition Transportation Building, which already had been abandoned; the grand Crystal Gardens building, which was repurposed into the Lake City Park District’s primary greenhouse; and the Grand Coliseum, which continued to host events, most frequently Centurion baseball games and Minutemen gridiron football games. The southern portion of Expo Gardens fell into decline, with the Park District eventually replacing the southwest fields with a massive surface parking lot for the Coliseum. In 1959, the Exposition Expressway was constructed, replacing Exposition Boulevard east of 7th Terrace; Bridge Street was also removed and replaced with the Northwest Expressway connecting the Stone Rapids Bridge to the Exposition Expressway, further isolating the Exposition Transportation Building from the rest of the park. While the 1964 construction of the Hutchinson Toll Bridge mostly spared Expo Gardens itself by tunneling underneath the park and the Four Corners Fountain, the new interchanges required to link with the Cherry Avenue Expressway and the Northwest/Exposition Expressway was extremely disruptive and contributed to the decline of the neighborhood as a whole.

1970-1992: Randall Stephens Convention Center

In an effort to stimulate the neighborhood and to fight ongoing business relocations to the suburbs, in 1970 the City Council created the Lake City Exposition Authority, a new agency funded by hotel and restaurant taxes in Lake City that would be responsible for creating a convention center in Expo Gardens. In 1974, two new buildings opened: the Exposition Gardens Convention Center at the southeast corner of Natoma Street and Federal Avenue, and the Expo Gardens Arena at Kendall Street and Federal Avenue. The Convention Center opened with 11,225 square meters of available exhibit space; the Arena became the home of the Lake City Rivermen hockey team and the Lake City Lancers basketball team beginning with the 1975 season.

The Convention Center was quickly successful and profitable, leading to significant expansions in 1988, 1994, 1998, and 2015. The 1988 expansion, which added the massive Building 2, also included renaming the facility as the Randall Stephens Convention Center after the long-serving Mayor of Lake City who oversaw the creation of the exposition authority. The 2015 expansion also included the purchase, renovation, and reopening of the historic Hotel Evans as The Wilberding - Hotel Evans, a four-star hotel with additional conference and event space.

1992-2001: Pax Nova Games

Following the awarding of the 2000 Pax Nova Games to Lake City, the city committed to an extensive cleanup and modernization of Exposition Gardens, which would host many of the events, including opening and closing ceremonies at the Lakeside Bank Coliseum. Preparations for the Pax Nova Games included replacing the Expo Gardens Arena with the new Axcess Arena in the same location, as well as an expansion of the Randall Stephens Convention Center to handle larger crowds and indoor sporting events for the games.

Future Plans

While plans for the Exposition Transportation Building remain fluid, the building has been designated as a Lake City Historic Landmark. The 2018 expressway removal initiative included removing the Northwest Expressway entirely and replacing it with a modern Bridge Street boulevard to better link the Exposition Transportation Building back to the rest of Expo Gardens.

Park Features

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Exposition Gardens is generally bounded by the Lake City Union Railroad tracks to the north; Federal Avenue to the west; Ivesdale Street to the south; and Trinity Avenue, North Street, and Carnaby Avenue to the east. The Lake City Zoo is located in the northwestern corner of Exposition Gardens, with the Randall Stephens Convention Center stretching across the middle of the park and the professional sporting facilities in the southern half of the park. The abandoned Exposition Transportation Building is located in the northeast corner of the park. Lake County General Hospital is located just east of Exposition Gardens.

Lake City Public Market
Interior of the Lake City Public Market

The Lake City Public Market is located at 1301 N. LeBeque Avenue, just north of Building 2 of the Randall Stephens Convention Center. The building was constructed in 1936, conveniently located near the Exposition Transportation Building and intended as a wholesale food hub for exhibitors at the 1938 International Exposition and for other local restaurants. However, the Public Market has always been open to the general public as well. The Public Market remains a major tourist attraction in Lake City, notable for its wide variety of local food vendors: while some chain restaurants in Lake City still use the Public Market for supplies, chain vendors are prohibited from making sales at the Public Market.

Global Village Gardens

Originally constructed to showcase farming techniques and native plants from all eight countries as part of the 1938 International Exposition, the Global Village Gardens remain as an important community garden for Lake City's North Side residents. The Global Village Gardens includes a large fountain and four pavilions, which are available to rent for events.

Exposition Transportation Building
The Exposition Transportation Building as seen in 2018

The Exposition Transportation Building, built in 1936 by the Lake City Union Railroad, was the primary entrance and exit point to the 1938 International Exposition for hundreds of thousands of attendees. Designed in an Art Deco style, the building also housed the administrative offices for the exposition in its 19-story clock tower. Following the exhibition, the station was intended to relieve congestion at Lake City Union Station in downtown Lake City; however, the Exposition Transportation Building was never used for this purpose as intercity passenger rail service in the Federal States plateaued in the early 1940s and dramatically decreased in the 1950s as expressways and motorways proliferated throughout the nation. Prospects for the building were significantly hampered by the construction of the Northwest Expressway in 1959, dividing the building from the rest of Exposition Gardens; however, following the removal of the Northwest Expressway in 2018, there is ongoing interest in renovating and reopening the building, albeit likely in a non-transportation-related function.

Lakeside Bank Coliseum
The Lakeside Bank Coliseum during a Lake City Centurions baseball game in 2006

The Lakeside Bank Coliseum opened in 1937 as a primary event space for the 1938 International Exposition. The Coliseum hosted two major Archantan sports throughout the exposition: baseball and Archantan (gridiron) football. The Lake City Blue Stockings relocated to the Coliseum for their 1937-1938 season; the team changed its name to the Lake City Centurions in honor of the "Century of Progress" theme. The Minnonigan Minutemen football team also plays in the Coliseum. Due to the field's size to accommodate both baseball and gridiron football games, the Coliseum is known as a very pitcher-friendly baseball stadium due to the large amount of foul territory. The Coliseum hosted opening and closing ceremonies for the 2000 Pax Nova Games and has been modernized several times, most recently adding additional skyboxes in 2014. The Coliseum officially seats 47,000 for baseball (although many upper deck sections are closed off for most games) and 62,000 for gridiron football games, as additional temporary seating sections are routinely constructed for gridiron and exhibition soccer matches. Lakeside Bank, headquartered in downtown Lake City, purchased naming rights to the Coliseum in 2007 and renewed the naming rights contract for another ten years in 2017.

