City Approves Fort de Buade Purchase, With Stipulations
By Ryan Schlehuber

This coin, featured in Fort de Buade Museum, is a depiction of Pope Alexander VI of Spain. He became pope in 1492. It is unknown if the coin was purchased by the late Don Benson elsewhere, or if it was found in St. Ignace.

A resolution to accept money from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians to purchase Fort de Buade Museum was approved unanimously by the St. Ignace City Council after a public hearing Monday evening, May 7. Stipulations were attached to the agreement and several other steps will need to be taken before a purchase is completed.

The tribe's offer to donate $118,000 a year for the next six years ($708,000 total) from gaming revenue to purchase the downtown building, which includes a collection of more than 2,000 historic artifacts, was approved 6-0. The full support by Council was applauded by several members of the audience, which overflowed out of the council chambers and into the hallway.

The property will be purchased by the city for $500,000 from the family of the late Dr. Donald Benson and the Michilimackinac Historical Society will operate it.

Judi Engle, president of the Michilimackinac Historical Society, shows an early 1700s French sword and French flint lock pistol. Both items are one of many authenticated artifacts in Fort de Buade Museum.

Four stipulations have to be met by the Bensons before the purchase is executed:

1) They must provide a warranty deed for the real estate and a warranty bill of sale for personal property; provide a title insurance policy showing marketable title for the real estate; provide a required deed tax; provide an updated environmental test on the property's soil, called a Baseline Environmental Assessment.

The environmental assessment is required because, years ago, the building housed Wing's Garage, and concern has been expressed to whether the soil is contaminated with fuel and oil.

City Attorney Prentiss Brown Jr. said the tribe assessed the property two years ago but he was unable to retrieve the study before Monday's meeting.

The agreement also states that the Michilimackinac Historical Society will be responsible for management of business operations of the museum, which includes a retail store. It stipulates that no property or any items in the collection will be sold without written consent from the tribe and the city, that the museum and its contents will be covered under the city's insurance, and that the city will not use local tax revenue to purchase or operate the facility.

Mr. Brown said the purchase of Fort de Buade Museum will comprise three contracts, one between the tribe and the city for the funds, one between the city and the historical society for museum operation, and one between the city and the Benson family to transfer ownership.

Some residents said they are concerned that the building is in poor repair. Acity inspection in late April, presented to Council's Fort De Buade Committee, recommended that that building's electrical system should be rewired and a fire sprinkler system installed.

Other residents cautioned that city ownership would reduce property tax revenues.

"I'm not against the idea," said resident Dean Baker, "the collection should be preserved, but I don't like to see a piece of property taken off the tax rolls."

He later suggested that it is essential that the property ultimately be returned to the tax rolls and that a deadline be established by which to sell the building.

Jennifer McGraw, vice president of the Michilimackinac Historical Society and a real estate appraiser, quickly pointed out, however, that the annual taxes amount to $8,000, while the tribe's grant would contribute more than 80 years of that.

Mr. Brown said the goal is to preserve Dr. Benson's collection, much of it indigenous to St. Ignace's French, Jesuit, and Native American culture and history.

"Don't look negatively at this," warned Mr. Brown, "because I think it's going to encourage people to come here and build here and hopefully build our tax base."

He later said the city hopes eventually to get the property back on the tax rolls, which would mean the museum would have to find a new location or that the Michilimackinac Historical Society is able to purchase it after the agreement is complete in six years.

One resident questioned if the city should take on a business that is not proven to be self-sustaining, pointing out the city still struggles with losses at Little Bear East Community Center and Arena.

Councilman Don Gustafson, a member of the Fort de Buade Committee, which reviewed the proposal, cautioned that the city must be confident and make sure the purchasing plan is well thought out.

"It is clear that no one wants to see (the collection) leave or be taken that we also have to protect the city's investment. The city cannot buy any building without having clear title or having an environmental assessment done on it. We would be negligent.

"The only tax issue, or subsidy from the city," he noted, "would be to include this building and its contents in the city's insurance policy."

Councilman Willie LaLonde said the city tried to purchase only the collection, but the Benson family insisted the building be sold with it.

Public support from the audience was overwhelmingly in favor of the purchase. Some pointed out that the museum could boost tourism, provide a center for education in arts and local heritage, and provide a home for other historic artifacts.

