Island Airport Receives $85,000 for Runway Repairs, Parking Expansion
Construction in Progress at Various Spots
By Ryan Schlehuber

Expanded parking space for visiting aircraft and repairs to the runway are planned by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, backed by an $85,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Aeronautics. Expansion of the airport terminal building is being planned, as well.

Phil Porter, Mackinac State Historic Parks director, said landscape corrections are needed at the north and northeast end of the airport’s runway. The runway, itself, is in fairly good condition, he said. Core samples were analyzed this fall and engineers determined that it is not necessary to resurface the runway, although there are some sections that require crack-sealing.

The Island airport’s runway was closed several times in September as tests were performed to assure there are no sinkholes or depressions. Last July, a 20-inch hole in the runway was discovered. It was an old dumpsite buried beneath the runway that finally caved in. The dump was thought to have been there since the early 1900s.

Last fall, the runway received new lights and wiring was repaired.

The airport’s new equipment storage facility is in its final stages of construction. The new building will store larger equipment, such as the State Park’s snowblower truck.

The State Park Commission is also interested in expanding the airport’s terminal building. This project, said Mr. Porter, is scheduled for after the parking space expansion and runway repairs are finished. There is no design for the building expansion project yet.

Other projects that are ongoing at Mackinac State Historic Parks are construction of the new millwright house at Historic Mill Creek, restoration of Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City, and restoration of the Scout Barracks and the historic Mission Church on Mackinac Island.

Workers continue to restore the interior of Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and are preparing for the second phase of restoration, landscaping the property, building a picket fence as it was in the early 20th century, and moving the old barn back to its original spot.

Historic Mill Creek’s new Millwright’s House project is nearing completion. Workers have finished installing the roof and constructing porches on the north and south side of the building. Soon, exhibits will be installed, said Mr. Porter. The new exhibit is scheduled to be open next spring and will include a small workshop and video portrayals of the home’s occupants.

Discovered through archaeological studies in 1985, the Millwright’s House is being reconstructed using traditional methods and materials produced at the mill itself.

Once the structural analysis of the Island’s Scout Barracks is done, park officials will be able to determine how much it will cost to restore it. Tens of thousands of the scouts have lived in the 69-year-old Scout Service Camp barracks, built in 1934-35 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The building has been expanded several times and troops have made improvements and donated equipment over the years.

An appeal for donations has raised nearly $20,000 for a modernization and renovation of the barracks. The first phase of the project is an architectural review, expected to cost about $8,000.

Mr. Porter said the Commission’s goal is to bring the barracks up to modern building codes so scouts can continue the long tradition of occupying the barracks while performing community service each summer.

Mission Church, built in 1829 by Protestant followers, is receiving some cosmetic care. The historic church’s roof was replaced and the exterior has been repainted. Parts of its steeple, its fence, and its front steps are being repaired and repainted.

Mr. Porter said there will also be some minor interior work.

Funding of this restoration project has been provided by private donors.