Axcess Arena

The Axcess Arena opened in 1999 in advance of the Pax Nova Games, replacing the Expo Gardens Arena, which replaced the exhibition's Stock Pavilion in 1967. Axcess Arena is the home of the Lake City Lancers basketball team and the Lake City Rivermen hockey team. The state-of-the-art arena seats up to 16,000 fans for hockey and over 18,000 fans for basketball, concerts, and other events. While the Axcess Arena contains no exhibit space, the building is connected to the Randall Stephens Convention Center and is often used for events hosted there.

Exposition Park Fieldhouse and Natatorium

As part of Lake City's failed bid for the 1916 Continental Games, two structures were built: the Central Park Fieldhouse and the Central Park Natatorium. While the original bid ultimately failed, the fieldhouse and natatorium (later renamed to "Exposition Park Fieldhouse/Natatorium" when the park itself changed names) remained and were a critical part of Lake City's 2000 bid for the Pax Nova Games. The two main gymnasiums of the fieldhouse were connected to the Randall Stephens Convention Center with the construction of Building 3 in 1994 and can be combined with other conference spaces as needed.

Exposition Park Conservatory
The Exposition Park Conservatory, looking southeast from the Waterson Avenue underpass at Kendall Street

One of the three remaining structures from the 1938 International Exposition, the Exposition Park Conservatory sits at 1055 N. Waterson Avenue in Exposition Gardens. Built and opened as the Crystal Gardens Ballroom, the impressive copper and glass Beaux Arts building was markedly different than the rest of the primarily Art Deco exhibition buildings. The building was used as an event space for foreign dignitaries during the exposition and showed off the latest technological advances in air conditioning. Following the close of the exposition, the Lake City Park District took ownership of the Crystal Gardens and created the Exposition Park Conservatory, the Park District's primary greenhouse. While the Conservatory is officially free and open to the public, donations are strongly recommended and the building itself is often rented out for weddings and other private events.

Lake City Zoo

The Lake City Zoological Gardens is the largest zoo in Minnonigan and dates back to 1894. A wide variety of animals from around the world are represented at the zoo, and the zoo is one of the largest free zoos in the Federal States. The zoo has been incrementally removing older zoo buildings and replacing them with more natural habitat spaces. The grounds of the zoo originally included areas east of Bridge Street, which were never developed; this area was physically divided from the rest of the zoo after construction of the Northwest Expressway in 1959. As part of the 2018 expressway removal initiative, the old Zoo Gardens Drive bridge over the Northwest Expressway was removed and replaced with an at-grade intersection with the reconstructed Bridge Street. The Lake City Zoo, in coordination with the Lake City Park District, converted the abandoned zoo land east of Bridge Street into the Apiary Creek Meadow, a restored prairie and wetland formed by daylighting the previously-buried Apiary Creek and replanting native grasses and plants. The meadow also includes a Wilderness Education Center, which was opened in coordination with Lake City Public Schools to teach students about native geography and wildlife prior to human development in Minnonigan.

Randall Stephens Convention Center

Randall Stephens Convention Center, Building 2
Exhibition Spaces
Building Space Approx. ft² Approx. m²
Building 1 Hall 110 69,400 6,450
Building 1 Hall 120 4,000 375
Building 1 Hall 130* 14,500 1,350
Building 1 Hall 131* 4,600 425
Building 1 Hall 132* 4,600 425
Building 1 Hall 133* 4,600 425
Building 1 Hall 134* 4,600 425
Building 1 Hall 135* 4,600 425
Building 1 Hall 136* 4,600 425
Building 1 Hall 137* 5,400 500
Building 1 Hall 139 47,500 4,400
Building 2 Hall 240* 107,000 9,950
Building 2 Hall 241* 63,500 5,900
Building 2 Hall 249 170,500 15,850
Building 2 Hall 250* 21,200 2,000
Building 2 Hall 251* 178,000 16,500
Building 2 Hall 252* 120,000 11,100
Building 2 Hall 259 319,200 29,600
Building 2 Hall 260* 4,500 420
Building 2 Hall 261* 4,500 420
Building 2 Hall 262* 4,500 420
Building 2 Hall 263* 5,200 480
Building 2 Hall 269 18,700 1,740
Building 3 Hall 370* 78,100 7,250
Building 3 Hall 371* 63,100 5,800
Exposition Park Fieldhouse^ Gym 2/Hall 372^ 16,000 1,500
Exposition Park Fieldhouse^ Gym 1/Hall 373^ 16,000 1,500
Building 3 Hall 379 173,200 16,050
Building 3 Hall 380 53,500 5,000
Lakeside Center Hall 490* 141,000 13,000
Lakeside Center Hall 491* 14,000 1,300
Lakeside Center Hall 492* 41,400 3,850
Lakeside Center Hall 499 191,400 18,150
Lakeside Center Lakeside Ballroom 155,300 14,400
Hotel Evans Hall 500* 58,500 5,450
Hotel Evans Hall 501* 7,200 675
Hotel Evans Hall 502* 3,500 325
Hotel Evans Hall 503* 7,200 675
Hotel Evans Hall 504* 3,500 325
Hotel Evans Hall 505* 7,200 675
Hotel Evans Hall 506* 3,500 325
Hotel Evans Hall 507* 7,200 675
Hotel Evans Hall 509 106,125 9,875
Halls shown with an asterisk can be combined into Halls shown in italics.
^ - Gymnasiums in the Exposition Park Fieldhouse cannot be used individually.
† - Includes additional space from removing the hallway between individual halls.

The Randall Stephens Convention Center straddles Exposition Boulevard and surrounds the Four Corners Fountain in the middle of Exposition Gardens. The convention center is one of the largest convention spaces in the Federal States, with over 120,000 square meters of event space available. The convention center routinely hosts large exhibitions including the annual Lake City Auto Show, itself an ongoing extension of the Transportation Showcase of the 1938 International Exposition. The center is named after Randall Stephens, long-serving Mayor of Lake City who served when the Expo Gardens Convention Center opened in 1974.

