Hello my name is Steve Haverty and I have a question about preservation grants and such. But unfortunatly it isnt train related. I know that in here that there are allot of knowlegeable individuals and I would like to see if they can help me on this one. Ok Well I was recently up in the Twin Ports Duluth/Superior Minnesota and Wisconsin, and I made friends with the curator of a trio of museums there,being a large elaborate mansion, a old fire station, and the one in trouble the Old 1896 vintage Whaleback Steamer Meteor. I have been in the meteor several times over the last 15 years and it gets steadily worse every time I see it. The original caretakers of the museum made a big mistake in filling in aroudte vessel with dirt up to the normal waterline and made the ship a permanent fixture where it is, and the soil conditions in the area are not great to bury an iron hull in and it has taken its toll on the old hull. The hull has started to deteriorate fast and has begun to leak quite badly. Sometimes to the point that the water is several feet deep. But the reason I want to look for grants and stuff is because the original caretakers of the museum went bankrupt after maintaining the old ship very well and it was turned over to the city, who did not adequatley fund it and then it was turned over to the Fairlawn estated museum who are allready maintaining the huge Mansion and the fire houe one as well, and that extra burden is bringing down all three museums slowly. So I told the currator that I would look into trying to find some funding to get the Meteor back on its feet again. He wants to dig out the ship and restore her 105 year old hull and float it at a dock again so the soil would not eventually totally eat the hull away thus destroying the last ship of its kind in the world. they have not been making much money latley because the museum cannot afford to get anything new to display. But any way I think that a project like this would likely cost several million dollars, which the museum does not have. So I am wondering if there are any federal grant programs that could provide assistance to the museum to help restore the old ship. Thanks for any leads I can get. -Steve Haverty

Steve,

I'm very sorry to hear about the condition of the ship. It would be one of the first things I would want to see in the Duluth area after the railroad museum. I am an all around student of transportation history. If the vessel is owned by the city they can apply for a TEA-21 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The exact name of the "TEA" acronym escapes me, but it is in part meant to help preserve historic transportation artifacts.

As the last whaleback in existence, she should certainly qualify if the application is handled correctly. There are others on this board more experienced in this area than I am, but this Act has resulted in the restoration of several steam locomotives, and the renovation of historic railroad stations.

kevingillespie@usa.net

Steve, i am a Curator at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. We are owners of a large fleet of historic ships. Give me a call at 415 556-9828.

There are no specific Federal Grants at this time.

You should also tolk to Peter Stanford at the National Maritime Historical Society about private money. (914) 737-7878

Those Whalebacks were amazing ships! She is last of her kind. She should be back in the water,

Ted Miles

ted_miles@NPS.gov

The so-called TEA-21 grants are actually the "Transportation Enhancement" subprogram of the Surface Transportation Program of the Federal Highway Administration. This sets aside a fraction of each state's STP funds to be used at the state's discretion for a variety of non-road purposes, two of which are "historic preservation" and "establishment of transportation museums." The Meteor should qualify under at least the latter of these and possibly both, depending on the rules employed by Wisconsin DOT for awarding these funds. Twenty per cent of the project cost must be raised locally. A phone call to Wisconsin DOT should tell you whether your project is eligible under Wisconsin's rules. You will be competing with bike-path fans, civic beautification schemes, lighthouse weenies, train stations and other museums for these funds.

The other principle governmental sources would be a state program for culture and humanities or historic preservation.

I'd forgotten that the Meteor was grounded in this fashion. There is a lightship in Port Huron, Michigan, that was treated the same way, and I always suspected that burying an iron hull in saturated soil was a dumb thing to do. Good luck in rescuing this unique ship before it turns into a bottomless waterline model of a whaleback. (I don't know if it would help matters, or would cost less than refloating it, but maybe it would serve to coffer around the boat and somehow dewater the soil under it with wells and pumps.)

Aarne Frobom
The Steam Railroading Institute
Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, Inc.
P. O. Box 665
Owosso, MI 48867-0665

froboma@mdot.state.mi.us

Inquire about the TEA-21 Transportation Enhancements Program at your regional DOT office. Also contact the state's historic preservation office (here in New York State it is called the Office of Parks, Recreation and
Historic Preservation) and ask about getting listed on the historic register and what grant programs are available.

