Effort to map Great Lakes gains support due to environmental, safety benefits
An effort to map the bottom of the Great Lakes is gaining support due to its potential benefits for safety and environmental management.
Straight Arrow News
- The Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light is in the western Keweenaw Peninsula along the Lake Superior shoreline.
- Federal officials are currently seeking a new owner for the historic lighthouse.
The federal government is looking for someone to take over a pair of Great Lakes historic lighthouses, including one in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
“This program offers a unique opportunity for communities, nonprofits, and government agencies to preserve our maritime heritage while repurposing historic lighthouses that continue to hold significant cultural and navigational value,” said Michael Peters, GSA public buildings service commissioner.
The Keweenaw Peninsula’s Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light, where the Portage Ship Canal’s western end empties into Lake Superior, and the Sheboygan Breakwater Light, north of Milwaukee in eastern Wisconsin, are available because the U.S. Coast Guard no longer needs them.
The U.S. General Services Administration announced the move in a July 9 news release. A federal disposal program under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 allows for the transfer at no cost, the GSA release said, for park, recreational, educational, cultural, or historic preservation purposes.
Both lighthouses are active aids to navigation operated by the USCG, which will reserve access to the property for the purposes of maintaining navigation.
More than 151 lighthouses have been sold or transferred out of federal ownership, with 81 transferred at no cost to eligible entities, and 70 sold by auction to the public, generating sales proceeds of approximately $10 million, the GSA said.
Here’s what to know about the historic lighthouses.
What’s happening to the lighthouses?
The historic Great Lakes lighthouses are being offered to new owners because the U.S. Coast Guard doesn’t need to keep them any more under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, the GSA release said.
The law allows for the lighthouses to be transferred from Coast Guard ownership at no cost through a federal disposal program, the release said.
The release says both lighthouses are eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
If they are not transferred, the GSA will attempt to sell them.
Who could take over the lighthouses?
The new owners could come from one among several types of institutions. Eligible groups, according to the notice, include:
- Federal agencies
- State and local agencies
- Nonprofit organizations
- Educational agencies or community development organizations
Where is the Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light?
The Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light is located within McLain State Park in the Upper Peninsula’s Keweenaw Peninsula, along the western coast about 11 miles northwest of Houghton in Houghton County, Michigan.
How old is the Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light?
The light station dates back to the 19th century and the current tower was built in 1950, according to the website Lighthouse Friends.
The light features a steel sheet pile caisson foundation and concrete deck, one-story concrete fog signal building and a steel 50 feet light tower topped with an open-air beacon, the release said. From base to light tower top, Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Light is about 110 feet tall.
Where is the Sheboygan Breakwater Light?
The Sheboygan Breakwater Light is located off the eastern coast of Wisconsin near the city of Sheboygan in Sheboygan County, at the mouth of the Sheboygan River along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The lighthouse sits at the north end of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ breakwater, the GSA release notes.
How old is the Sheboygan Breakwater Light?
The Sheboygan Breakwater Lighthouse was built in 1915, Travel Wisconsin says.
The lighthouse is a red, steel cylindrical tower about 55 feet tall, the GSA release said.
How many lighthouses are on the Great Lakes?
Across the five Great Lakes, there are more than 200 active lighthouses, with others closed but still standing, according to Great Lakes Cruises.
Among them are historic lighthouses showcasing centuries of nautical navigation along the Great Lakes. Michigan’s oldest surviving lighthouse stands in Port Huron along the Lake Huron coast, Fort Gratiot Lighthouse built in 1829.
What is the GSA?
The U.S. General Services Administration is a federal agency that handles federal government real estate, the agency’s website says.
How long do groups have to respond?
The GSA notice says responses are due by Sept. 1, 2025.
Additional information on how to seek transfer of the lights is available online.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
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