Lake City Exposition Authority

As Lake City faced significant population and business losses in the 1960s as many residents moved out to the suburbs, the Lake City Mayor Randall Stephens and the City Council of Lake City debated ways to reinvigorate declining areas of the city. Among the strategies employed was lobbying the state government to create the Lake City Exposition Authority, a new government agency ostensibly tasked with attracting new business expositions to Lake City, but also directly concerned with competing against the Village of Montrose’s Balmoral Parkway corridor of hotels near Lake City International Airport. The Exposition Authority is funded by a 0.5% tax on all sales from restaurants within Lake City and a 1% tax on hotel rooms “in Lake County within two miles of any commercial airport”, which was written to include the Balmoral Parkway corridor. While the revenues from the hotel tax far outweighed revenues generated from the Lake City restaurant tax, the City Council successfully argued that, since the restaurant tax covers a larger geographic area, a majority of the Exposition Authority’s board should be controlled by the City of Lake City.

Construction on the Expo Gardens Convention Center (now Building 1) and the Expo Gardens Arena began in 1972, with both buildings opening on October 15, 1974. An addition to the convention center opened in 1980, bringing the total available exposition space to nearly 27,000 square meters. In 1985, the Exposition Authority received approval to complete the massive Building 2, which required Lake City to vacate LeBeque Avenue south of Natoma Street. Building 2 opened in 1988, more than doubling the exhibition space in the convention center, which was renamed to the Randall Stephens Convention Center.

Building 3, which opened in 1994, added an additional 21,000 square meters of convention space, and also included the first segments of the SkyWalk. Building 4, officially the Lakeside Center, opened in 1999 with an additional 32,500 square meters of convention space and Parking Deck C. As a concession to win zoning board approval and to help ease neighborhood concerns about increased traffic, the SkyWalk was directly connected to the LCTA Expo Gardens ‘J’ Station. In 2015, the Exposition Authority purchased the Hotel Evans and opened the Hotel Evans Conference Center (Building 5) in the former hotel parking lot.

Coordinated with the 2018 expressway removal initiative, the Exposition Authority constructed the massive Parking Deck B, with direct access to and from westbound FS-24. The project also enlarged the underground Building 2 truck loading/parking areas. Concurrently the Exposition Authority built Parking Deck D, which includes park-and-ride facilities for the LCTA. As part of the initiative’s overall goal to reduce auto dependency in Lake City, these improvements were funded by a new 2% tax on rental car facilities serving the two airports.

Event Spaces

The Randall Stephens Convention Center features 36 individual exhibition halls, many of which can be combined to form larger event spaces as needed. Event spaces, referred to as Halls, are labeled with a three-digit number: the first digit is the number of the building; the second digit is the number of the larger event space; and the third digit is the individual space. Halls that end with "9" indicate a combined space (e.g., Hall 139 is the combined Halls 130-137). Individual room sizes range from 325 square meters to 29,600 square meters. The various parts of the convention center are all connected by the Expo Gardens SkyWalk, a climate-controlled network of elevated walkways that connect parking decks, LCTA 'J' stations, the Lake City Public Market, the Axcess Arena, and more to the four primary buildings of the convention center. This allows for a wide variety of event space and possible room layouts, a key part of the convention center's overall success.

Transportation

The Expo Gardens SkyWalk directly connects the Randall Stephens Convention Center to several LCTA 'J' rapid transit stations. To the west, the SkyWalk directly connects the Lakeside Center to the Expo Gardens station, which serves LCTA Yellow Line and LCTA Green Line trains; the LCTA Green Line directly serves Gunnison International Airport. To the east, the SkyWalk directly connects The Wilberding - Hotel Evans to the Trinity/Exposition station, which serves LCTA Brown Line and LCTA Purple Line trains. LCTA Orange Line trains -- which connect to the LCX Monorail at Dodge -- are also available at the Trinity/Exposition station. The Randall Stephens Convention Center is located over the Exhibition Expressway (FS-24) tunnel through Exposition Gardens. Three major parking decks (Deck B, Deck C, and Deck D) are connected to the SkyWalk, with a capacity of tens of thousands of cars. Decks C and D are also used for events at Axcess Arena and for Minnonigan Minutemen football games at the Lakeside Bank Coliseum. With the exception of Kendall Street, most streets within Exposition Gardens south of Natoma Street are generally closed to automobile traffic at all times.

Lodging

In 2015, the Lake City Exposition Authority purchased the Hotel Evans, a historic hotel located immediately adjacent to Exposition Gardens. The Hotel Evans dates back to 1937, when it opened to serve visitors to the 1938 International Exposition. The hotel closed for nine months and reopened as The Wilberding - Hotel Evans, a four-star hotel connected to the Randall Stephens Convention Center via the SkyWalk. The Hotel Evans renovation also included construction of the Hotel Evans Conference Center (Building 5) in the former surface parking lot of the hotel. The hotel offers 802 guest rooms including 22 suites, as well as a full business center, spa, and three restaurants.

Several smaller boutique hotels are located in the North Union Entertainment District, just west of Axcess Arena. Numerous additional hotels are located in downtown Lake City, a short 10-15 minute 'J' ride away from the convention center.

One Central National Historic Site

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Central Station and neighboring businesses on Minnonigan Street at the turn of the 20th Century, looking north along Central Avenue from under the Traction Bridge. The adjoining businesses would be razed in 1957 to make room for the Downtown Expressway, with the tower subsequently demolished in 1967.

The One Central National Historic Site is located in downtown Lake City. The site is centered around the former Central Station of the Minnonigan Central Railroad, which served long distance travelers to and from Lake City from 1890 until its full closure in 1982. The site includes 128 acres (0.52 square kilometers) that help demonstrate the station's overall demise, including the new Suburban Station commuter rail terminal; the Northwest Gateway interchange; Central Station and its trainshed; the Caldwell Terminal building, which now serves as the site's museum and visitor's center; and approximately four blocks of the blighted One Central neighborhood, named for the address of Central Station. The site was selected as a Federal States National Historic Site in 2021.

