15th Annual S.S. Meteor Preservation 
and 
Stabilization Project

April 27 - 28, 2019

                               

Photo Taken After the Hull Was Painted in July 2014 

     

   

"S.S. Meteor Project Photos"

Please Join us in Making this Preservation Project a Huge Success!

Presented By:

The Great lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society, Superior Public Museums

Lake Superior Marine Museum Association and Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association

Barkers Island Hotel is offering a $60.00 per night room.
Please reserve your room ASAP and before the blocked rooms fill up
The Barkers Island Hotel phone number is, 715-392-7152 
Ask them about the special pricing by mentioning the "Whale-back Cleanup"

SS Meteor Project on Fox 21 Duluth News

Closing Report

S.S. Meteor Preservation Project and Work Weekend 2019

The S.S. Meteor work weekend started out with great weather on Friday for those that arrived early.  We listed over 75 tasks to complete and needed to get started on the first group of action items as soon as possible.
 

This year we have a new Superior Public Museums (SPM) Director, Megan Meyer.  To help her understand the GLSPS process for the last fifteen years, we had multiple meetings with Megan and her staff prior to the Project Work Weekend.  After having a few meetings, we were confident that she was going to be a great replacement for the former Director, Sara Blanck.  She helped recruit Megan.  She did a great job and was gracious to pass on much of the information about the Meteor Project, which made the transition much smoother.  The S.S. Meteor Preservation Project moved forward as usual and on schedule.  Thank you both for making the smooth transition.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of the project/work weekend on Friday, a misunderstanding of the weather delayed the preparation of the ship’s walkway.  We had planned to paint both port and starboard walkways this year, if the weather cooperated.  After a few phone calls to Megan, it was straightened out and the preparation to paint the walkways was underway.

The walkway painting was in the planning stages for several years and weather plays a huge part in what is painted on the outside of the ship.  It was great to be able to paint the outside of the ship this year, and the weather seemed to be cooperating.  By the end of the day on Friday, the port-side walkway was prepped for painting thanks to Kari David and her team!  On Saturday, her team painted the rest of the port-side walkway and started with the preparation on the starboard side.  By the end of day on Sunday, the starboard walkway was painted and on its way into the drying stages.  Thank goodness the weather cooperated with us to be able to finish such a huge action item.

There were many other tasks to complete during the project/work weekend, but too many to list in this article.  You can check out the list of tasks on the GLSPS website under “Project Archives”
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To help the volunteers and staff follow the task list, the GLSPS printed it in a large format to hang up on the display boards inside the ship.  Each task was checked off as it was completed and provided the volunteers with an hour by hour update as to what was finished and what they could move onto next.  It also provided the volunteers a completed list to see if their efforts were making a difference in helping preserve the S.S. Meteor and ultimately maritime history. 
 

One of the huge tasks planned for this project was installing hardware wire mesh on the aft-starboard side of the ship where pigeons roost.  Bird poop was collecting below and making a huge mess and was showing signs of hull deterioration.  Richard Schmidt and his team took on the challenge of installing the wire mesh in the areas where the pigeons roosted.  The efforts paid off as the pigeons couldn’t get in their hidden areas anymore.  Thank you, Richard, for taking on such an important task/action item during the work weekend.

Another huge task was to finish painting the upper engine room.  A couple of years ago Joe and Tony Musial built a platform above the steam engine to paint the upper engine room.  It took a few years to scrape, clean, and apply several coats of paint on the walls and ceiling of the upper engine room.  It was completed as far as it could go and at the end of the project on Sunday, the platform was removed and stored on-board for the next time the upper engine room needed paint.  Thank you to the crew that worked on painting that area and the group from the USN Sea Cadet Corps for taking down the platform and hauling the wood down to the lower deck for storage.

Everyone broke for lunch and discussed progress on their assigned tasks and how much longer they needed to complete it.  Lunch was supplied by Grandma’s Sports Garden (like past years) and they supplied pizza, salad, chips, cookies, and many other food items to help keep the volunteer’s energy level at a peak status.  Thanks to Grandma’s Sports Garden for supplying lunch on both days of the project/work weekend.

Saturday evening the SPM staff invited all the volunteers to the Fairlawn Mansion for a buffet Dinner.  After dinner, they offered a tour of the mansion to the volunteers, and everyone had a GREAT time!  The GLSPS and volunteers would like to thank the SPM and City of Superior for the buffet dinner!

On Sunday, we had fewer volunteers and it was crunch time.  We completed over 35 tasks on Friday and Saturday, but still had many more to complete.  The remaining volunteers had breakfast at the Barkers Inn Hotel/Restaurant before a long day of work on the S.S. Meteor.  After breakfast, some of the remaining volunteers went to work on as many of the remaining tasks as possible.  Some of the volunteers were finishing up the larger tasks they started the day before, and the others started and finished some of the smaller tasks.

Megan’s Staff and I were amazed at what was accomplished that weekend.  Many tasks were crossed off the list, and the ship was looking shipshape for the upcoming year of public touring that takes place after May 15 and throughout the summer months in a typical year.  The Meteor Opens for touring after May 15 on a typical year.
 

The upcoming challenges for the S.S. Meteor are providing ventilation for the ship year-round and making some attempt to seal off certain areas of the ship from water flooding.  This issue is getting to be a challenge and the next project weekend we will need to seriously address the issues associated with the flooding.  The past few years have been rainy, and it is affecting the ship and its integrity.  Flooding means water freezing inside the ship over the winter, and possibly cracking parts of the hull.  We hope to spend more time in the planning of the water flooding.  Fall time is where the SPM may need additional help to seal the ship for the winter months.  If interested, please let us know if you are able to return to the S.S. Meteor to help prepare the ship for winter.

Another program lurking in the background during the work weekend was a film crew shooting videos to help create a much-awaited “S.S. Meteor Documentary” about the history, stabilization, and Preservation project throughout the last fifteen years.  The documentary will take a year or so to complete.  The producer and film crew appreciate the help to create the content for their videos and participating in interviews for the documentary.  We would like to thank those that have helped with the process of telling your stories and the special volunteering to help create an awesome documentary.  We’ll let you know when the “S.S. Meteor Documentary” is completed, ready for viewing and a link will be provided.

A warm-hearted thank you to all the volunteers that helped in the past, present, and in the future.  If it wasn’t for the heart of these volunteers, the S.S. Meteor would not look as good as it does today.  Even though the outside of the ship is looking pretty good, there are many tasks to complete, but not as much as when the project started over fifteen years ago.
 

If you or anyone you know would like to join us on this worthy preservation project, please contact us to learn more about how you can help.

Thank you again for your time and support!

Phil Kerber

GLSPS President
S.S. Meteor Preservation Project Chairman