Trolley Museum of New York
n2xjk@ulster.net

Are there any photos of the ship somewhere online?

Greg Radler
TRPA

> Hello my name is Steve Haverty and I have a
> question about preservation grants and such.
> But unfortunatly it isnt train related. I
> know that in here that there are allot of
> knowlegeable individuals and I would like to
> see if they can help me on this one. Ok Well
> I was recently up in the Twin Ports
> Duluth/Superior Minnesota and Wisconsin, and
> I made friends with the curator of a trio of
> museums there,being a large elaborate
> mansion, a old fire station, and the one in
> trouble the Old 1896 vintage Whaleback
> Steamer Meteor. I have been in the meteor
> several times over the last 15 years and it
> gets steadily worse every time I see it. The
> original caretakers of the museum made a big
> mistake in filling in aroudte vessel with
> dirt up to the normal waterline and made the
> ship a permanent fixture where it is, and
> the soil conditions in the area are not
> great to bury an iron hull in and it has
> taken its toll on the old hull. The hull has
> started to deteriorate fast and has begun to
> leak quite badly. Sometimes to the point
> that the water is several feet deep. But the
> reason I want to look for grants and stuff
> is because the original caretakers of the
> museum went bankrupt after maintaining the
> old ship very well and it was turned over to
> the city, who did not adequatley fund it and
> then it was turned over to the Fairlawn
> estated museum who are allready maintaining
> the huge Mansion and the fire houe one as
> well, and that extra burden is bringing down
> all three museums slowly. So I told the
> currator that I would look into trying to
> find some funding to get the Meteor back on
> its feet again. He wants to dig out the ship
> and restore her 105 year old hull and float
> it at a dock again so the soil would not
> eventually totally eat the hull away thus
> destroying the last ship of its kind in the
> world. they have not been making much money
> latley because the museum cannot afford to
> get anything new to display. But any way I
> think that a project like this would likely
> cost several million dollars, which the
> museum does not have. So I am wondering if
> there are any federal grant programs that
> could provide assistance to the museum to
> help restore the old ship. Thanks for any
> leads I can get. -Steve Haverty


Greg.Radler@parsons.com

Aarne-

While the METEOR's condition is a very sad matter, I and the rest of our Port Huron Museum staff take serious offense to the notion that the HURON is in any way a comparable situation. The HURON is now one of our satellite facilities and is WELL taken care of.

One major difference between the two is the time period both were built. None of MacDougal's ships (whalebacks) were known to be particularly long lasting: as I recall, an effort in the 1960's to save the Ericcson (the largest whaleback constructed) fell by the way side in part because of the condition of the hull even then. Remember the iron in 1896 was of a very poor quality, and the steel at the time the HURON was built in 1921 was of a bit better quality, due in part to the modifications of the steel/ iron making process during World War I.

In regards to the HURON, she is is SAND, not in Clay or dirt. The HURON is checked every six months for any sort of damage to her hull, and any leaks are taken care of immediately. To help this situation, we recently hired a site manager, Mr. Wayne Arnold, who monitors her daily as well. In addition, we have a low voltage current which runs throughout this lower area of the ship, to slow any rusting process.

I invite anyone who is interested to see the first rate work that Mr. Arnold is doing in maintaining this ship. The ship is open every Wednesday-Sunday 1:00 PM- 4:30 PM from Memorial Day thru Labor Day, and is available during winter hours upon appointment. For further information, please contact us at:

Wayne Arnold
Site Manager
Huron Lightship
c/o Port Huron Museum
1115 6th Street
Port Huron, MI 48060

Sincerely,

TJ Gaffney
Curator of Collections
Port Huron Museum

> The so-called TEA-21 grants are actually the
> "Transportation Enhancement"
> subprogram of the Surface Transportation
> Program of the Federal Highway
> Administration. This sets aside a fraction
> of each state's STP funds to be used at the
> state's discretion for a variety of non-road
> purposes, two of which are "historic
> preservation" and "establishment
> of transportation museums." The Meteor
> should qualify under at least the latter of
> these and possibly both, depending on the
> rules employed by Wisconsin DOT for awarding
> these funds. Twenty per cent of the project
> cost must be raised locally. A phone call to
> Wisconsin DOT should tell you whether your
> project is eligible under Wisconsin's rules.
> You will be competing with bike-path fans,
> civic beautification schemes, lighthouse
> weenies, train stations and other museums
> for these funds.

