A group that wants to save the 116-year old grain elevator on Sturgeon Bay’s west side waterfront says it has the funding in hand to pay for stabilizing the structure which is currently under a demolition order issued by Fire Chief Tim Dietman. As reported this week, Chief Dietman believes the structure is unstable and could collapse. He has given the city 30 days to take the building down. The countdown clock began ticking on October 18th. In the meantime, the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society, led by its President Christie Weber, says it has raised the funding to stabilize the building which was listed on the Wisconsin Registry of Historic Places in August. In a letter to the city council, Weber noted that $150,000 had been raised to stabilize and repair the granary. She said the fundraising was in response to council action which called for razing the structure if no one came forward with a plan to save it by January 1st. There is a question as to whether or not the Fire Chief’s order supersedes that action. Whatever the case, the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society is asking for a study to determine how unstable the grain elevator is. The historical group also requests that if the analysis determines the building is structurally unsound, its interior beams, working mechanisms and grain bins should be salvaged.
