Thursday’s Door County Legislative Committee meeting included debate over a statement of support for the Potawatomi Tower. Earlier this week, the Department of Natural Resources sent letters to Christie Weber MacDonald of the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society and State Representative for the First District Joel Kitchens. The agency said it continues to recommend demolition of the existing structure similar to the action taken at Peninsula State Park with the Eagle Tower. Kitchens and Assemblyman Robert Cowles of Allouez have come out in support of an alternative plan which would register the tower as a historical site and allow repairs to be done without bringing the structure into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The Sturgeon Bay Historical Society has a verbal agreement with a contractor from Oregon to be able to complete repairs this fall in just ten days for a price of approximately $250,000. A new tower would cost millions.

Destination Sturgeon Bay and the Town of Nasewaupee have joined Kitchens in offering support for the Historical Society plan. Most members were open to the idea, including Chairman Bob Bultman. 

The statement is expected to be finalized in committee so that it can go before the full Board of Supervisors by September. The State of Wisconsin owns Potawatomi Tower, and the Department of Natural Resources maintains oversight since it is located inside a state park. DNR has ultimate authority over its fate, but the Wisconsin Historical Society can affect things if it weighs in with a designation to place the structure on the state or national Register of Historic Places. Potawatomi Tower’s addition to the register is scheduled for debate at the group’s September meeting.