Historic Sturgeon Bay granary gets $100,000 donation to transform into community center

STURGEON BAY - The Door County Granary project received a big financial boost Friday afternoon.

The 1923 Fund, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit foundation, donated $100,000 to the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society Foundation for its work to rehabilitate the historic Teweles and Brandeis Grain Elevator on Sturgeon Bay's West Side waterfront, transforming it into a cultural community center and educational facility.

“The incredible generosity and support of the 1923 Fund puts us one step closer to our goal of creating a public cultural center and agricultural museum on Sturgeon Bay’s west waterfront,” Beth Renstrom, executive director of the granary project, said in a press release. “While wooden grain elevators were once ubiquitous and played a huge role in establishing the United States as a food superpower, very few remain standing. As far as we know, ours will be the only interpreted granary on the Great Lakes and quite possibly the country.”

“The 1923 Fund is proud to be a partner in celebrating Sturgeon Bay and Door County’s unique history," said David Ward, mayor of Sturgeon Bay and a 1923 Fund trustee, who presented the donation during a special event Friday. "We are looking forward to the granary taking its place on the west waterfront next to the Door County Maritime Museum and the promenade, combining to create a unique public space in Door County and the State of Wisconsin.”

The 1923 Fund was founded in 1996 by the family of the late Austin Cofrin, who founded and was president of paper making giant Fort Howard Corp. in Green Bay. It has provided funding to support projects at educational institutions such as the Cofrin Memorial Arboretum and Weidner Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and museums and colleges at the University of Florida. Other funds have gone to projects at the Door County Maritime Museum, Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay, and many other efforts.

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The 90-foot-tall granary was built in 1901 and is considered by many a landmark of the waterfront and the city's agricultural history. But it sat idle for 50 years and faced demolition as it was in disrepair and was partially disassembled. In 2018, the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society Foundation, with the help of an anonymous donor, organized a campaign to save the structure and gained listings for it on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

The Door County Granary will be the name of the community center resulting from the rehabilitation. The design for the center by Milwaukee-based architectural firm La Dallman earned a citation in the 68th annual Progressive Architecture Awards in 2021 from Architect magazine, the journal of the American Institute of Architects.

Ground was broken for the project in November, but construction delays mainly caused by supply issues pushed the planned opening of the ground floor to May 2023.

Fundraising is continuing, and historical society foundation president Laurel Hauser said those efforts have had "good momentum" recently as donors have become more aware of the project and the historical significance of the granary.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Sturgeon Bay granary gets $100K donation to transform into event center