History

Central Station
Glass canopies on Central Station's platforms, seen here with a SMARTrail chartered tour train in 1979.
A rare color photo of the Central Station waiting room.
Interior of the private Caldwell Terminal, restored and modernized in 1996.
The Suburban Station, seen here in 2015, opened in 1949 and was remodeled in 1981.

The Minnonigan Central Railroad began operating in 1871 using a primary corridor along rather than across the Stone River, connecting Lake City with Gleason, Seneppi and later northward to Andreapolis, Alormen. The MCRR quickly established itself as one of the busiest railroads in the central Federal States, linking freight and agriculture from the heartland of the FSA to ocean ports in Andreapolis and lake ports in Lake City. As part of the railroad's construction of the Port of Minnonigan, MCRR also constructed a depot for passenger operations. The original Central Depot, a smaller wood-frame building with four stub tracks, stood in the same location as Central Station at the intersection of Minnonigan Street and Central Avenue in downtown Lake City from its construction in 1871 until the depot burnt down in 1887.

While a temporary wooden depot building was quickly rebuilt to continue serving travelers, the growth in interstate transportation prompted Minnonigan Central to invest in a larger, more monumental station to serve the increasing passenger loads. Central Station, with 12 tracks and a landmark station building and tower to house the railroad's offices, opened to great fanfare in 1890. The station's train shed was noteworthy for using both a larger hangar-style arched roof near the base of the platforms, with glass canopies radiating out to allow steam locomotives (which would reverse direction at the Wallawaukee Street wye and back into the station with the assistance of a flagger) to vent directly into the air, increasing passenger comfort.

Unique to Central Station was a second, dedicated station building with a dedicated track. This private terminal was named the Caldwell Terminal, used exclusively for dignitaries and private charters. The Caldwell Terminal largely survived in tact to current day and now houses the museum and visitor's center of the state historic site.

The station remained one of Lake City's busiest terminals throughout the first half of the 20th Century, with many long-distance travelers first experiencing Lake City by walking through the glass-covered platforms and through the ornate station buildings. Central Station was a primary arrival point for tens of thousands of travelers visiting Lake City for the 1937-38 Century of Progress Exposition, and also served as a busy commuter terminal for suburbanites traveling to downtown Lake City daily for work. In 1938, Central Station also became directly integrated with the Lake City Transit Authority's 'J' metro network, with a direct connection to the new Fermont/Stone subway station from Platform D.

By the 1940s, passenger volumes at Central Station increased to the point where another expansion was considered necessary; however, with the station mostly landlocked to the west and east, an expansion of Central Station itself was not possible. As a result, the Minnonigan Central instead chose to vacate some of the declining areas of the Port of Minnonigan and constructed a new six-track basic station three blocks south of Central Station at the northwest corner of Van Ness Street and Central Avenue. This station, which was subsequently named the Suburban Station, would only be used for commuter trains, with long-distance trains remaining at Central Station. The Suburban Station, like Central Station, was also directly integrated with the LCTA via a connection to the Traction Bridge station on what is now the LCTA Pink Line.

Downtown Expressway

While the rising trend of auto ownership in the Federal States was an existential threat to long-distance and commuter passenger rail service throughout the 20th Century, Central Station was uniquely affected due to its geography. Stone Avenue was always a busy route in and out of downtown Lake City from the northwest, but the opening of the Stone River Subway in 1938 and the subsequent repurposing of the Coliseum Bridge Elevated to car traffic lanes made Stone Avenue a heavily-congested principal arterial for downtown. The opening of the double-deck Cherry Street Expressway in 1953 dumped more auto traffic onto Stone Avenue right in the heart of the One Central neighborhood, raising street traffic volumes to what was considered unacceptable levels of congestion. To ease these congestion concerns, Lake City embarked on a massive scale urban clearance program to make room for additional expressways directly into the heart of the city. The Downtown Expressway's opening in 1957 did not require any alterations to Central Station itself, but to avoid the station and minimize the footprint of the urban expressway, the design necessitated a continuation of the double-deck design from the Cherry Street Expressway further north. Additionally, six full city blocks -- directly outside and adjacent to Central Station -- needed to be razed to construct the new Northwest Gateway interchange. The massive public works project placed Central Station (and, to a lesser extent, Suburban Station) on something of an island, totally separated from downtown.

Similarly, the hulking structures of the Downtown Expressway and the Central Avenue Elevated left the One Central neighborhood in something of an undesirable blighted "no man's land", despite being only a short distance away from both downtown and the Exposition Gardens. The neighborhood declined rapidly in the 1960s and continues to be marked by abandoned factories and vacant housing lots.

While the original design of the Downtown Expressway spared Central Station during construction, continued vibration through the years from heavy traffic on the viaduct impacted the structural stability of the grand office tower of the building. By 1967, the tower was declared structurally unsound and in need of repairs. Rather than repair the building, the Minnonigan Central chose to vacate the office spaces in favor of an annex building in the Port of Minnonigan and demolished the tower shortly thereafter. By 1975, Central Station's passenger train volumes plummeted to a mere six trains a day, far under capacity for the massive terminal. As part of the creation of the national passenger rail network, all intercity passenger operations in Lake City were consolidated at Lake City Union Station, allowing for the full abandonment of Central Station.

Gentrification and Preservation

The demise of the Central Station tower kickstarted a local historic preservation movement in Lake City. Even though the One Central neighborhood and Central Station were considered blighted by city planning officials, the remaining residents continued to build a small but tight-knit community around St. Anthony's Church at Hancock Street and Maple Avenue. The surviving housing stock remaining in One Central represents some of Lake City's earliest trademark single-family bungalows and courtyard apartment buildings, prime examples of working-class housing stock in the early 20th Century. Additionally, the creation of Usher Park at the intersection of Stone and Central Avenues prompted some modest reinvestment activities in the southern portion of the neighborhood.

