INSIDE
: Buttons & Bows celebrates 55th anniversary Volume 2, Issue 33 JANUARY 10, 2025
REFLECTIONS OF OUR COMMUNITY
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YOUR LOCALLYOWNED OWNEDAND AND OPERATED OPERATED NONPROFIT NEWS SOURCE YOUR LOCALLY NONPROFIT NEWS SOURCE Thank you to this week’s donors towards our Lead this Legacy Fundraising Campaign Margaret Haynes
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Bonnie Nicholas
Terry & Brenda Brinkman
Donald & Mayme Wyns
A pathway takes shape to save the historic Red Barn in Pentwater By AnnaMae Bush The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent
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“Save the Red Barn” was the rallying cry that brought 40 area residents to a meeting at Centenary United Methodist Church in Pentwater on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, at 1 p.m. The group included Pentwater residents who were “lifers” and “newbies,” as well as representatives from the Oceana County Board of Commissioners, the County Parks and Recreation Board and the state Department of Natural Resources. The passion in the group fueled a very lively discussion for two hours. The object of the passion was the 163-year-old red barn built by Charles Mears that greets everyone entering Pentwater on Monroe Road. Saturday’s meeting was a grassroots response that followed on the heels of two recent meetings called
by Keith Edwards, Pentwater Township Zoning Administrator. Edwards initiated a discussion of the barn in the context of a recreation vision the township is exploring. Attendees at the township discussion included Larry Doran (Weare Township administrator), Manny Valdez (Mears State Park director), Peter Kailing (DNR wildlife biologist), Tammy Carey (Oceana County Community Foundation director), Heather Douglas (Pentwater Township treasurer), John Wilson (Hart-Pentwater Trail), Paul Erickson (District 4 County Commissioner) and Sharon Clark, an interested community member. Clark began a Facebook page, Red Barn of Pentwater, to disseminate information and gain broader support for saving the barn. She also organized the meeting on Saturday. Clearly surprised by the turnout, Clark said, “I am delighted to see all of you. I didn’t know what to expect, but I know it will take all of us working together to accomplish our goal.” Clark opened the meeting with a slide presentation that outlined basic questions about the barn and what steps in the past have failed to preserve it. Clark said, “The first big question is, ‘Who owns the red barn?’ And the answer is a mystery.” The barn is a local icon that has captured the interest of many people over the years and been the catalyst for past efforts to preserve the structure from falling apart and to give it a new purpose. After the community raised funds for painting the barn and fixing the roof through the Pentwater Historical Society, a “Red Barn Preserva• Paul Erickson/Echo
tion Fund” was established at the Oceana Community Foundation in 2016 with the remaining balance. For decades since the 1960s, the barn was used to store equipment from the Mears State Park. But that ceased two to three years ago. “In going through our records, I found a signed agreement between the DNR and the state park that we would stop using the red barn once we had a storage facility on the park grounds that was sufficient to our needs,” Manny Valdez, park director, reported. “In addition, it was about that time we noticed the deterioration of the foundation and found evidence that homeless people were camping out in the barn and using burn barrels for comfort. Both factors put the building at risk. We didn’t need it, so we stopped using it.” The risk factors remain, for the facility and for unauthorized users. Today $14,000 is gaining interest in the OCF fund for preservation work. Yet the longterm goal of owning and maintaining the barn has remained elusive. The reasons are complicated. For starters, both federal and state governments have a stake in the property even though no one claims ownership of the building. The land on which the barn is located was donated by Carrie Mears for conservation. The land, but not the building, is under the jurisdiction of the Michigan State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and managed by the Wildlife Division. Since 1937, federal funding through the Pittman Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act has supported the Mears parcel. The funding is derived from excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment, collected by the federal government and then distributed to the states. States often match
these funds for wildlife restoration with a portion of proceeds from hunting and fishing license fees. The forty-acre parcel with the red barn is maintained for wildlife with funds from these two sources. The barn itself is actually a liability for the DNR. Kailing clearly stated, “The DNR doesn’t have the money or the desire to fix it.” His most recent letter declared it is on a demolition list. Kailing did offer an alternative way forward. First, the DNR is willing to issue a “use permit” to a local entity (i.e. a township, community organization or the like) to fix existing holes in the wood siding and foundation of the barn to weatherize it and minimize deterioration. The designated entity would have one year to engage a contractor and complete the repairs. Second, the DNR is willing to wait three years for the local community to organize support, raise funding, and find a parcel of land to trade for the barn and some acreage around it. The DNR is interested in private land holdings within the Pentwater State Game Area, especially a 40-acre parcel south of the barn with Pentwater riverfront, upstream from Sandy Bend. The federal funds invested in the property prevent the DNR from selling the property, but a trade is possible. After three years, if a trade is not successful, the DNR will make the barn available through an auction for disposal. It could be moved to another location. However, the sentiment ex-
pressed by local residents has been to preserve the barn in its original location. Clark voiced, “It is an icon that has welcomed everyone to Pentwater for one and a half centuries. It will lose much of its value if it is moved elsewhere.” Erickson engaged in dialogue with state DNR officials several times and shared additional comments from Kailing. “The Wildlife Division mission… is about growing wildlife and creating wildlife habitat, not buildings or classrooms, for example. Therefore [we would] not consider repairing or operating the barn as a…nature center or similar, as has been suggested.” Erickson is confident that the use permit will be received soon. He is in contact with the potential landowner of the trade property, who owns a company that specializes in moving houses and raising houses to put new foundations under them. The company estimates that the work to put a new foundation under the barn that will preserve the appearance of the original foundation will cost approximately $150,000. Reports from those who have seen the barn interior are very encouraging. Mears built the barn from native hardwood trees on his property. Wilson assured the group, “The post and beam construction has held up very well. The hand-hewn beams are held together with wooden peg fasteners and are beautiful. The interior is dry and the roof is solid.” Rumored to be the oldest structure in the county,
the barn has historical significance because it was used in experimental fruit farming that produced the earliest peaches grown in the state. If restored, it could be another gem in the community. The challenge has been spelled out. Find an entity willing to assume leadership and responsibility for the project. Raise $150,000 within a year to pay for the most urgent repairs. Find a suitable parcel of land to swap with the DNR for the barn and the land immediately around it within the next three years. After many disappointments and dead ends over the years, there is finally a path forward toward the goal of restoring and reusing the red barn on Monroe. All readers interested in helping reach that goal are urged to follow the Facebook page, “Red Barn of Pentwater,” for information updates, and to send donations (designated for the Red Barn Fund) to the Oceana Community Foundation.
Sidebar: In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Pittman Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which provides funding for wildlife conservation, restoration and hunter education in the U.S. The funding is derived from excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment, collected by the federal government and then distributed to the states. Federal law controls how the Mears-donated land and the barn can be used. Their use must be related to hunting and fishing. This restricts how the restored barn can be repurposed in the future.