A beacon to history

Tag : Cast Iron Floor

Because it is a place of incomparable, if stark, beauty. Andbecause of the ever-present connection to history, to geology, andabove all else, to the lake.
The most glorious spot on the island is the lantern room 100 feetabove the water. There, a Fresnel lens once warned away mariners.Now, either inside or outside the lantern room, there is anunimpeded, 360-degree view of the distant Michigan shoreline andpassing lake freighters heading to or from Marquette.
Scott and Martine Holman, its current owners, and many workers havespent thousands of hours working to restore and preserve this mostunusual of homes.
Holman was born and raised in Ishpening, Mich. He graduated fromNorthern Michigan University and later served as chairman of theuniversity's board of trustees.
While a student at Northern Michigan, he started a scuba divingshop in Marquette. And that's how Holman heard the siren song from12 miles out in the lake. He used to take divers out to the areaaround the island looking for shipwrecks; the main reason thefederal government built the lighthouse in 1868 was because of theshipwrecks caused when lake boats were heading toward Marquette.
Martine and Scott met in Ishpeming shortly after she arrived fromher native Paris, France. They have been married 42 years and havethree sons and eight grandchildren.
Scott Holman started two companies in 1987 - Bay Cast Inc., a steelfoundry, and Bay Cast Technologies, an engineered products company,both based in Bay City, Mich., and both of which are now run by histhree sons.
Holman retired from the companies, but that seems only to havegiven him the time to take on new projects.
"Our residence is in Freeland, Michigan, but we spend at least halfour time in the UP at our very remote cabin on a lake nearCovington; hiking, four-wheeling, snowmobiling, hunting andfishing; and, of course, we also spend some time at the GraniteIsland Light Station."
Perhaps it was a person with this kind of energy who could take onthe challenge of bringing life to a long-vacant, remote rock.
Jerry Ziegler, a free-lance writer and former Journal Sentinelstaff member, interviewed Holman in a series of e-mail exchanges.
Q. When did you acquire the Granite Island Light Station? Wasn't thisfederal property?
A. In October of 1999 the federal government - the Coast Guard - hadmade the decision to divest itself of its surplus inventory oflighthouse properties. Granite Island was to be the first of theofferings. I heard about it on the radio on my way to work andrecognized it from the early '60s when I would take divers outthere as part of my scuba shop in Marquette.
I did a little research and tried to get a bid package but theywere all gone and got a poor fax copy. I submitted a sealed bid for$56,003 on Friday for a Tuesday opening, had second thoughts overthe weekend and decided to supplement the offer with an additional$30,000. I won the bid over 84 others.
I forgot to tell my wife. The Detroit Free Press called my home tooffer congratulations to which my wife responded: "He bought aWHAT?"
Q . Tell me about the island .
A. Granite Island is a 2.5-acre granite rock outcropping rising over60 feet from the surface of Lake Superior. It is like the top of amountain, which like an iceberg you only see what rises out of thewater. The depth rapidly descends to 75 feet, then 150 feet, thendown to 250 feet.
The nearest shore is the wild coast to the west about 6 miles butto the nearest mooring at the upper harbor of Marquette is over 10miles, 12½ miles out of the main Lower Harbor.
Q. How big is the light station?
A. Built of the granite stone that was blasted off the top of theisland, the 2-foot-thick walls house a kitchen, dining room, livingroom, assistant keeper's bedroom, master bedroom, guest bedroom(for temporary workers) and what is now a bathroom replacing theoil-staging room at the base of the cast-iron spiral staircaseleading to the second floor and the lantern room at the top of thetower. The lantern room is like a glassed-in sunroom with anoutside deck surrounding it and a good place to sit with a beer andwatch the sunset from a 100-foot-high vantage point.
Q. What condition was it in when you purchased it?
A. The stone structure required only some tuck-pointing and replacinga few small stones, but the gaping hole through the asbestosshingles had let nature in to rot through the second floor, thefirst floor and the basement, destroying much of the interiorplastered walls and wainscoting. Most of the outside wood walkwaysand decking was gone.
Q. Tell me about the renovations? How did you take supplies to theisland?
A. Many modes of water transportation were used including oldcommercial fishing vessels, borrowed motorboats, and eventually twoCoast Guard-type Zodiacs necessary because of the rock canyon wallswhere we had to moor them making the foam collars a protectivebarrier.
We utilized towed barges, a fishing tug and an open boat to haulwood, drywall and other supplies out to the island and haul oldroofing, plaster and other construction debris back to themainland. We purchased a substantial Rocky Mountain-type six-mantent, which housed anyone working on the island during the firsttwo years. This was positioned close to the boat landing. Our crewswould work four-day, 12-hour shifts and would be picked up onThursdays.
Q. You recorded a wind speed of 143 mph on Jan. 18, 2003. How did thestructures fare in the face of such an incredible wind? Had yourebuilt the buildings to cope with this?
A. We have actually witnessed data that was worse than this butdidn't get recorded and saved. Think of the great storms of 1913and 1937 that while wiping out Granite Island's boathouse bothtimes, never touched the lighthouse structure or the Fog Belltower. We would feel safe inside the 2-foot stone walls of thelighthouse in any storm.
Q. What's it like staying on the island?
A. While staying on the island, you feel the sense of its uniqueplace in history. Anyone can read about the life and times of theearly lighthouse keepers, but when you are there you becometransported in time and vividly imagine the living conditions, theloneliness and moments of adventure, fear, then lengthy periods ofsheer boredom.
As we turn off the lights in the keeper's bedroom on the secondfloor we have a dramatic view of the lights of Marquette on thedistant horizon. That view is shared only with the ore freightersunder way.
Today we have built a funicular (cable car) with elevated tracks inthe same location that the original tracks in 1868 were as theyused a steam engine to bring supplies up from the derrick landing.These were removed after the lighthouse was built. This has madearrival on the island with all the food, water and supplies a wholelot easier with the push of a button.
Q. What kind of events have you hosted there?
A. Charitable events, board meetings, retreats, a wedding, milestonebirthdays, family reunions, day trips and weekend overnights withfamily and friends. The amateur radio association of MarquetteCounty spent a three-day weekend talking to the world from thelighthouse. We have provided plug-and-play cameras and a weatherstation for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tostudy ice formation on Lake Superior; and (we) are engaging in acooperative effort with the University of Nebraska and NorthernMichigan University to place instruments on the island to study theevaporative effects on Great Lakes lake levels.
Q. Where did you find the things you used to decorate the keeper'shouse?
A. The photos in each room are of 19th-century era lumbering, miningand shipping all representing the economic growth of the UpperPeninsula and the necessity for facilities like the Granite IslandLight Station. Era-specific marine items came from a flea market inParis, antique shops, and many donations by guests and interestedparties who had the items in their family, and some descendants ofkeepers who wanted them to be in the lighthouse.
We were able to acquire a genuine wood cook stove and converted itto propane gas. Each room was heated with a wood/coal burningfireplace, all of which were gone when we arrived. We replaced themwith working gas fireplaces.
Q. Have you ever had second thoughts about all the work you've put in?
A. We probably underestimated what it took to renovate and restorethe lighthouse and what it takes on a yearly basis to maintain it.But if you enjoy history, particularly maritime history, this comesas close as you can get to living it.