A new group may take over as manager and caretaker of St. Ignace's Fort de Buade Museum and its trove of artifacts, owing to plans by the Michilimackinac Historical Society to step aside as dayto day managers of the facility and make room for a separate organization to take the reins.

When the historical society entered into a lease agreement with the City of St. Ignace, the goal was to rescue the museum and its artifacts, but not to provide long-term management, said Jennifer McGraw, Michilimackinac Historical Society vice president.

"It has always been our plan that the two things should become separate so one doesn't swallow the other," Mrs. McGraw said. "Saving the museum for the area was our goal, it wasn't long-term management."

Others serving on the historical society's board of directors are President Judi Engle, Treasurer Tom Pfeiffelmann, Secretary Linda Bennett, and directors Nancy Dandona, Father Norbert Landreville, Ollie Boynton, David Walker, Prentiss M. "Moie" Brown, Jr., Keith Massaway, and Cheryl Schlehuber.

Ms. Engle, who is also the Fort de Buade museum director, said a committee of historical society board members has already gathered to plan the transition of management from the existing organization to a yet-to-be-formed group, which will likely be called "Friends of Fort de Buade."

Ms. Engle, Fr. Landreville, Ms. Dandona, and Mr. Massaway have expressed interest in serving on this new board, she said, and Mr. Walker has volunteered to be part of the transition committee but will not likely serve on the new organization's board of directors.

Mr. Walker said he agrees with many of the historical society's directors who have felt the museum takes up too much of the society's time, not allowing for a focus on what he called a "broader history" of the area.

"They were finding that the museum was taking so much energy away from the historical society," he said. "The museum really needs its own board to focus just on that."

A large collection of historical artifacts was amassed at the museum by the late Dr. Donald "Doc" Benson and, in July 2007, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians entered into an agreement with the City of St. Ignace to provide $118,398 each year until June 2012 to purchase the museum artifacts, the real estate, and some start-up management costs. The largest portion of this yearly contribution goes directly to paying off the mortgage, about $80,000 a year.

In August 2007, the Michilimackinac Historical Society signed a lease with the city to manage the museum rent-free until October 31, 2010. Since then, a committee of City Council members has provided financial oversight, authorizing yearly and special periodic funding from the tribal contributions to help the society run the museum .

Serving on the Fort de Buade Committee are Mayor Paul Grondin, Council Members Don Gustafson and Willie LaLonde, and non-voting members City Attorney Prentiss M. Brown Jr., Ms. Engle representing the historical society, and Keith Massaway representing the Sault tribe.

In 2009, Ms. Engle reported that the museum's net income was

2.41, and admitted that more revenue would need to be collected to provide a sustainable financial plan once tribal contributions cease in 2012.

"We need at least $20,000 a year to run that museum," she said. "In the future, that is what the Friends of Fort de Buade will be doing, assessing what is going to work here."

The museum took in $47,891 in 2009, which includes $17,166 in donations, $14,085 in sales, and additional contributions from the tribe, administered by the City of St. Ignace. Total expenses for running the museum in 2009 were $47,901.

Since Fort de Buade opened under the management of the historical society, free admission has been offered to visitors, and all revenue has been in the form of gift shop sales, grants, donations, and tribal contributions administered by the City of St. Ignace. Ms. Engle said she plans to keep admission free for guests as long as she is involved in managing the museum.

"I'll fight for that," she said. "It is a huge draw for our town, when families can come here and know that they can do things like this for free."

The museum does not keep track of the numbers of visitors, so growth or decline in visitors is not known.

Some ideas to make the museum more fiscally sustainable, Ms. Engle said, would be to employ college interns instead of paid employees, pursue grants, rent portions of the collection to area schools and museums in traveling exhibits, expand fundraising efforts, and seek regular donors and volunteers.

"We hope to develop a large membership of donors and volunteers," she said. "We are going to get this done. We are going to make this a success story."

The Historical Society is seeking a $7,190 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to bring in two assessors to determine if the current environment housing the artifacts is appropriate.

This initial assessment, Ms. Engle said, is the first step in pursuing a number of other, larger grants, from the same organization, for purposes like building purchases and facility renovation.

"They just come in and identify your problems, reinforce the things you are doing right, and try to identify if you need higher granting," she said. "If you do, they propose a long-term and a short-term plan for you and recommend you for those higher grants."

One of the assessors is Andrea Riegler, an architect from Hooker/ De Jong Architects in Muskegon, and the other is Elisa Redman, a collections assessor from the Midwest Art Conservation Center in Minneappolis, Minnesota. Both plan to visit and assess the museum in May before the museum opens for the summer.

"We wouldn't have had such a good chance if we just applied without their recommendation," Ms. Engle said. "This is what we have been waiting for. Once this happens, all kinds of doors open."

Once tribal funding ceases in 2012, which is the same year the City of St. Ignace will make its final payment on the mortgage for the museum building and property, City Manager Eric Dodson said the city's role will shift from financial oversight to simply being the lessor of the building and its collection.

The St. Ignace City Council has been very clear, Mr. Dodson said, in stating that the city will not use taxpayers' money to support the operation of the museum after the tribal contribution ceases, although he said the city does feel it has a responsibility to protect the collection of artifacts it has purchased with help from the tribe.

"I think we have an obligation to protect the collection and seek out people who are interested in preserving and displaying it," he said.

It remains to be seen, Mr. Dodson said, what the terms of a lease would be with the museum's

managing body after tribal contributions cease.

Buyer Workshop Is Wednesday

This decision, which would include any rent sought by the city for the use of the property, would be up to City Council.

When the historical society separates itself from Fort de Buade museum management, Mrs. Mc- Graw said they will have more time to work on other projects that have been neglected

while the group focused on making the museum a viable operation.

"It is a huge project to keep the museum going," she said. "We have found that all of our meetings focus mostly on issues with the museum."

These new planned projects for the historical society, Mrs. Mc- Graw said, could include collecting local historical documents and eventually creating a document repository, writing and publishing more books about local history, and the possible addition of a historical driving tour along US-2, designed particularly to interest children. These are only initial ideas, Mrs. McGraw said, and the board would make decisions about what programs the society would pursue.

The Michilimackinac Historical Society meets the second Thursday of each month. In the summer months, these meetings are in the Fort de Buade museum, and they are held in various locations around town when the museum is closed in winter.

The Board of Directors is elected annually from society members by its membership, who are all invited to the monthly meetings. The next board election will likely be in May, according to Ms. Engle.

Those interested in joining the historical society or finding out more about meetings may contact Ms. Engle at 643-8740 or Mrs. McGraw at 643-9613. A minimum donation to the society of $25 for individuals and $35 for families is required for membership.