COPPER HARBOR, MI \u2013 This week the Federal Government transferred the deed for Gull Rock Lighthouse to the nonprofit community as part of a federal initiative designed to revitalize mothballed lighthouses. As of this month, the lighthouse will be jointly operated by two 501 (c) 3 Michigan nonprofits: the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy of Fenton and Gull Rock Lightkeepers of Copper Harbor. In recent decades the light station has fallen into a state of serious disrepair, and the two nonprofits will now start the long process of restoration. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be easy to bring Gull Rock back into its prime,\u201d says Jeff Shook, president of the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy. \u201cBut our heart\u2019s in the right place and with any luck we\u2019ll be able to turn the corner on decades of deterioration out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gull Rock Lighthouse is a National Historic Landmark located on a small half-acre island 2 and 1\/2 miles off the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. It sits about a half-mile west of Manitou Island and about 15 miles east of Copper Harbor. The rock is exposed to the open waters of Lake Superior and rises just 12 feet above the surface of the lake. Historic lightkeeper log entries make it clear that during fierce storms large waves would wash over the rock, sometimes enveloping the lighthouse in water. \u201cSince 1867 Gull Rock Lighthouse has been exposed to all the fury that Lake Superior has to offer and it\u2019s taken its toll,\u201d adds Peter Annin, executive director of Gull Rock Lightkeepers. \u201cOur goal today is to start a new chapter in Gull Rock\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the beginning, Gull Rock\u2019s exposed location has created challenges. Back in 1867 the original foreman hired to build the lighthouse died on the job, but despite that setback the light was successfully completed later that year.\u00a0 Since then the reefs and rocky shoals that surround Gull Rock have been the scene of several shipwrecks. The most famous wreck near Gull Rock was the 450-foot freighterL.C. Waldo,<\/i>\u00a0which ran aground on Nov. 8, 1913 near the lighthouse during a fierce storm packing 70 mph winds. But the waters in the vicinity of Gull Rock have been a threat to modern vessels as well. In December of 1989 the Coast Guard Cutter\u00a0Mesquite<\/i>\u00a0ran aground near the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula while buoy tending.<\/p>\n
Today the biggest problem facing the lighthouse is deterioration. The light was automated in 1913, and remains an active Aid to Navigation. But while the tower, lantern room and gallery remain in fairly good shape, the keeper\u2019s quarters have fallen into a state of serious disrepair. A large hole remained in the roof of the lighthouse for years before being repaired by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1988. But years of exposure to moisture and rot caused much of the second floor to collapse down on the first floor, some of which, in turn, pancaked down into the basement. \u201cOn the inside it\u2019s in very rough shape,\u201d Shook says, \u201cWe certainly have our work cutout for us.\u201d But during a visit to the property last summer, Ken Czapski, architectural division manager at U.P. Engineers and Architects out of Marquette, determined that while the lighthouse was in need of extensive restoration, the building itself was \u201cstructurally sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deed of the lighthouse was transferred under the auspices of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, which is an amendment to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The applicants were required to complete a long and arduous application process, making Gull Rock one of several Michigan lighthouses that have been transferred by the federal government in recent years. Because the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy and Gull Rock Lightkeepers are both nonprofit organizations, donations to either organization are tax deductible. Contributions on behalf of Gull Rock Lighthouse are now being accepted<\/p>\n
With no docks on Gull Rock to accommodate medium or large vessels, the lighthouse is only accessible by small zodiac-style boats during calm seas. Despite its remote location, the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy and Gull Rock Lightkeepers remain committed to allowing public access to the property on a limited basis that is compatible with Gull Rock\u2019s exposed location. \u201cThis is not the kind of lighthouse that kindergarten classes are ever going to be able to visit,\u201d Annin says. \u201cIt may never be open to the public on a 9-to-5 basis. Nevertheless, we are committed to do what we can to make it accessible to the public on a safe and limited basis. \u201d<\/p>\n
MLC and GRL are exploring a wide variety of visitation options. One idea is to hold regular V.I.P. raffles that would award people a personal, guided tour of the property, and also provide the building with some badly needed restoration funds. Another longer-term goal, after the building has been restored, is to create an artist-in-residence program like those offered at Isle Royale National Park and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The only difference would be that Gull Rock\u2019s residency program would be open to writers, musicians, scientists and other practitioners of the humanities\u2014in addition to artists. \u201cBut that all seems like a long way off at this stage,\u201d Shook says. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get the place fixed up first.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information and lighthouse photos contact Peter Annin at Gull Rock Lightkeepers (608) 278-8005\u00a0www.gullrocklightkeepers.org<\/b><\/a>\u00a0or Jeff Shook at the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy (810) 750-9236\u00a0www.michiganlights.com<\/b><\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" COPPER HARBOR, MI \u2013 This week the Federal Government transferred the deed for Gull Rock Lighthouse to the nonprofit community as part of a federal initiative designed to revitalize mothballed lighthouses. As of this month, the lighthouse will be jointly operated by two 501 (c) 3 Michigan nonprofits: the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy of Fenton and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2005-archived-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219,"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions\/219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.alpenalighthouse.org\/michiganlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}