Historic preservation projects underway along the Great Lakes shoreline

LANSING – State grants are funding the renovation and preservation of buildings in Michigan’s Great Lakes shoreline communities. 

Money for projects near lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior is coming from State Historic Preservation Office grants. 

In Alpena, for example, the Thunder Bay Theater has been closed for three years due to a fire in a next-door saloon. Alpena is along the shore of Lake Huron. 

The theater, which is over a century old, has been undergoing a $1.4 million renovation since September 2023. 

The building was originally a Spens Drug and Wallpaper store, and later the Alpena Candy and Cigar Co., before becoming a theater 47 years ago. The project will restore the exterior and upstairs interior and rebuild the lobby. 

The roof, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical systems will also be replaced.

The 1905 Historic Masonic Temple in Bay City is now a public community arts center. The city is near Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay.

The three-story, red-brown sandstone building was designed in the Moorish Revival style. It has two stained glass windows, several bay entrances and a projecting second-story window turret. 

The project will restore and preserve the foundation by excavating all of the exterior and interior foundation walls.

In the Upper Peninsula, the Bring Back Calumet initiative is restoring the historic 1895 building at 425 5th St. Calumet is the Keweenaw Peninsula, which is surrounded by Lake Superior.

According to Calumet Main Street, a downtown economic development organization, the roof of the red sandstone building, which suffers from old age and lack of maintenance, requires stabilization. And the entire interior needs replacement due to water damage. 

Since its $100,00 state grant was insufficient to cover the entire project cost, local fundraising efforts collected an additional $5,000. 

In South Haven, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, the Hotel Nichols has been in operation since 1925. According to its website, it has been owned by the same family for over 100 years. 

It is a two-story building with a red brick exterior and ceramic tile awning over the front door. 

The grant of $100,000 is to repair, stabilize and restore the exterior, including the masonry and the original clay tile awnings.

Another restoration project in a shoreline community supported by state aid is the Holland City Hall. The interior of the Lake Michigan city’s three-story stone building, which includes a columned portico, is under renovation to create more office space. 

The exterior of the 1937 Rogers Theater in the Lake Huron community of Presque Isle has had its marquee lights restored, and work is being done on the outer lobby, according to the Presque Isle District Library, which is overseeing the project. 

And the roof is being restored on the 1839 former Mackinac County Courthouse, currently the City Hall on Mackinac Island. It’s a two-story white colored wood frame structure in the Greek Revival style with an octagonal cupola on the roof.