Construction on the new building.
Mackinac State Historic Parks will open a new building and exhibit this summer at Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City, Michigan. The building will be a reproduction of the original 1890 fog signal building which served as a warehouse after a second fog signal was constructed in 1907. The warehouse will house the new Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Museum. The museum will house a number of shipwreck objects from vessels such as the Eber Ward, Cedarville, William H. Barnum and Northwest. The displays will include a map of the straits showing the location of wreck sites, models of three wrecks showing what they looked like while in service and three dioramas showing their current condition on the lake bottom. Topics such as salvage, diving and the Straits of Mackinac Underwater Preserve will be discussed. The exhibit was made possible through a generous donation of artifacts from Chuck and Jeri Feltner and other donors. The objects were conserved this winter by Dr. Brad Rodgers and Theresa Hicks of the Inland Seas Institute.
