Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes April 28, 2026

 

Quarterly Public Meeting
Keweenaw NHP Headquarters
April 28, 2026

Present:

Commissioners:

• Glenn Anderson, State of Michigan (President)

• Gerald Juntunen, Commissioner, at-large (Vice President)

• Dan Jamison, at-large (Treasurer)

• Karin Cooper, Houghton County (Secretary)

• Thomas Helppi, Calumet Township

• Andrew Ranville, Village of Calumet

• Mary Sears, Franklin and Quincy Townships

Executive Director

• Sean Gohman

National Park Service (NPS)

• Denice Swanke, Isle Royale National Park

• Amber Kraft, Keweenaw National Historical Park

• Anne Lewellen, Keweenaw National Historical Park

• Karl Dietsler, Keweenaw National Historical Park

• Robert Maxon, Keweenaw National Historical Park

 

Decisions and Announcements

• Keweenaw Heritage Grant awards will be announced mid-May, with $150,000 in grants to be awarded.

• Spring Heritage Sites meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 20 at the park’s Visitor Center. Details to come in calendar invites.

A.1. Call to Order

A regular meeting of the Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission was opened at 1:02 p.m., Tuesday, April 28, 2026.

A.2. Introductions

Guests:

• Gina Nicholas, KORC

• Dean Juntunen, OCHS

• Mel Jones & Karen Hintz, KCHS

• Nathan Jones, Calumet Theatre

• Vince Kanthak & Chris Timoen, PM&S

• Marcia Slater, Hanka Homestead

• Gaylord Faull, QMHA

• Adrienne Detanico, IRKPA

• Penny Menze, Calumet

• Beth Baker, Agassiz House

A.3. Approval of Agenda for January 13, 2026

• Motion made by Juntunen to approve. Seconded by Jamison. Motion carried (7/0).

A.4. Approval of Minutes of January 13, 2025

• Motion made by Jamison to approve minutes. Seconded by Ranville. Motion carried (7/0).

B.1. Superintendent and Staff Report

• Denice Swanke, Superintendent of Isle Royale National Park, sat in today’s meeting in lieu of KNHP not having a current Superintendent in place.

  • Four KNHP staff members (Amber Kraft, Anne Lewellen, Karl Dietzler, and Robert Maxon) are rotating as Acting Superintendents on a monthly basis.

• There is no mechanism in place at the moment to fill permanent positions due to the ongoing hiring freeze in the Federal Government, but the Superintendent, Historical Architect, and Historian are up for appointment once that freeze is lifted.

• Otherwise, it is business as usual at KNHP, with several projects planned for the rest of this fiscal year.

  • Details can be found in the staff reports in attachment at end of the document.

Questions for the Superintendent

None

B. 2. Executive Director’s Report

Financials

• We’ve received all our funds this fiscal year: $100,000 for operations and $150,000 for projects related to work at the smelter.

• Our funding agreement paperwork for FY27 ($125,000) was initiated this month. I have till May 22nd to complete.

• Billings mostly related to school trip/bus reimbursements and smelter utilities.

• Travel reimbursement for trip to Norfolk, VA at end of May ($1,629.06)

Heritage Grant Updates

• Nineteen applications were received asking for roughly $215,000 to go towards a total of $529,000 in projects.

• Award decisions are to be made in the next two weeks, followed by notifications.

Quincy Smelter Operations

• $1,086.32 spent this fiscal. All on utilities.

• QMHA wants to keep investing in the smelter and improving their tour offerings there.

• Some of our funding is to be used this summer for safeing projects, mostly tackling masonry (plugging up openings). The rest is for us to decide.

• Replacing the introduction sign at the fence entrance. Should be done this summer.

• Historic Resources Study of the smelter is in draft form. I and NPS staff are reviewing it for final draft.

Completed and Ongoing Projects for FY26

• School Bus grant program: $445.45 reimbursed last quarter. $1,748.19 spent this fiscal on the program this fiscal year.

