Clipper to move to Mart Dock

October 27, 2007
By Terry Judd
Muskegon Chronicle

Almost 10 years after it was towed to a temporary site in Muskegon, the S.S. Milwaukee Clipper is returning to its original berth at West Michigan Dock & Market, joining LST-393 and the Port City Princess.

Ray Hilt, president of S.S. Milwaukee Clipper Preservation Inc., said his organization has finalized plans to move the Clipper from the foot of McCracken Street to the Mart Dock. Plans call for the Clipper to be parked behind LST-393 and the Port City Princess. Ironically, the site is where the Clipper was based when it offered Muskegon-to-Milwaukee service for 39 years before being retired in 1970.

Hilt expressed hope the Clipper could be towed to the new site before the end of the year, after the preservation group receives site plan approval from Muskegon and is given the OK by the U.S. Coast Guard to tow the vessel. Because the Clipper technically is considered a building, site plan review and approval is needed from the city's planning commission, he said.

The pending move was announced Friday in Grand Rapids by Max McKee, president of West Michigan Dock & Market. The McKee family owned and operated the Clipper through its Muskegon-based Wisconsin & Michigan Steamship Co.

"This is very exciting for us," Hilt said. "We're very pleased to see the Clipper going to a new home."

Hilt said talks with McKee began in earnest in mid-summer and the two sides were able to hammer out a draft agreement in September. Hilt said McKee signed documents finalizing berthing arrangements Thursday, but details are not being publicly released under a confidentiality agreement. Hilt said the preservation association will be paying a dockage fee that falls within its limited budget.

Hilt said the original ticket office, currently used by the Port City Princess, will be remodeled to sell tickets also for LST-393 and the Clipper.

The announcement marks a decade-long effort to find a permanent site for the 361-foot-long Clipper. Ever since the ship was towed into Muskegon on Dec. 2, 1997, it has been "temporarily" berthed at the former Grand Trunk Railroad docks, now owned by Andrie Inc. Hilt said through the years, a number of sites for the ship have been considered.

In 2004, the preservation group and the city agreed in principle to have the Clipper berthed at Hartshorn Marina. But the ship never moved because making it fully accessible at the site would have cost about $1 million.

Hilt said the Mart Dock site does not require major dredging or any modifications to the seawall. Still, the preservation group faces the daunting task of having the Clipper meet building fire, safety and accessibility codes. The Mart Dock site most likely will require the eventual construction of a multi-story access tower off the port side of the ship to provide emergency exits and required elevator service. In addition, the site does not have a nearby supply of water or sewer.

But the move is important because it finally gives the Clipper an address, a long-standing requirement for the preservation group to seek restoration grants.

"This now allows us to seek grant funds," Hilt said. "The trouble is ... grants are not available right now because of the economy."

The pending move also is important because it finally frees up the Grand Trunk property. Hilt said Clipper preservationists are grateful for Andrie Inc., which allowed the ship to stay for close to a decade.

"If it weren't for the Andries, the Clipper could not have been saved," Hilt said. "Let's face it, we overstayed. It's time we moved."

The Milwaukee Clipper's roots trace back to the turn of the 20th century and the Erie & Western Transportation Corp., a steamship company owned and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad that launched the steamship Juniata in December 1904.

The ship that was to become the Clipper, the Juniata was launched eight years before the Titanic, and began regular service in May 1905. The ship sailed as the Juniata for 31 years, mostly between Buffalo, N.Y., and Duluth, Minn., before it was mothballed in 1937 because of its fire-prone wooden superstructure.

In 1940, the Muskegon-based Wisconsin & Michigan Steamship Co. purchased the Juniata and converted it to the Milwaukee Clipper. The Clipper shuttled passengers and cargo from Muskegon to Milwaukee for 39 years before it was retired in 1970.

The Clipper remained berthed in Muskegon for eight years before it was sold and towed to Chicago's Navy Pier as a floating attraction. In 1990, the ship was purchased by the Hammond, Ind., Port Authority, which attempted to make it into a centerpiece attraction for its large Lake Michigan marina.

The Clipper was towed to Muskegon in late 1997 after being purchased by a nonprofit group now known as the S.S. Milwaukee Clipper Preservation Inc.

The ship has been listed on the National Register of Historic Sites since 1983 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

© 2007 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission