Calumet’s Union Building getting back in shape
Calumet’s Union Building getting back in shape
Fourth Thursday highlights project
By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer
CALUMET — History is of immense importance in Calumet and preserving it is among the goals of officials with the Keweenaw National Historical Park.
Those two values have merged with the ongoing rehabilitation of the Union Building on the corner of Red Jacket Road and Fifth Street.
Brian Hoduski, KNHP museum curator, along with park consultant Karl Benda, will give a presentation on the project to rehabilitate the Union Building at 7 p.m. Thursday at the building as part of the park’s Fourth Thursday in History program.
Hoduski said the National Park Service purchased the Union Building in 1999.
“It was the first building the park service bought in the park,” Hoduski said. “It was in poor shape.”
Hoduski said the three and a half story Union Building was constructed in 1888 by owners of the Calumet & Hecla mines and was the headquarters for the Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
“It was an example of corporate paternalism,” he said. “It’s a massive building compared to the other buildings (in the village).”
Hoduski said he’s not certain why it was called the Union Building because it had nothing to do with the labor movement. Originally, the ground floor had commercial uses, including the United States post office and the Merchants and Miners Bank.
“They rented the first floor for income,” he said.
There was also a “sampling room,” which was a term used for some saloons at the time, Hoduski said.
One of the longest-running tenants was the Keweenaw Printing Co., which did printing for C&H and sold office furniture.
Over the decades, Hoduski said the building has had many tenants. It had fallen into disrepair, however, with the collapse of the third floor ceiling being one of the most serious problems.
In 1999, KNHP officials applied for $1.5 million to rehabilitate the entire building but the money didn’t arrive until 2005, Hoduski said.
“By the time we actually got the money, it was only enough to rehabilitate the exterior,” he said.
That exterior work included tucking and pointing the joints of the brick facade, replacing some windows and repairing the building’s cornices.
Park officials are seeking another $2 million to do interior work, Hoduski said, but with the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other funding issues in Congress, it’s uncertain when that money will be available.
However, a fire suppression system in the building was installed, and it has been made handicapped accessible, Hoduski said.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, Hoduski said there will be a walk through of the building for anyone interested in seeing what it contains.
Abby Sue Fisher, KNHP chief of museum services, said the Fourth Thursday in History programs began in June 2001, and were conducted in cooperation with Erik Nordberg, Michigan Tech University archivist. Due to scheduling conflicts, Nordberg left the program last July.
“It’s become such a popular program, we just decided to go on with it,” Fisher said.
Although it is a KNHP program, Fisher said presentations have been conducted in various non-park locations, including Temple Jacob in Franklin Township.
“It’s related to Copper Country history,” she said.
As the name suggests, Fisher said the talks take place on the fourth Thursday of each month January through October.
Hoduski said the reason Union Building was chosen for rehabilitation was because of its impact in Calumet.
“It’s an important landmark for the community,” he said. “The development of the community was really shaped by C&H.”
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com
Previous page: Snowmobile Trail News
Next page: Finns honored at chamber session