Historic Preservationists use concerts to raise awareness around barn

By Ross Boissoneau

Sun contributor

Remembering and preserving the past can mean many things. In the case of the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn, it means… listening to music?

That’s right. A series of three summer concerts will take place at the historic site across from Myles Kimmerly Park outside Maple City, beginning July 30 with Rita Hosking and Sean Feder with Andre Villoch. The shows are part of an effort by the Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society, the Leelanau Historical Society and the gardening non-profit Row-by-Row (formerly Buckets of Rain) to generate interest, and eventually funds, for restoring and revitalizing the barn.

The historic barn is the remaining evidence of the Leelanau County Poor Farm. Nearly every county in the state had a poor house or poor farm, where indigent people or those seeking shelter could live while assisting the operations there as they could. “It was the social services of the day in 1901,” says Joe VanderMeulen, who wrote and directed a documentary on the efforts to preserve the barn. The white-planked barn with its cathedral ceilings was built in 1911 after its predecessor burned down.

The film combines interviews with historians and the childhood memories of those whose families were involved with the poor farm, often descendants of the keepers—those entrusted with keeping the farm operational. Barn restoration expert Steve Stier explains how the barn is an important example of plank-framing, and was all done by hand.

There are any number of reasons people want to preserve old barns: for their historical and cultural significance, their potential for economic reuse, and their contribution to the aesthetic appeal of the landscape. The National Park Service says barns evoke a sense of tradition and security, of closeness to the land and community with the people who built them. Old barns are often community landmarks. You could even cite the words of American philosopher George Santayana, who famously said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Those things are all true when applied to the Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn. But preserving and then adapting the architecturally significant barn is a challenging and costly proposition. VanderMeulen, a member of the board of directors at the Leelanau County Historical Preservation Society, notes that the barn only stands today because when the county was prepared to raze the structure in 2018, the only bid was more than $60,000.

That’s when Stier, Laurel Jeris and Barbara Siepker stepped in, forming the Leelanau County Historical Preservation Society with an eye to preserving the barn. They negotiated a six-month moratorium to develop a proposal to save the barn and rehabilitate it, and subsequently established a 25-year lease for the barn for $1 per year.

VanderMeulen says efforts toward preservation and subsequent reuse have already been undertaken, including foundation work, new floor joists, ceiling work, and lead paint abatement. “It’s a sound structure. Now what to do with it?”

He says there have been many suggestions put forth, including using it as a museum and hosting public and private events. “We believe there’s an opportunity create a venue for music, displays … it could be useful as a historic venue, family reunions,” says VanderMeulen.

Before anything like that can be considered, the facility must be upgraded. That includes installing new wiring, doors and becoming ADA compliant, as well as creating restrooms, which he says would be located in an adjoining building. Those all cost money. Hence the series of three concerts on subsequent Wednesdays, starting July 30.

However, generating money for the effort to preserve the barn isn’t the main goal for the performances. An offering will be taken at each show, but the monies will go to the Empire Area Emergency Fund, not the preservation effort. VanderMeulen says the goal for his organization is simply to raise awareness of the barn’s history and the need to fund the necessary upgrades to make it useful once more.

The first show is by California folk musicians Rita Hosking and Sean Feder with singer-songwriter Andre Villoch. Hosking says she and her husband Sean became acquainted with the area while traveling north from Detroit to visit family and friends in Canada. “We’d fly in to Detroit and play some shows along the way,” she explains. “We’ve fallen in love with Traverse City and Leelanau.”

“One of our friends is Andrew White. He works with the Leelanau Historical Preservation Society and this (a performance) sounded like fun, to help the cause to preserve a historic structure.” This performance is their only scheduled stop in Michigan this year.

Subsequent Wednesday shows will feature performances by Go North! playing classic rock and new wave on Aug. 6, and The Brass Quintet and TC Sings! a cappella singers Aug. 13. The festivities will also include yard games, tours of the barn and Row-by-Row’s garden, and food by Heard It’s Good Tacos & More.

The barn and the concerts are located at 1110 West Burdickville Road, Maple City. For more information on the concerts and the efforts to preserve the barn, visit lchp.org.