ROOT CELLAR REPURPOSED - According to the Northern Michigan Asylum biennial report of 1892, the root cellar (now connected to the Visitor Center by a tunnel) was constructed in the fall of 1891 for a cost of $500. The report states: Still the Asylum is in need of this kind of storage room. Roots grown for the stock and part of the vegetables raised on the farm had to be buried. This was not a satisfactory way to secure these crops, and it was found difficult to get them out from under a great depth of snow, or to open a pit without having more or less damage result from frost. We have not been able to find documentation as to whether the upper story and connecting tunnel were built at that time or a little later. However, photographs from the early 1900s show both the Granary (now the repurposed Visitor Center) and the Root Cellar both with a second story and peaked roof both of wood. Later pictures show the replacement of the wooden walls and roof with cinderblock walls and flat concrete roofs. The year 1937 is scratched into the concrete floor of the root cellar, leading us to believe that the concrete pillars, the cinderblock upper story and the concrete floor were installed around that time. Fortunately, the beautiful original stone walls were kept in place, so this amazing lower room can someday be repurposed as well. The cinderblocks have been removed between the concrete pillars on the upper floor, which is being converted into an open-air picnic Pavilion. Here is a picture of the restoration work being done on the Pavilion, and a rendering of what it will look like next summer.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 12:53:22 +0000