Historical Society President Judy Engle, who has spent the last six months cleaning the museum for preparation of its re-opening Memorial Day weekend, said St. Ignace has long been absent in the promotion of the history of the Straits area. St. Ignace is the French point of the Triangle of History, with Mackinac State Historic Parks promoting the British influence at Mackinaw City and the American military history at Mackinac Island.

Last weekend at a convention of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network on Mackinac Island, which she attended, discussions about St. Ignace were notably absent.

"Nothing was mentioned about St. Ignace history," she noted, "even when they talked about Father Marquette, saying only that he came to Mackinac Island.

"I believe our historic significance is first and foremost," she continued. "We need to draw people here, and this gives us the opportunity. It tells the story of our city's history."

Ms. Engle also read two letters of support for the proposal, one from Father Jim Williams, pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church and a member of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, and one from Timothy Kent, a historian and author of Straits area history, including a two-volume history of the fur trade and military activity at Ft. de Buade.

She also said the Benson collection includes many rare artifacts, including genealogy information from the Santigo Native American settlement near Moran in the 1800s, which include photographs and hand-made crafts.

"There is a piece of history there that would just be taken out of our town and lost," said Ms. Engle.

Mrs. McGraw read several family names that exist today which can be traced to ancestors through the museum.

John "Ollie" Boynton of St. Ignace resident, a former councilman, remembers when the city missed an opportunity more than 30 years ago to support a plan to have the Mackinac Island State Park Commission recreate Fort de Buade by the Mackinac Bridge. He said the city did not support it because the location was not historically accurate.

"I think we should give (the tribe) all the cooperation we can and let's not let Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island beat us out again," he said. "Let's get on the ball and do this."

Business owner Elizabeth Brown believes that all businesses in St. Ignace and in the Eastern Upper Peninsula could greatly benefit from the people such a museum could draw.

"I heard the city say they want to do something for the downtown community because we are losing businesses right, left, and center," she said. "Some of us are hanging on by a thread." She added, "If we don't do something to bring people into our downtown business area, more people are going to close their doors.

"It's obvious we need something in St. Ignace,, and everybody talks about it, but nobody knows what to do, but this is the beginning right here. I want the City Council to be behind this 100 percent because this is one of the answers to a large problem we have in the community."

Cathy Hollowell of Clark Township agreed.

"Here it is our 50-year anniversary of the Mackinac Bridge," she said. "It certainly had an impact economically on St. Ignace, and what better to commemorate this year and get behind the next 50 years."

Cheryl Schlehuber, another member of the Historical Society and a business owner, said cultural tourism is an economic trend and Fort de Buade Museum would be a tool for St. Ignace to turn its depressed tourism industry around.

"This country is undergoing a new trend of living," said Mrs. Schlehuber, "and what used to work in the past is no longer working and St. Ignace is a very good indication of that because tourism is down and the tourism in the state has been going down every year for the last 20 years.

"Even though there has been a lot of controversy about the condition of the building, there are many buildings that are much worse and I've seen what you can do with buildings," she added. "It's a prime location in the downtown area; it's in a great walking location. I feel there's great value in that building and I'm not saying that structure has to be there forever but it's a great spot for that museum to continue until we have grander plans in the future. I do believe this can work and I hope you will support it."

Tribal member Daryl Brown, a volunteer worker at the museum, said he had repeat visitors last summer and has received great response from visitors and residents wanting to know more about what was inside the museum.

"This collection has a very, very unique value," he said. "It represents a complete history of St. Ignace, and not just about the Indian artifacts. The whole part of our history is in there, the French, the Indians, and the Jesuits."

He said the museum can house artifacts not just from the past but from today and tomorrow.

"The history we have today, what do we leave behind for 50 to 100 years from now?" he asked. "If you have a museum, it is a great opportunity for us who are living today who are exercising and living our culture, to make donations to a collection that can be told 100 years from now, 200 years from now."

Annegret Goehring of Hessel, a member of the Eastern Upper Peninsula History Consortium, believes keeping the collection would be a valuable asset for St. Ignace, especially for its future.

"I just wanted to make you realize that keeping the collection together and here is valuable to many other organizations," she said. Dr. Benson "collected many great things and he knew what he was collecting. Apparently, that is something you need to honor and follow through with."