Granary Restoration Work Resuming Jan. 15

This rendering shows what the Door County Granary will look like from the outside upon the restoration project’s planned completion next year. Photo by Kevin Boneske.

The Door County Granary project on Sturgeon Bay’s West Waterfront is now scheduled to resume restoration Jan. 15, with that work expected to be completed in July.

The Sturgeon Bay Historical Society Foundation (SBHSF) earlier this month officially secured the $3.3 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development, project manager Nicole Matson reported to the Sturgeon Bay Common Council on Oct. 17.

“Greenfire Management Services, our construction manager for the project, anticipates opening the bid process on Nov. 6,” she said.

Though the $3.3 million in congressionally directed spending was earmarked last December, restoration work on the Granary has been on hold for several months with the SBHSF awaiting that federal funding being awarded before bidding out the project and proceeding with construction. 

Matson said bid documents were sent to the USDA on Oct. 16 for the department’s review, which is estimated to take from one to three weeks, and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) reviewed the project and requested “a few exterior changes” to comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for the treatment of historic properties.

“Additional documents with the proposed design changes [were] submitted by our architects from LA DALLMAN on Oct. 4, and SHPO gives themselves an additional 30-day period to review,” she said. “But we’re hopeful we’ll receive concurrence from SHPO to move forward with a proposed design soon.”

Matson said the SHPO review was required because the 1901 Teweles and Brandeis grain elevator is listed on the National and State Register of Historic Places.

When asked by District 5 Alderman Gary Nault as to whether another structural integrity survey of the Granary will take place, given the amount of time the wooden building has been exposed to the elements awaiting restoration, Matson said there doesn’t seem to be a need for that at this time.

“Our structural engineer has been working with us to get this bid set together, and has not mentioned that, nor has that been talked about at all,” Matson said.

The Granary building, which previously had its first floor demolished, reached a milestone in its restoration in August 2022 when it was lowered onto its refurbished column legs.

The SBHSF entered into a development agreement with the City of Sturgeon Bay to restore the Granary. The last extension on that agreement to “substantially complete” the project expired at the end of April, and the SBHSF has been in talks with city officials for another extension.

Plans for the Door County Granary project, upon its completion, call for the building to be open as a public space and a living museum three seasons out of the year.