CHICAGO — General Services Administration (GSA) announced Friday that on March 22, a Notice of Availability which stated that the light at the Lower Entry of the Keweenaw Waterway has been determined to be in excess to the needs of the U.S. Coast Guard.

GSA is an independent agency of the United States government. It was established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies by providing centralized procurement for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet and overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts. GSA’s mission, states the release, is to deliver value and savings in real estate, acquisition, technology and other mission-support services across government, in support of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities.

The Lower Entrance Light is located at the offshore end of a breakwater extending southward from shore at the mouth of the Portage River. The 1920 structure consists of a timber crib foundation and concrete pier, atop of which is a single story concrete machine room, topped with a three-story octagonal steel tower with a circular lantern.

The history of the South Entry being opened to allow for the passage of cargo and passenger vessels dates to 1859, when a number mining companies, together with a number of businessmen, located along the shores of Houghton and Hancock, organized the Portage River Improvement Company. Among the largest contributors of funds was the Pewabic Mining Company, which contributed $10,000 to the river improvement company. The Quincy mine and the Isle Royale mine, in Houghton, were also large contributors.

Necessary funds were quickly raised to start the work, which consisted of widening the river, eliminating a sandbar, and erecting a breakwall at the mouth of the dredged channel. The work was contracted to W.W. Williams of New York. John H. Forster was the engineer. Less than a year later, in 1860, the first steamer, from Detroit, the Illinois, loaded with 140 tons of cargo, became the first ship to sail up the river and reach the growing town of Houghton. moored at the wharf in Houghton.

According to Lighthouse Friends, a committee was dispatched to the Great Lakes in 1863 to report on the necessity of proposed lighthouses. The committee recommended several new lights be built on Lake Superior to support the burgeoning iron and copper trade. One of these lights was a small light at the end of the pier extending from the mouth of Portage River. The dredged entrance channel was not much wider than a steamer, and in order to enter it at night, a vessel had to first lower a small boat and send out a lantern to mark the entrance. The committee felt that the keeper of Portage River Lighthouse could mind the pier light, as it was only a 15-minute-walk away, and recommended that he be paid an additional $200 to do so.

Lighthousefriends goes on to state that In 1866, Congress appropriated $1,500 on April 7, and another $6,000 on July 28, for the construction of range lights to mark the entrance to Portage River from Keweenaw Bay. Title to the proposed sites for the lights was obtained in May 1867, and the range lights were constructed during the 1868 season. The rear light was exhibited from a short tower atop a five-room keeper’s dwelling, while the front light shone from a wooden tower. The structures used for Portage Range were similar to those erected during the same time period at Eagle Harbor, Copper Harbor, Baileys Harbor, Grand Island, and Presque Isle. Earl Edgerton was hired as the first keeper responsible for Portage Entry Range Lights.

The range lights were situated in a low marsh on the west side of the river and connected by a plank walk that spanned the 728 feet between them. As the walkway was flooded during periods of high water or by the wash of passing steamboats, the Lighthouse Board requested $900 in 1870 to elevate the walkway and towers. In 1884, the crib around the front tower was raised one foot, and the keeper’s dwelling was raised two feet and a cellar placed under it.

On August 3, 1891, the federal government purchased the 25-mile-long Keweenaw Waterway, then set about making improvements. In 1897, the Lighthouse Board published a Notice to Mariners describing a number of new lights along the waterway that were activated that August. In total, there were over 20 lights that marked the waterway.

Work began on June 21,1913, on a new harbor of refuge located just inside the mouth of Portage River, consisting of a basin and a 2,000-foot-long mooring pier. As the improvements were nearing completion, Congress provided $100,000 on June 12, 1917 for new navigation aids to mark the outer end of the breakwater and for electric lights along the Portage River portion of the waterway.

Completed in 1920, the Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light is located on Lake Superior’s Keweenaw Bay. Accessible from White City Park near Jacobsville, this light sits at the end of a half-mile concrete breakwater. The steel octagonal lighthouse stands upon a square concrete base, rising 68 feet above the lake level to the active beacon at the top. Diamond-shaped windows in the lantern room and the iron parapet create a distinctive appearance unlike any other in the Great Lakes.

GSA’s Friday release states that the light station is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and must be maintained according to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

“The light station is located on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigational structure such as a breakwater, jetty or pier,” the release says. “For access to and utilization of the light station, the selected steward must obtain the required authorization from the U.S. COE district office having jurisdiction for the navigational structure.”

Pursuant to the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, 54 U.S.C.305102, this property is now being made available at no cost to eligible entities defined as:

— Federal agencies.

— State and local agencies.

— Non-profit corporations.

— Educational agencies or community development organizations for educational purposes.

— Park, recreational, cultural or historic preservation purposes.

Any eligible entity with an interest in acquiring the property for a use consistent with the purposes stated above should submit a letter of interest to the address below within 60 days from the date of the notice.

Letters of interest should include:

— Name of property

— Name of eligible entity

— Point of contact, title, address, phone and email

— Non-profit agencies must provide a copy of their state-certified articles of incorporation before the end of the 60-day notice period.

Eligible entities that submit a letter of interest will be sent an application from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and given an opportunity to inspect the property. Building inspectors and/or contractors may accompany the applicant on the inspection.The application is due within 90 days from the date of the site inspection.

The NPS will review all applications submitted and may recommend a steward to receive the property. If a recommendation is made, the General Services Administration will complete the conveyance to the selected steward with a quitclaim deed. Pursuant to Section 309 of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, the property will be sold if it is not transferred to a public body or non-profit organization.

Letters of interest should be directed to:

Mr. Luke Barrett

luke.barrett@gsa.gov

230 South Dearborn Street

Room 3540 for U.S. Mail or Room 3329 for UPS/FedEx

Chicago, IL 60604 

The marketing and sales effort is being handled by GSA’s New England Region Real Property Utilization and Disposal Division. The division provides realty services to federal agencies throughout the region, as well as in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.