In 1985, the owners of the Minnonigan Minutemen gridiron team announced plans to leave the Exposition Gardens (now Lakeside Bank) Coliseum and construct a new, modern stadium at Central Station. While most Lake City residents were generally supportive of the idea, significant debates broke out when the ownership group announced their intention to work with the City of Lake City to use eminent domain powers to purchase the entire One Central neighborhood, which was to be razed for parking for the stadium. When the proposal narrowly passed the City Council, preservationists and local residents appealed to the Governor of Minnonigan to intervene. While the governor could not arbitrarily stop Lake City from following through with their eminent domain plans for the parking lots, the state government instead created the One Central State Historic Site to preserve the neighborhood and Central Station.

On March 4, 1986, the One Central State Historic Site was officially created, with the stated intent to "preserve, inform, and educate the public as to the unfortunate disinvestment patterns in Minnonigan and throughout the Lakes Region as a result of motorways, suburbanization, and urban renewal". While existing residents and commercial owners in One Central are restricted as to improvements to their properties, approved renovations and updates are considered preservation activities and thus receive tax advantages.

Since Central Station fell into disuse and disrepair, much of the old train shed area has reverted to a more natural state. The site now serves as a unique urban refuge for migratory songbirds, many of which nest on the station's grounds.

Site Plan

The One Central State Historic Site encompasses 128 acres (0.52 square kilometers) immediately northwest of downtown Lake City. Within the park's boundaries include the following features:

  • Central Station, a historic passenger rail terminal;
  • Suburban Station, an active commuter rail terminal;
  • the Northwest Gateway, a major interchange and complex interchange serving vehicular traffic heading into and out of downtown Lake City;
  • the Caldwell Terminal, which was previously a private passenger rail terminal that is now used as the park's museum and visitor center; and
  • the One Central Neighborhood, approximately four blocks of preserved blighted residential and commercial development representing Lake City's urban renewal historic period.
Transportation

The One Central State Historic Site is easily accessed by all modes of transportation, situated between two of the primary highway bridges spanning the Stone River and bifurcated by the Downtown Expressway (FS-91). The site is also served by four LCTA 'J' stations:

  • Coliseum Bridge (Hancock/Central, LCTA Yellow and Green Lines)
  • Fermont/Stone (Stone River Subway, LCTA Red and Blue Lines)
  • Minnonigan St (Minnonigan/Waubenon, LCTA Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue Lines)
  • Traction Bridge (Congress/Waubenon, LCTA Pink Line)

SMARTrail 4 trains also terminate at Suburban Station, which includes the Suburban Station Transit Center for LCTA buses. The ArchanTrails intercity bus depot, itself a redevelopment project in the neighborhood, is also located in the center of the site.

Sports

2000 Pax Nova Games

Official logo of the 2000 Pax Nova Games hosted in Lake City.

Lake City was chosen as the summer host of the 2000 Pax Nova Games. As part of the unique timing of the new millennium, the Lake City bid had events technically starting in the prior year: opening ceremonies began on Friday, 31 December 1999 and incorporated the New Year's countdown into the event. The games ran for 17 days, with closing ceremonies held on Sunday, 16 January 2000.

Unlike many other bids for the Pax Nova Games, rather than concentrating events in one particular area or district, the bid took advantage of Lake City's unique tapestry of neighborhoods, allowing events to occur and be hosted throughout the entire city. This more immersive experience allowed visitors to Lake City to fully appreciate everything the city has to offer while also leveraging the city's extensive existing transit and sport network. Additionally, Lake Sauganash itself took a starring role, offering a variety of event venues in numerous lakefront locations, providing beautiful backdrops for many high-profile events.

Events were generally clustered in four primary "hubs" around Lake City:

  • Exposition Gardens, which hosted Lake City's global exposition of 1938, would serve as the primary hub of the Pax Nova Games. Opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the final matches for the football and rugby events, were hosted in the historic Lakeside Bank Coliseum, with the adjacent Axcess Arena hosting championships in basketball and handball, while the sprawling nearby Randall Stephens Convention Center were used for several indoor events including gymnastics, judo, indoor volleyball, and more. The historic Exposition Park Natatorium, which also dates back to the 1938 exposition, hosted synchronized swimming activities.
  • Lake Park, often called Lake City's "front lawn" due to its location next to downtown Lake City along the shores of Lake Sauganash, was a major secondary hub for the games. While major events such as archery, tennis, beach volleyball, and rowing were held in the park, as well as preliminary football matches in the new 9th Avenue Stadium built for the events, most of Lake Park would take a more communal environment, with amateur football, softball, baseball, and other teams welcome to use the park's sprawling fields for pick-up games and other impromptu competitions.
  • Bronzewick Harbor was a third center of events for the Pax Nova Games. The largest purpose-built area of Lake City's bid, Bronzewick Harbor and the attached Millennium Piers are situated on former industrial land at the base of the Caldwell Bridge just across the Stone River from downtown Lake City. The Bronzewick Harbor area includes a new complex of three stadiums: a traditional track-and-field stadium; a velodrome, which includes a BMX circuit in the infield of the cycling track; and a hybrid football/concert stadium that features a full football pitch as well as a stage for non-sporting events that has a dramatic backdrop of the Caldwell Bridge and the Lake City skyline. (Following the close of the games, the Lake City Oarsmen rugby team moved in to make the stadium their home pitch.) Bronzewick Harbor also includes the new Caldwell Park Natatorium, which hosted competitive aquatic events and serves as the Park District of Lake City's new marquee water park following the close of the games. The "crown jewel" of Bronzewick Harbor, however, is the new Millennium Piers entertainment district, with shops, restaurants, bars, and attractions. The Millennium Piers complex also includes what was at one time one of the largest video screens in the world, cantilevered over a former industrial ship slip that allows for viewing parties at the new beach constructed for the events. Millennium Piers was also host to the media center for the games, providing ample studio space for networks around the globe with beautiful backdrops of the Lake City skyline and the Caldwell Bridge. (The media center is now the Minnonigan Institute of Broadcast Arts.)
  • The final major hub of the Lake City bid was located at Obigamide Park on the city's South Side. This hub, which includes the nearby Lake County Fairgrounds and Lake City Downs, was home to the equestrian events as well as some purpose-built facilities, including a kayak slalom course, shooting ranges, cross-country running facilities, and four fields for one of the demonstration games of the bid, 40cm softball. (The game is played similar to traditional baseball or softball, except with a larger 40cm-circumference ball that allows players to play without gloves and slower, high-arc pitches that provides for more recreational, more competitive gameplay.)

