Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society

1. SECURE FUNDING to implement our Human Use and Natural Resources Management Plan for Whitefish Point.

2. SECURE MORE QUALIFIED STAFF for both operational locations. This is a serious enough problem that it is not merely an operational matter - it is affecting the future of this organization, and other cultural tourism interests in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

3. INCREASE RESTRICTED CONTRIBUTIONS to be used for endowment and capital restoration/maintenance purposes.

4. INCREASE ATTENDANCE.

This organization employs a full-time Development Officer who has been with the organization in various capacities for 35 years. While we have been quite successful with grant funding and a moderate level of private donations, our programs are NOT located in an area, nor have an altruistic purpose (such as specific national health or human service issues), that have attracted very large ($100,000 +gifts), and we need help with that.

Currently, we continue to offer the highest quality maritime history experiences possible, while searching for famous shipwrecks on Lake Superior.

It is obvious that the overall culture of the organization has something to do with this; presently, our Board of Directors is aware of the need, and while a Strategic Planning Committee exists, it is currently (June 2018) undergoing changes. Our present experienced management understands how cultural organizations evolve; we are just now concluding a period of serious debt retirement.

Frankly, our current staff is the best resource we have to meet our goals. As any museum whose primary public exposure is direct, in-person contact with the majority of its audience knows, caring for its audience while on-site is of the utmost importance. It has taken us several years to build a staff who can do this with great competence given our budget.

And, as always, our Board is perhaps the next best group of people to provide advancement capability for the Shipwreck Society. Beyond, we have a solid base of cooperation in matters of joint marketing and program-sharing with most tourism enterprises in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, as well as with our neighboring organizations, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Michigan Audubon Society.

Since 2012, we have managed to purchase and physically move a original structure to the Whitefish Point Light Station, the 1923 U.S. Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat House. This building was constructed on the site in that year by the U.S. Coast Guard; purchased by a local fisherman in 1952 upon abandonment of the station; and moved off the property.

With approval of the Michigan State Preservation Office, and with selected Capital Improvement Funding from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, this building has been moved back to the site; fully restored, inside and out; equipped with modern digital presentation equipment; and put into use as a public presentation facility.

As of June 2018, work is to begin on construction of an external deck attached to this structure, as it originally had, to display a restored 36-foot U.S. Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat, Type TR, number USCG 36381. This vessel will be stored in the building during the off-season, and brought out on tracks for public viewing during the museum season, exactly as it was during the time the U.S. Coast Guard owned the property - called "The period of significance" as determined by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office.

What is next: Pursuit of funding to complete the projects outlined in the Human Use and Natural Resource Management Plan for Whitefish Point, as described above, under the GuideStar Gold section "Problem Overview." The primary projects are habitat restoration; traffic control; and parking lot improvements. These are not esoteric, intellectual, cultural projects: They are hard-boiled, real-life projects critically necessary to enable real-life PRESENTATION CAPABILITY, AUDIENCE CARE, AUDIENCE ACCESS to the cultural information offered by this organization - and they are very important projects for the future of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.