> The other principle governmental sources
> would be a state program for culture and
> humanities or historic preservation.

> I'd forgotten that the Meteor was grounded
> in this fashion. There is a lightship in
> Port Huron, Michigan, that was treated the
> same way, and I always suspected that
> burying an iron hull in saturated soil was a
> dumb thing to do. Good luck in rescuing this
> unique ship before it turns into a
> bottomless waterline model of a whaleback.
> (I don't know if it would help matters, or
> would cost less than refloating it, but
> maybe it would serve to coffer around the
> boat and somehow dewater the soil under it
> with wells and pumps.)

> Aarne Frobom
> The Steam Railroading Institute
> Michigan State Trust for Railway
> Preservation, Inc.
> P. O. Box 665
> Owosso, MI 48867-0665


Port Huron Museum
peremarquette@hotmail.com

Not really on the subject of grants but, The Battleship Texas down in Houston was captured by filling her tanks and letting her settle into the mud. a few years back it was noticed that she was leaking through her hull. Closer inspections showed that the hull was rusting through. Money was raised and she was refloated, drydocked and new hull plates were made for her. The amount was somewhere around 11 mil. Sure would like that amount for a railroad preservation project

Yes I have a friend who runs a web page and I supply many photos for him and on there happens to be a few of the Meteor, unfortunatly none of them are very recent. Most of the ones I have and posted on the page were taken shortly after her installation into the island and a few years after when the grass was grown in and when she was still properly cared for. So it does not show any of the wear and tear that she now has dealt with. But I am including a link to the location of the photos. Thanks for all the response.

http://www.northernlakesonline.com/Explorer/Lakes/Photos/Photo%20Index.htm
SH71382@aol.com

Geez Steve, I went through the Meteor a few years back visiting my wifes family up there and it is a fantastic ship. I didn't like the big doors cut into the side of her hull either, as well as the entombment.

The docent was totally ignorant of anything about the ship that wasn't also printed in the brochure. We were the last group (along with a couple where the guy wanted to know about steam) and she was almost angry that we had the nerve to show up a mere hour before closing and prevent her from getting out early.

Yes, I loved the ship but was exceptionally unimpressed with its management.

Dave

lathro19@idt.net

Well I went on the tour this fall and was totally shocked at its disrepair and the tour peoples overall lack of knowlege about the very ship they are payed to know about. I not even having studied about the ship knew more than the manager and the tour guide combined. tehy were ignorant to the history of the ship and left out very interesting things that should be mentioned about the ship. Its sad that the people on the ship dont give a darn about it. I would be so much at home there giving tours and cleaning and painting the thing when not giving tours. Well thanks for your input. -Steve

http://www.northernlakesonline.com/Explorer/Lakes/Photos/Photo%20Index.htm
SH71382@aol.com

Dave,

Am I missing something? Your friend's website has an alphabetical listing; but you can't can't click on the letter "M". Where do you find it?

Does it still have it's orginal steam engine?

> Yes I have a friend who runs a web page and
> I supply many photos for him and on there
> happens to be a few of the Meteor,
> unfortunatly none of them are very recent.
> Most of the ones I have and posted on the
> page were taken shortly after her
> installation into the island and a few years
> after when the grass was grown in and when
> she was still properly cared for. So it does
> not show any of the wear and tear that she
> now has dealt with. But I am including a
> link to the location of the photos. Thanks
> for all the response.


Surviving World Steam Locmotives
james1@pernet.net

Oh I am sorry I think that I should have mentioned that, He posted the photos under the name S.S. Meteor, so they are posted under "S". Yes she stil retains her original 3 cylinder Triple Expansion Steam engine, with 2000 indicated horse power. Sorry about that. -Steve

http://www.northernlakesonline.com/Explorer/Lakes/Photos/Photo%20Index.htm
SH71382@aol.com