While additional venues and events were hosted throughout the Lake City region, all events would be linked to at least one of the four hubs by a new network of limited-stop buses, which also included hub-to-hub express services as well as direct service to both of Lake City's commercial airports. As a legacy of the games, the transit hubs would go on to form the basis of a new bus rapid transit system throughout Lake City. Additionally, many sites are located near the city's extensive 'J' network of metro trains.

Sporting Venues
Sport Discipline Venue name Capacity Public transport accessibility Notes Subsequent use
Aquatics Diving Caldwell Park Natatorium  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2005   2006   2007 
Extant
Swimming
Water Polo
Synchronized swimming Exposition Park Natatorium Trains:
 LCTA Purple Line  (Jarvis St-Coliseum)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2009 
Extant
Archery Lake Park Cricket Pitch Event buses:  2005   2006   2007  Temporary facility
Athletics Track and Field Bridgeview Events Center  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2005   2006   2007 
Extant
Marathon Institute of Art and Architecture (start/finish line)  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2006 
42.2km loop route on city streets from City Promenade at the Institute of Art and Architecture.
Badminton Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Basketball Preliminaries Palmer Place Forum 8,500 Trains:  LCTA Green Line  (25th Av)
Event buses:  2003 
Extant
West Park Fieldhouse 3,000 Trolleys:  H Line Trolley  (Howard/Niagara),
 W Line Trolley  (Western/Howard),
Event buses:  2001 
Extant
ULC-Frakes Fieldhouse 6,500 Trains:
 LCTA Orange Line  (Metamora)
 SMARTrail 1 
(Metamora)
Event buses:  2001 
Extant
Preliminaries/Finals Axcess Arena 11,750 Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line 
(Expo Gardens),
 E/F Light Rail  (Expo Gardens)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Boxing City College Fieldhouse Trolleys:
 W Line Trolley  (Western/Adamson)
Event buses:  2001 
Extant
Canoeing/Kayak Sprint City Harbor  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2002   2004   2005   2006   2007 
Temporary stands erected at Institute Field for spectators
Slalom Obigamide Floodway Event buses:  2003   2004   2006  Temporary course removed after events
Cycling BMX Caldwell Park Velodrome  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2005   2006   2007 
Extant
Track cycling
Mountain biking Wilson Dunes State Park/Anderson Creek Prairie Preserve Trains:
 SMARTrail 1 
Anderson Beach
Extant; 14.0 km circuit. Portions were paved to become part of the Lakefront Bikeway. Grandstands located at Anderson Beach SMARTrail park-and-ride lot and along Campground Road.
Road cycling City streets
Equestrian Dressage Lake County Fairgrounds - Grand Exhibition Hall Event buses:  2004  Extant
Eventing Lake City Downs Trains:  LCTA Purple Line  (shuttle buses from Taylordale} Extant
Jumping
Fencing Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Field Hockey Independence Park Trains:
 LCTA Green Line  (25th Av)
Event buses:  2003 
Extant
Football/Soccer Preliminaries BriteSpot Stadium  Water Taxi 
Trolleys:
 C Line Trolley 
 W Line Trolley 
(Bradford Park Transit Center)
Event buses:  2001   2005 
Extant (baseball stadium)
Bridgeview Events Center  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2005   2006   2007 
Extant
9th Avenue Stadium  Water Taxi 
Trains:
 LCTA Purple Line 
(9th Av)
Event buses:  2004   2006 
Extant
MWireless Stadium Trains:
 LCTA Blue Line 
 E/F Light Rail 
(12th/Exposition),
 SMARTrail 5 
 SMARTrail 6 
Trenchent Transfer
Event buses:  2003 
Extant (Lake City Blue Stars)
Final Lakeside Bank Coliseum Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line 
 LCTA Orange Line 
Coliseum Bridge
 LCTA Purple Line 
Jarvis St-Coliseum
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Also location of opening and closing ceremonies Extant
Gymnastics Artistic Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Rhythmic
Trampoline
Handball Preliminaries The Venue at Docklands Paradise Trains:
 LCTA Red Line 
(Avenue G-Docklands)
Event buses:  2003   2004 
Extant
Finals Axcess Arena 11,750 Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line 
(Expo Gardens),
 E/F Light Rail  (Expo Gardens)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Judo Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Modern pentathlon Fencing Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Freestyle swimming Caldwell Park Natatorium  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2005   2006   2007 
Extant
Show jumping Lake City Downs Trains:  LCTA Purple Line  (shuttle buses from Taylordale} Extant
Pistol shooting Obigamide Park Trains:
 LCTA Red Line 
 LCTA Purple Line 
(Obigamide Park)
Event buses:  2003   2004 
Temporary facilities
Cross-country
Rugby Preliminaries Daviston Sports Complex  Water Taxi 
Trains:
 LCTA Purple Line 
(44th Terr)
Extant
Finals Lakeside Bank Coliseum Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line 
 LCTA Orange Line 
Coliseum Bridge
 LCTA Purple Line 
Jarvis St-Coliseum
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Also location of opening and closing ceremonies Extant
Rowing City Harbor  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2002   2004   2005   2006   2007 
Temporary stands erected at Institute Field for spectators
Sailing Shelter Cove Marina  Water Taxi 
Trains:
 LCTA Red Line 
25th/South Point Rd
Event buses:  2003   2006 
Extant
Shooting Obigamide Park Trains:
 LCTA Red Line 
 LCTA Purple Line 
(Obigamide Park)
Event buses:  2003   2004 
Temporary facilities
Skateboarding (demonstration sport) Underbridge Skate Center (Millennium Piers)  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2005   2006   2007 
Extant. Converted to public skate park following games.
Softball (demonstration sport) Obigamide Park Sportsplex Trains:
 LCTA Red Line 
(29th Av)
Event buses:  2003 
Lake City's variation of softball uses a 40cm (16-inch) circumference ball. Ball softens as play goes on, which allows players to play without gloves. Extant
Table Tennis Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Tennis Preliminaries Lake City Racquet Club Event buses:  2005   2006   2007  Extant
Final Temporary stadium for finals constructed in ice skating rink east of Racquet Club
Triathlon Swimming Little Ispelia Beach City buses Open water; start at southeast corner of beach and swim to north end of Shelter Cove Beach (1.5 km)
Cycling Randall Stephens Convention Center (end) Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
40km route to Randall Stephens Convention Center
Running Lake City Union Station (end) Trains:
 LCTA Blue Line 
 LCTA Green Line 
 LCTA Orange Line 
 LCTA Purple Line 
(Market/Adamson),
 SMARTrail 5 
 SMARTrail 6 
 SMARTrail 7 
 SMARTrail 8 
 SMARTrail 9 
(Lake City Union Station)
Trolleys:
 Loop Trolleys 
(Adamson-Union Station),
Event buses:  2002 
10km route to Lake City Union Station
Volleyball Beach Lake Park Beach  Water Taxi 
Event buses:  2002   2004   2006 
Extant; finals in temporary stadium in sports fields across Beach Bay Drive
Indoor Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Weightlifting Randall Stephens Convention Center Trains:
 LCTA Yellow Line  (Expo Gardens),
 LCTA Purple Line  (Stephens Conv Ctr),
 E/F Light Rail  (Stephens Conv Ctr)
Event buses:  2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2007   2008   2009 
Extant
Wrestling Freestyle Obigamide Park High School Trains:
 LCTA Red Line  (29th Av)
Event buses:  2003 
Extant
Greco-Roman
Support Venues
Amenity Type Location Public transport accessibility Notes Subsequent use
Southwestern University Dormitories International Village None No public access Extant; university housing
Gunnison International Airport Transport LCTA trains Secondary airport Extant
Lake City International Airport Transport LCTA trains, SMARTrail trains (via LCX Monorail), direct bus (via LCX Monorail) Primary airport. Direct bus terminal for events located at Consolidated Rental Car Facility. Extant
Bradford Cove Transit Center Transport LCTA trains, direct bus, water taxi (2 block walk) Extant. Southern terminal of post-games Western Avenue BRT.
Millennium Piers Transit Center Transport Direct bus, water taxi Extant
Expo Gardens Transit Center Transport Direct bus, LCTA trains (2 block walk) Adjacent to Axcess Arena and Lakeside Bank Coliseum. Walking distance to Randall Stephens Convention Center. Extant
East Bridge Transit Center Transport Direct bus Direct access to Caldwell Bridge. Serves western Lake Park. Extant
Lake Park Transit Center Transport Direct bus Serves central Lake Park Extant
9th Avenue Transit Center Transport LCTA trains, direct bus, water taxi (2 block walk) Serves eastern Lake Park Extant
South Point Ferry Terminal Transport LCTA trains, direct bus, water taxi, South Point Streetcar Extant
Lake City Union Station Transport LCTA trains, SMARTrail trains, direct bus All intercity trains serving Lake City use Lake City Union Station. Also serves as terminus for triathlon. Great Hall also used for entertainment purposes during games. Extant
Suburban Station Transport SMARTrail trains, water taxi (2 block walk) Serves northern suburbs of Lake City. Also main transfer for non-event LCTA buses. Extant
Great Northern Terminal Transport SMARTrail trains Serves northwestern, western, and southwestern suburbs of Lake City. SMARTrail 1 trains are only public transit access to Anderson Beach for mountain biking event. Extant
Administration Building Operations None No public access. Offices for Pancontinental Games organizers. Extant. Repurposed to house the headquarters of the Park District of Lake City.
Media Center Operations Direct bus, water taxi Houses 36 studios and 9 satellite dish uplinks for global media coverage of the events. Studios overlook the Millennium Piers plaza and the Lake City skyline. Extant. Repurposed to house the Minnonigan Institute of Broadcast Arts, a branch of the University of Minnonigan at Lake City.
Millennium Piers Entertainment Direct bus, water taxi Entertainment hub for the games. Repurposed portion of the West Port of Minnonigan. Includes outdoor stage venue, Ferris Wheel, carousel, two beaches, and jumbo video screen cantilevered over former slip for viewing parties. Extant
Kriz Field Entertainment Direct bus, water taxi Lake Park live music/events viewing venue Extant
Wilberding Pavilion Entertainment LCTA trains, direct bus City Circle live music/events viewing venue Extant
The Docklands Hospitality LCTA trains, direct bus, water taxi, South Point Streetcar Hotel district. Includes three hotels and a casino. South Point Streetcar constructed as a tourist shuttle for the games. Extant
Rudolph Street Corridor Hospitality LCTA trains, direct bus Historic hotel district in downtown Lake City. (buildings currently unmapped) Extant
Balmoral Parkway Corridor Hospitality LCTA trains Suburban higher-end hotel district. (most buildings currently unmapped) Extant
Gramercy Parkway Corridor Hospitality LCTA trains Suburban budget hotel district Extant
Obigamide Park Hospital Medical Services LCTA trains, direct bus East side medical hub Extant
Natoma Park Hospital Medical Services LCTA trains West side medical hub Extant
Map