• Several requests have been made. There is roughly $1,000 left but will be spent soon.

• Working with KEWE Interp team on guidebook focused on the Heritage Sites for potential sale in Visitor Center and gift shops (ongoing). Possibly looking to contract some of this work out.

• Working on a content creation project with Alexis Dahl to tell the story of the park.

• Working with Kasey Koski on a large-scale art piece for the smelter this summer.

• Working with QMHA on installation of interpretive trail from shaft rockhouse to locomotive house. QMHA approved $25k to go along with $35k commitment from commission.

Travel

• Traveling to Norfolk, VA for the Society for Industrial Archeology annual conference. May 28-31.

• I am there leading the charge for next year’s conference to be hosted here in Houghton.

• I am also on the ballot to serve on the SIA Board.

Action Items

• Working with Bring Back Calumet and TNC-Heartlands on various projects related to historic preservation of buildings (Ruppe Block) and landscapes (Heartlands acreage).

• Sitting on the Copper Country Scenic Byway committee (ongoing).

• Working with the Society for Industrial Archeology and the Mining History Association to plan a 2027 joint conference based in Houghton but visiting sites all over the Keweenaw (early June, 2027).

• Spring Heritage Sites meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 20 at the park’s Visitor Center. Details to come in calendar invites.

Questions for the Director

None

B.3. Financial Reports

A. Budget/Finance

• Motion to approve billing in the amount of $3,035.12 made by Juntunen and seconded by Jamsion. Motion carried (7/0).

• Motion to approve payroll and tax payments in the amount of $19,675.62 made by Jamison and seconded by Helppi. Motion carried (7/0).

B.4. Requests to Commission

None

B.5. Commissioner Reports

None

C.1. Comments from legislators or legislative staff

None

C.2. Comments from Keweenaw Heritage Site representatives

A. Vince Kanthak, Painesdale Mine & Shaft

• Ongoing preservation projects at the Champion #4 site, including column repair on the shaft rockhouse and (hopefully) shingle siding replacement at their Captain’s Office.

B. Dean Juntunen, Ontonagon County Historical Society

• The accessible viewing platform is up and open for use around the Fish Tug on display on the lighthouse grounds. Juntunen also shared stories of researchers being aided by OCHS’s ongoing collections digitization work (funded over the last several years thanks to the Keweenaw Heritage Grant Program). Things are simply easier to find now.

C. Karen Hintz and Mel Jones, Keweenaw County Historical Society

• KCHS museums open June 14^th. 22,000 visitors came through last year. Tuck pointing to take place on the lighthouse this summer, as well as ongoing restoration work on the 36’ life saving boat they have at their life saving museum near the Eagle Harbor marina. It is also the 100-year anniversary of the wreck of the Bangor, so be on the lookout for programming related to that.

D. Marcia Slater, Hanka Homestead

• The museum open May 5th.

E. Nathan Jones, Calumet Theatre

• The Theatre is holding a ‘Sock Hop’ fundraiser to support ongoing preservation efforts, and several other events are scheduled for the summer, so check the theatre’s website and/or box office for more details.

F. Gaylord Faull, QMHA

• Working with the park on new interpretive trail. A new flagpole to be raised over Bridgefest weekend. A new golf cart electric vehicle is being purchased to improve accessibility on the underground tours.

C.3. Comments from the public

A. Penny Menze wanted to introduce everyone present to her newly acquired home on 7^th street in Calumet. Just north of the Italian Hall site, the Cudihy House was built for the Calumet Theater’s manager and designed by Shand, the same architect who designed the Theatre. Menze hopes to restore the home and turn it into an interpretive and performance space, with Heritage Site status an aim as well.

B. Beth Baker, Agassiz House

• Looking into opening up the house for tours 1-2 times a week this summer

D. Motion to Adjourn

Moved by Jamison and seconded by Ranville at 2:18 p.m. Motion carried (7/0).


Next public meeting to be held Tuesday, July 14, 2026. Will take place at 1:00pm at Keweenaw NHP Headquarters.