Council expresses interest in Superior's historic lighthouse

Shelley Nelson, Superior Telegram, Wis.
·4 min read

Jul. 19—SUPERIOR — Interest is swirling around the Superior Harbor South Breakwater Light now that it is available again.

The Superior City Council voted Tuesday, July 16 to direct city administration to submit a letter of interest in acquiring the structure at the Superior Entry on Wisconsin Point.

The lighthouse, built in 1913,

is being offered at no cost to government agencies, nonprofits or educational groups.

In addition to the city, the Douglas County Historical Society and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa may also submit letters of interest.

The letter offers the city the opportunity to inspect the site and complete an application within 90 days of the date of inspection.

"There's a lot of uncertainty around the project because there's a lot of things we don't know," Councilor Garner Moffat said. "And that's why I think we should submit a letter of interest so that we can get more information to make an informed decision."

However, the city of Superior isn't the only party interested in acquiring the lighthouse.

Evan Schroeder of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe said the band is currently in an information-gathering stage about potentially acquiring the lighthouse and anticipates meeting with the Reservation Business Committee on Friday, July 19, to discuss the issue. He said until that meeting takes place it's not clear that it is of interest to the band.

So far, Schroeder said the band has been exploring abatement options for lead paint and asbestos and discussing land transfer processes.

"The wheels are moving slowly," Schroeder said. "We're going to get a much clearer direction after our meeting on Friday."

Moffat, who also is president of the Douglas County Historical Society, said the organizations board also has approved sending a letter of interest but would likely support the Fond du Lac Band if it moves forward.

Moffat said there will be no need for the city to fill out an application to compete with the Fond du Lac Band to acquire the lighthouse but could partner with the band if desired.

"We manage many cultural properties on Wisconsin Point and throughout the 1842 and 1854 ceded territories," Schroeder said. "This isn't anything new to us."

Mayor Jim Paine said the best option is for the Fond du Lac Band to take the lead and he'd much rather write a letter supporting their effort.

"As Evan described, they are very well suited to manage a property like this," Paine said. "The city's getting better, but our museums are contracted out."

With the city already taking on other historic preservation projects, Paine said he's long been reticent to take on the lighthouse because it's not in imminent danger.

"The letter of interest buys you some time and gets you a lot more information," Moffat said. "I think there's a lot of reasons why you would want to say no to put in an application for this ... but I don't know any of those reasons are concrete enough right now to say no. Our answer, because it's an important resource, should be yes until we know why we're saying no."

During a special Historic Preservation Committee on Monday, July 15, committee member Brian Finstad offered a motion to have the city submit a letter of interest with the intent to support Fond du Lac's efforts to acquire the property if that's the band's decision.

"We do a letter of interest because it keeps options open, but we are in consensus that we really want to support Evan and support Fond du Lac," Finstad said.

The committee voted unanimously to support Finstad's motion Monday.

Councilor Brent Fennessey has long been skeptical of the city taking on historic preservation projects at taxpayer expense. However, he said, submitting a letter of interest doesn't commit the city to taking on the project to save Superior's iconic structure.

"This is such a cool piece of our history, and it has just an incredible amount of potential," Fennessey said Tuesday. "I think it's such a cool idea even if nothing comes to it. A letter of intent — we can take the exit door at any time. All this does is keep us in the loop so we can narrow down some of those unanswered questions."

The council voted nearly unanimously in favor of submitting a letter of interest for the lighthouse.

Councilor Jenny Van Sickle said she couldn't support the letter because the proposal was never heard by the Wisconsin Point Committee, which oversees city interests in the point.