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Professional Sports

Lake City Rivermen hockey team logo

Currently, Lake City hosts several professional sports teams.

Sport Team Name League Venue
Baseball Lake City Centurions Lakeside Bank Coliseum
Baseball Lake City Navigators BriteSpot Stadium
Football (gridiron) Minnonigan Minutemen Archantan Gridiron League Lakeside Bank Coliseum
Basketball Lake City Lancers Axcess Arena
Hockey Lake City Rivermen Southwestern Hockey League Axcess Arena
Soccer Lake City Blue Stars MWireless Stadium
Rugby Lake City Oarsmen Bridgeview Events Center
Marathon

The annual Lake City Marathon is one of the FSA's premier running events and attracts runners from across the world. The 26.2-mile course begins and ends in Lake Park in downtown Lake City and passes through numerous neighborhoods throughout the city. Due to the plethora of parks located along the race route, the course is often nicknamed the "Emerald Necklace". The parks themselves become common congregation spaces for spectators, creating a communal, party-like atmosphere throughout the course. The course is highly regarded by international runners, who praise the course's flat profile that's conducive to setting personal records and the exciting race design that concludes with a sprint through the heart of downtown Lake City. Local residents, however, have more mixed opinions of the annual race due to the large amount of street closures required, including one of the major bridges across the Stone River.

