Message from Door County to State: Fix Potawatomi Tower

The Potawatomi State Park observation tower. File photo by Rachel Lukas.

County board to consider repair resolution Friday, Feb. 24

More clear messages are being sent from Door County to the state to forget a costly ramp and repair the Potawatomi State Park observation tower now, before it’s too late.

The tower has been shuttered since 2017 and numerous reports done on options for repair. The latest, commissioned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Gov. Tony Evers’ office,  offered two conceptual designs: one to repair the existing tower and add a helical ramp at a cost of $6,058,800, and one to raze the tower and build a new one with a helical ramp for $5,943,326. The state’s engineering firm, Grāef, recommended the second option because it would be less expensive to maintain over time.

The ramps reflect the state’s insistence that tower restoration isn’t possible without accessibility for people with disabilities. Those advocating repair say accessibility can and should be considered, but after restoration of the tower, which is listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, or by using an existing overlook near the tower.

Evers promised to include one of the two Grāef designs in his 2023-25 capital budget, and the DNR gave the public the opportunity to select one through a survey that closed Feb. 13. 

“To us, this tactic was a Hobson’s choice which was not in keeping

with statements that the will of the public should be heard and the tower restored,” said Dave Allen with the Potawatomi Park Alliance, and Kelly Avensen with the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society Foundation (SBHSF), in a statement about the DNR’s survey.

Meanwhile, with no “restore only” option on the DNR’s survey, the SBHSF and the Potawatomi Park Alliance partnered on its own survey, using the DNR’s options plus a “restore only” option.

They closed their survey Feb. 10. Of the 647 respondents to their survey, 91% said they wanted the tower restored now, without the cost and delay of ramps. Another 200 people commented – something the DNR’s survey did not allow. The survey results were sent to the DNR and governor’s office.  

“In order for the DNR to have an accurate reading on the will of the public, we respectfully request [that] our survey results are included in the DNR’s portfolio regarding the historic tower,” Allen and Avensen said in a statement announcing the survey results.

The Peninsula Pulse requested the state’s survey results and also asked whether the local organizations’ survey results would be included with the other answers. A spokesperson for the DNR said they were working on the request, but nothing had arrived by the Pulse’s deadline. 

Meanwhile, the Door County Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution Feb. 24 that asks the DNR and the governor to consider a plan to repair the tower without ramps. The county’s Administrative Committee approved the resolution Feb. 21. It was modeled after one that the Town of Nasewaupee passed Feb. 16.

The County of Door’s resolution states that if the tower is razed, its historical nature will be lost. It also repeats determinations made by the Town of Nasewaupee that “repairing the tower as soon as possible without requiring a ramp and other requirements of the DNR’s plans has continuously received overwhelming public support compared to doing nothing or proceeding with either of the DNR’s proposed options.” 

Editor’s note: this story has been changed to reflect that the Door County Board of Supervisors meets Friday, Feb. 24, not Tuesday, Feb. 28.