Mackinac State Historic Parks Funding Restored
By Karen Gould

Fort Mackinac, as seen fromRound Island, is part of the Mackinac State Historic Parks and overlooks the downtown area of Mackinac Island. To the far left of the fort is the Governor’s summer residence.

Governor Jennifer Gran-holm returned a $1.5 million general fund appropriation to Mackinac State Historic Parks Thursday, September 29, with her signature on Senate Bill 274. The budget bill was signed just days before the state’s fiscal year began Saturday, October 1, and ended seven months of worry by administrators. The governor had removed the money in her proposed 2006 budget in February.

Mackinac State Historic Parks (MSHP) is operated by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, an agency in the Department of History, Arts and Libraries, and includes Fort Mackinac and approximately 80 percent of the landmass on Mackinac Island, as well as Colonial Michilimackinac, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, and Historic Mill Creek in Mackinaw City. The agency earns nearly $4 million of its annual $5.7 million budget through admissions, museum store sales, various fees, grants, and donations.

The Mackinac Island State Park Commission spent the summer working to get the funding restored and looking at budget cuts and fee increases in the event it was not restored. Meeting six days before the governor restored the appropriation, commissioners implemented some of the cost savings and income-producing plans.

“We are extremely happy that the debate over the new budget year is behind us,” said Commission Chairman Dennis Cawthorne after the signing. “Now, we have some certainty and we can plan for the coming year and season knowing we have the resources to do a good job for the public.”

Park Director Phil Porter was equally pleased.

“It’s really encouraging that the governor has signed both the after-Labor Day school start and the state park funding bills,” he said.

While the governor had yet to sign the budget bill when commissioners met September 23 at Fort Mackinac, she was expected to do so. Regardless, said Mr. Cawthorne, commissioners will continue to look for alternative ways to address the allocation situation to avoid the annual struggle to keep the state funding in their budget.

“We want to work constructively with the Governor to address this problem,” he said.

This year, commissioners streamlined the processing of money raised from leases, motor vehicle permits, and similar fees that, in the past, was deposited with he state treasurer. To get the money back required an act of the state legislature. Now, the money is deposited directly into a Mackinac Island State Park Commission account, so the commission can earn interest on the money and have ready access to the funds.

With the funding on track to remain in place, commissioners reviewed provisional budget recommendations that include plans to repaint four buildings, restore the Fort Mackinac Post Hospital interior, and continue the lighthouse restoration project in Mackinaw City. New displays, including a children’s room, will be added to the Post Hospital exhibit, which has not been updated for 30 years.

The provisional operating budget, which includes the $1.5 million state appropriation, earned income, depreciation funds, and grants and special funds, is $6,030,464. It is 2.8 percent higher than last year and does not raise the operational level of the parks, but includes special projects.

Base rates for entrance to Mackinac State Historic Parks will not be increased for 2006, and a new Mackinac Triple Choice ticket will offer visitors their choice of three of the four park sites at $20 for adults and $12.50 for youth.

New revenue sources to help bolster the bottom line were also approved. Because of a national economic slump, attendance at Mackinac State Historic Parks was down 8.5 percent this year, Mr. Porter reported.

An estimated $2,000 in new revenue is anticipated from increased docking fees for the State Dock at British Landing on Mackinac Island. Fees will be raised from $50 to $150 per use. Also new will be a $75 application fee and a $150 fee for races and weddings held on park property.

The Mackinac Island State Park Commission will consider in January new income-generating initiatives that include working with the Mackinac Island ferry boat lines to establish a voluntary Mackinac Island State Park bike fee of 50¢ per bike, which could generate approximately $34,000 in new revenue from tourists who bring bicycles to Mackinac Island.

Approximately $7,500 in new revenue is expected from leasing the east half of the Mackinac Island Visitor’s Center dock and commissioners also will consider leasing the Geary House on Market Street for $12,000 per year.

Commissioners also plan to make the “Somewhere in Time” gazebo available for weddings for a fee. The gazebo will be moved from its current location in the Governor’s garden to a location yet to be determined.

Food service may be re-established at Historic Mill Creek and Colonial Michilimackinac.

In other business, the Park Commission approved work on the Mackinac Island airport for 2006, funded through the Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics, to include leveling 200 feet on each side and both ends of the runway to make landings safer if planes travel off the runway. Other airport projects include clearing the glide path to the runway, removing low growth trees. This was last done 25 years ago and the Bureau of Aeronautics will pay Mackinac State Historic Parks $25,000 to clear the area.

Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) has sent a letter to Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-Bloomfield Hills), who is the chair of the appropriations subcommittee on transportation, seeking $225,000 in federal funds to replace the Commission’s 14- and 18-year-old snowplows and $250,000 to replace the 53-year-old freight boat, which is a surplus Navy landing craft.

A resolution allowing restricted use of snowmobiles on some State Park roads was approved by commissioners. Snowmobiles have been allowed on some park roads since 1972 so Islanders can get to the airport and to British Landing. No new roads were added to the resolution this year.

Commissioners approved a lease transfer of lot 27 on the East Bluff from Dorothy and William Willruth to William Willruth of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

A tentative 2006 meeting schedule was approved, with all meetings taking place at 1:30 p.m. Meeting locations can vary, but in Lansing, they usually are held in the Library of Michigan and on Mackinac Island at the Post Hospital in Fort Mackinac. The next meeting will be Friday, January 27, in Lansing, followed by Wednesday, March 22, in Lansing, Friday, May 26, on Mackinac Island, July 21, on Mackinac Island, and Friday, September 22, on Mackinac Island.

The September 23 meeting was attended by State Representative Fran Amos (R-Waterford), who chairs the History, Arts and Libraries subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, and State Representative Shelley Taub (R-Bloomfield), who is chair of the appropriations subcommittee on transportation. Ms. Taub had added $500,000 to the park budget for the repair of trails and roads, but that money did not make it in the final state budget.