Landmark mile km Notes
Planetarium Drive 0.0 0.0 Start of course in central Lake Park.
Obigamide Park Fieldhouse 5.33 8.58 Historic fieldhouse with space for spectators.
Baseline Park 7.37 11.86
Grand Exhibition Hall 8.10 13.03 Historic building in the Lake County Fairgrounds.
Cicero Park 9.00 14.48
East Side Congregational Church 9.87 16.00 Historic church overlooking Great Junction Park.
Long Park 10.80 17.37
Museum of Science and Technology 11.75 18.91 Landmark museum in Independence Park.
Victory Pillar 12.07 19.42 Centennial monument to the fallen of the revolutionary war of the Federal States, located in Independence Circle.
Wright Park Commercial District 13.11 21.10 Half-way point.
Stephens Park 14.30 23.01
Marquette Park 15.86 25.53
Lake City Public Market 16.58 26.68 Historic public market built to supply restaurants for the 1938 Exposition.
Century Fountain 16.85 27.12 Large star-shaped fountain constructed for the 1938 Exposition. Currently the centerpiece of the Randall Stephens Convention Center campus.
Lakeside Bank Coliseum 17.25 27.76 Landmark stadium, current home of the Minnonigan Minutemen gridiron team and the Lake City Centurions baseball team.
Old Sauganash High School 19.21 30.91 Oldest public school in Lake City.
Summerbrook Veterans Hospital 20.19 32.49 Course runs through the driveway of the historic Old Main Building. Part of the Fort Sauganash National Historic Site.
Minnonigan Central Station 23.12 37.20 Historic decaying train station in downtown Lake City. Part of the One Central National Historic Site.
City Hall 23.94 38.67 Hub of Lake City's municipal campus in City Circle.
Lake City Union Station 24.60 39.59 Colossal historic train station that serves as the southwestern hub of the Fedstar national passenger rail network as well as five SMARTrail commuter rail lines.
Federal Plaza 25.22 40.59 Modern plaza that's home of Lake City's primary federal buildings. Serves as the "last mile" landmark for runners.
Institute of Art and Architecture 25.50 41.04 Historic art museum in Lake Park, guarded by two bronze lion statues.
Memorial Fountain 26.22 42.20 Monumental fountain in the center of Lake Park that marks the conclusion of the race course.

Recreational Sports

Golf

Golf is a commonly-played sport in Lake City, with several courses scattered throughout the city and the suburbs. The "crown jewel" of Lake City's golf facilities is the Lakeside Dunes Country Club, a members-only country club just southeast of downtown. In addition to tennis courts, a pool, and on-site dining and reception facilities, Lakeside Dunes also includes two professional par-72 18-hole golf courses. The South Course hosts one of the FSA's more prestigious annual golf tournaments, the Lakeside Dunes Invitational.

Lakeside Dunes Course Guide
Course Hole Par Yardage from Tees Notes
Gold Blue White Red
North Course 1 4 --- 270 258 220
2 4 --- 240 229 203
3 3 --- 177 170 163 Considered the North Course's most iconic hole, along the lakefront, directly aligned with the harbor lighthouse.
4 5 --- 596 572 508
5 4 --- 331 308 261
6 4 --- 340 320 262
7 4 --- 366 345 290
8 3 --- 234 214 194
9 5 --- 645 603 528
10 4 --- 343 316 247
11 5 --- 655 634 565
12 4 --- 285 262 233
13 5 --- 692 652 546 Longest hole at Lakeside Dunes.
14 4 --- 379 354 287
15 3 --- 261 234 207
16 4 --- 393 357 320
17 4 --- 431 407 327
18 3 --- 192 180 153
Out 36 --- 3,199 3,019 2,629
In 36 --- 3,631 3,396 2,885
All 72 --- 6,830 6,415 5,514
South Course 1 4 277 263 250 186
2 4 359 339 320 264
3 5 614 595 573 528
4 3 299 263 252 238
5 5 568 556 545 406
6 4 363 347 332 253
7 4 471 447 423 326
8 3 272 251 231 185
9 4 521 490 462 380
10 5 653 602 567 518
11 4 400 378 360 284
12 3 169 155 140 118 Shortest hole at Lakeside Dunes.
13 4 501 469 448 362 Grandstand located near tee boxes for tournament viewing. Gold tees used for "longest drive" competitions.
14 4 361 340 315 252
15 4 359 335 316 263
16 5 594 571 550 404 Considered the South Course's most iconic hole, including an island green in line with the Grand Clubhouse. Grandstand provided for tournament events. Hole #1 for overtime matches.
17 3 190 172 161 149 Grandstand located near the green for tournament viewing. Hole #2 for overtime matches.
18 4 290 276 258 229 Temporary grandstands erected on North Course Hole #1 during tournaments. Hole #3 for overtime matches.
Out 36 3,744 3,551 3,388 2,766
In 36 3,517 3,298 3,115 2,579
All 72 7,261 6,849 6,503 5,345

Industry

Lamplighter Lake City Lager bottle label

Lake City's location and role as a transportation hub of the southwestern Federal States have made it a leader in several domestic and international industries, especially for shipping, logistics, and transportation. These companies include railroads such as the Class B Sauganash and Northern Railroad and the Class A Minnonigan Central Railroad. Southern Airlines, based out of Lake City International Airport, is also a major company headquarted in Minnonigan.

The city's history as a gateway for transporting agricultural goods between the West Lakes and urban markets in the southeastern Federal States, combined with abundant fresh water sources, made the city a historic brewing and distilling hub as well. While the city's heyday as a major beer producer is behind it as other cities have eclipsed Lake City, the city still hosts the Sauganash Brewing Company, which has operated in Lake City since 1887. Sauganash's flagship beer, Lamplighter Lake City Lager (more commonly referred to as "Lamplighter", or simply "Lamp"), was developed as a new "light" beer in 1978 and rapidly became one of the most popular beers in the Federal States.