New director of organization behind Door County Granary aims to bring vision, direction

STURGEON BAY - The new executive director of the Sturgeon Bay Historical Society Foundation plans to use his 30 years of experience working with museums to bring direction and vision to the organization behind the Door County Granary project.

Michael Telzrow comes to the historical society from Heritage Hill State Historical Park, the popular historical site near Green Bay where he served as executive director for the past two and a half years.

The eight-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard, who holds a master’s degree in history/museum studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, also previously served as director of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison and the National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon.

Other past positions with museums include serving as head director of research and interpretation for the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, Georgia, and curator of history for the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay. He also authored a book on the history of the Wisconsin State Reformatory in Allouez.

All told, Telzrow has worked for museums or historical sites for about three decades, starting while in graduate school in 1994, he said.

Telzrow joins the foundation while it's in the midst of a major effort to convert the 123-year-old former Teweles and Brandeis Grain Elevator on Sturgeon Bay’s West Side waterfront into a public cultural center and agricultural museum called the Door County Granary.

The 90-foot-tall granary, considered by many a landmark of the waterfront and the city's agricultural history, sat idle for 50 years and faced demolition as it was in disrepair and was partially disassembled. The historical society foundation, which formed in 2016, organized a campaign to save the structure and gained listings for it on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2017 and '18.

The foundation also has been involved recently with preserving the 75-foot-tall observation tower at Potawatomi State Park, which was closed and slated for demolition by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in December 2017 for what the DNR cited as extensive wood decay and unsafe conditions. Their efforts, along with efforts from local elected officials, led the state to authorize $500,000 in funds last year for emergency repairs scheduled to begin next year, and the tower now is listed with the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

Members of the foundation also were involved with Citizens for our Bridge, the group that formed to press for rehabilitation of the Michigan Street Bridge in downtown Sturgeon Bay instead of demolishing and replacing it. The steel bridge, like the park tower built in 1931, ultimately was rehabilitated and listed with the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

Telzrow expressed admiration for the work the historical society has done in its brief existence.

"It's had a tremendous amount of success so far, especially with the granary," he said. "There's been an incredible amount of energy and dedication and hard work dedicated to that project."

But he said the foundation, while successful to this point, needs to know more specifically where it's going in the future, what it's going to do and why. Which is where he comes in.

"It's a relatively new organization. It's kinda finding its way as an organization," Telzrow said. "What I'll look at is developing a strategic plan that looks at the immediate future of the foundation, a three- or four-year plan that develops a healthy and sustainable foundation as it moves forward."

Following the development of that immediate plan, Telzrow said the foundation needs to develop a vision for its longer-term future, saying, "What is its role going to be moving forward? What is the foundation going to be like in 10 years?"

For the foundation to continue its efforts to preserve Sturgeon Bay's history and historical sites, Telzrow said it's important for the foundation to develop criteria and a plan for acquiring properties, buildings and structures in the future, criteria he hopes is in place "relatively soon."

"These things are essential to make this a fully functional outfit that knows what it wants to do and where it wants to go," Telzrow said.

Of course, the Door County Granary is the most immediate project for the foundation. With more than two years' work already in place on rehabilitating the granary, Telzrow said it's important to not only turn it into "a wonderful place to visit" but also to figure out what kinds of learning elements it needs and how to implement and exhibit them, to allow the exhibits to educate visitors on the history of the structure and its impact on Door County's agriculture and the city's history.

All these needs are among the reasons Telzrow said he's excited to join a relatively young organization and help it establish footing that will make it sustainable and relevant for years to come.

"It's not often one gets in on the ground floor of something like this," he said. "I'm happy to be here, excited to be part of a community that values its history so much."

For more information on the foundation, visit sturgeonbayhistoricalsociety.org.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Group behind preserving the Sturgeon Bay granary names new director