Poor Farm Barn open house and public tour slated for June 13

From staff reports

The public is invited to tour Leelanau County’s Historic Poor Farm Barn on Saturday, June 13 from 3-5 pm.

The nonprofit charged with restoring and repurposing the Poor Farm Barn is hosting an open house to showcase the restoration and re-purposing work recently completed.

Leaders of the Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society (LCHP) will be on hand to guide the tours and answer questions about the past, present, and future of this community treasure. Visitors will also be offered home-baked cookies and yard games.

Thanks to many dozens of financial contributors, dedicated volunteers, and licensed contractors, the Poor Farm Barn has new electrical wiring and lighting, a fully resurfaced wood floor, newly repaired siding, new lower-level doors, and a fresh coat of paint.

This event is free to the public.

The Leelanau County Poor Farm Barn is a historically significant artifact—the last remnant from a farm operated by County government in the early 1900s to care for extremely poor, elderly, and disabled people. Most of that farm’s acreage is now incorporated into Leelanau County’s Myles Kimmerly Park.

When the Leelanau County Commissioners proposed demolishing the barn10 years ago, local historians and barn-lovers created a nonprofit organization, obtained Federal authorization, and negotiated a long-term lease with the county to manage the barn 2 acres of land – committing to repair and protect this important community resource.

The Leelanau County Historic Preservation Society (lchp.org) gathered donations, in-kind services, and volunteer support to stabilize the barn, making major repairs including the re-construction of the foundation, installation of new support beams and floor joists, the removal of lead paint, and repainting the whole structure. LCHPS has also reconstructed and re-installed the barn’s cupola as well as the lean-to attached to the west wall of the building. Recently, we completed repairs to the board and batten siding, re-installed an electrical system, and re-surfaced the wood floor of the barn.