Construction - Ludington, Michigan, United States
The Makers Market of Ludington, a community makerspace, has officially closed as of June 1, 2018. The Makers Market Facebook page will continue to operate as, "Mason County Makers," to serve as a communication hub for those interested in this effort. The tools, equipment and fixtures were donated to Habitat for Humanity of Mason County in order for the Habitat ReStore to create a workshop, learning outlet and an additional revenue source in order to fulfill our mission of encouraging, empowering and educating folks in the community.The Makers Market opened in March 2016, and it provided the venue and equipment for adults and youth to engage in hands-on experiences (such as woodworking, electronics, home repair, sewing, painting, and more) on a membership basis. It grew to accommodate the needs and requests for more educational opportunities, STEM education, fields trips, in-school programming, and drop-in workshops.The fledgling organization struggled to keep up with those requests. In Dec. 2017, members and volunteers determined the most effective way to serve these needs was to offer its tools and funding as a bequest to a local organization to establish a makerspace or similar resource for the purpose of community enrichment.In Jan. 2018, the bequest was initially awarded to three organizations; Oaktree Academy, which proposed to open a Tinker Studio, and $500 each allocated to Communities Overcoming Violent Encounters (COVE) and to the Mason County Eastern Schools "Cardinaltronics" Robotics Team #6005. Oaktree was unable to accept the request due to board-directed changes within the organization.