The National Park Service plans to dismantle and remove the Apostle Islands’ “deteriorating” Chequamegon Point Light Tower this summer due to “imminent safety risk.”
Shoreline erosion and storm damage have caused significant structural failures to the 42-foot tower, the park service said May 20, including failing footings, severed anchors and damaged structural braces.
The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a federally protected, 12-mile shoreline of Lake Superior that includes 21 islands, at the northern tip of Wisconsin’s Bayfield Peninsula.
Visitor impacts are expected to be minimal, with Long Island – where the tower is located – difficult to access due to shifting sands, shallow waters and lack of regular boat service, the park service said.
NPS, in consultation with the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office, evaluated the tower under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the release said. The tower, which was erected in 1897, isn’t individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but is a contributing feature to the Long Island Light Station historic district.
The tower “has reached a point where in-place preservation is no longer feasible,” BriAnna Weldon, superintendent of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, said in the May 20 news release. It poses an “imminent safety risk” that, if not addressed, could result in the tower collapsing into Lake Superior. Weldon said deconstruction is the safest and most responsible path forward.
NPS will dismantle the remaining structure and relocate it to an off-site storage location until the organization assesses potential long-term storage or “interpretive uses for the tower’s remaining elements in consultation with partners and subject-matter experts.”
Chequamegon Point Light Tower was part of a network of navigational aids along the southern shore of Lake Superior, and marked the entrance to Chequamegon Bay, the release said. In 1987, the U.S. Coast Guard used a helicopter to move the tower about 100 feet back from the shoreline out of concern over erosion, according to NPS’ website.
Over time, the release said, many of the tower’s character-defining features were removed. Only the exposed steel lattice frame and lantern room remain today.
The U.S. Coast Guard is contributing funding toward removal of the tower, as well as the removal of an adjacent decommissioned USCG aid to navigation, according to the release.
The NPS is currently contracting specialized services for the project. Once contractors are selected and logistics are finalized, the release said, a detailed timeline will be shared.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Apostle Islands’ Chequamegon Point Light Tower to be dismantled, removed this summer
Reporting by Hannah Kirby, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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