County makes case for marine sanctuary headquarters in Port

Local officials said last week they believe Port Washington has some significant advantages over Sheboygan and Manitowoc to be the location of a multi-million dollar research center for a federal shipwreck sanctuary along the western shore of Lake Michigan.

The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, created in 2021 and operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, spans four counties, covering 962 square miles, from Port Washington north to Two Rivers and includes 36 “nationally significant historic shipwrecks” and about 60 suspected wrecks, according to a facility study published last July.

The sanctuary will require a “NOAA presence” in Port, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Two Rivers, to include infrastructure, research, education and outreach facilities.

While no money has been allocated, the facilities study calls for spending $380,500 to improve the lighthouse and 1860 light station museum, including improving the stairway to the bluff overlooking the harbor, and $380,000 for improving the Port Washington Historical Society’s Resource Center downtown, including facilitating educational programs.

In all the study calls for spending more than $12 million.

The biggest piece is $8.33 million for a sanctuary marine research and administrative center, which would attract researchers from around the country.

The location of the center has yet to be determined.

Ozaukee County officials last week said they think Port Washington has a good shot at landing the center.

“We think there are some real strong advantages” for putting the center in Port, county Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck told members of the Natural Resources Committee, who voted unanimously to continue supporting the development of the sanctuary.

Those include Port’s harbor being the deepest of the four communities and more suitable for research vessels.

Another advantage is that Coal Dock Park is undeveloped and suitable as a building site.

Finally, Struck said, since most of the traffic to the sanctuary would come from the south, including from the Milwaukee and Chicago airports, Port Washington would be ideal as the gateway to the sanctuary.

Struck said the research center would likely be a campus that would include housing for visiting researchers.

“There will be a real need for housing the researchers on site,” he said, which also makes Port’s proximity to Milwaukee attractive.

Committee member Tony Matera, a former member of Port’s Plan Commission and the city’s Coal Dock Park Restoration Committee, agreed that Port’s harbor, vacant land and proximity to Milwaukee all work in its favor.

He said Port has other advantages as well, including the nearness of Port’s downtown to the lakefront.

“I think it fits our downtown charm,  we’ve embraced our shipwreck history. I think it would be great,” he said.

The facilities study had high praise for Port’s facilities. The Historical Society’s Resource Center, for instance is “highly visible” and  “provides an excellent opportunity to engage both residents and visitors.”

A “connected visitor experience” exists by improving a pathway and staircase between the resource center, lighthouse and Light Station Museum.

“In this way, each location is both a standalone asset and part of a broader experience that would be of interest to residents,

visitors, educators, and students,” the facilities study says.

“This arrangement lends itself nicely to formal and informal educational programming, as well as branding and marketing. Port Washington’s rich maritime heritage and culture, shipwrecks and national heritage, research and exploration, and Lake Michigan conservation are all thematic areas that could be presented within this connected experience.”

Capturing the center would be a major coup, officials said.

“It would mean a significant investment” in whatever community the center is  placed, Struck said.

“The county should covet this,” County Administrator Jason Dzwinel told the committee. “Anything we can do to show we’re a willing partner will be good.”

“This is exciting,” Matera said. “It will be a national attraction. Port’s already on the map but it will be another investment in our community. It will be an economic boon.”

A 15-member advisory council, whose members are drawn from the local communities in Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Ozaukee and Sheboygan counties, is providing advice and recommendations on management of the sanctuary as well as its location.