Topic starter
11/06/2007 11:45 am
A foray into my filing cabinets over the weekend turned up a brochure on the "new" JULIUS C. WILKIE Steamboat Museum, published when it was first opened in 1983. The folder states that the smokestacks, paddlewheel and the two steam engines were salvaged from the wreckage after the March 12, 1981 fire and installed on the replica.
From the many articles and letters appearing in the newspaper, it is apparent that a LOT of people in Winona are very UNhappy that several people on the city council made the decision to demolish the WILKIE and the news has stirred up a real hornet's nest!
11/06/2007 4:03 pm
With the Winona County Historical Society looking to build a repository for Ralph DuPae's photo collection, it would seem natural to build that next to the WILKIE and enlarge the steamboat presence along the riverfront, not demolish it.
11/06/2007 10:38 pm
Now, Judy, hat would be the LOGICAL thing, wouldn't it? Seems logic has gone out the window these days for business, government, etc.
12/06/2007 4:16 pm
Wilkie
Been following the goings on in Winona in the local paper. Seems like the Mayor and City Council is pretty intent on getting rid of the old Wilkie. Apparently a couple of things going on: (1) Rumor has it that they are all fired up over some Shakepearian festival that they have had for the past few years and they may want to spend the taxpayers money on a venue for that, on the river front. Trouble is there a building that looks like a steamboat sitting in that spot. (2) Last year a new Maritime Art Museum opened in Winona. This is more of a art gallery and houses the private collections of a local business-man Bob Kerlin and is really a first class operation. It has a great collection of paintings, mostly sea-going ships, with some river photographs. This museum is the new hot thing in Winona and is supposed to get the Dredge Thompson when they retire her next year.
These things, coupled with the deteriorating condition of the Wilkie are causing her demise.
Having seen her through the years, I am not too sure about the whole deal.
As a kid, I remember that the original boat (Pearson) was pretty interesting, with all her gear pretty much intact, altho when she became the "Wilkie" they had to build a God-awful boiler deck cabin to house the museum collection.
The present building was some architect's idea of what building looking like a a steamboat should have looked like. They did manage to do a couple of things right. They kept the engines and had a farmer from over in Wisconsin who was a "steam-engine man" rebuild them and when the boat first opened they had them running on compressed air. He did a really fine job of restoring them. The local Historical Society had a pretty good collection of photos and models on the boat.
Unfortunately the last few times we have had the CLYDE. in Winona, the Wilkie has been locked up tight, including during the Grand Excursion. A river collection isn't worth much if no one can get a look at it.
Still it will be a different looking river-front without the Wilkie.
Topic starter
12/06/2007 6:26 pm
Thanks, Ed, for your take on the situation in Winona. I, too, have been reading the daily articles in the newspaper and it's obvious that a lot of people are upset.
As I understand it, the Wilkie family provided the major funding when the JAMES P. PEARSON was converted into a museum boat in the 1950's. They insisted that the boat be portrayed as a glamorous packet rather than a working towboat, hence all the alterations that were made to the old sternwheeler.
True, the "new" WILKIE is, in reality, a building, but it's also a venue that promotes river history (when it's open) and educates the public in our steamboating heritage. We need all of those we can get! With the proper management, surely the WILKIE could be the attraction that was originally envisioned. Here's hoping that a compromise can be worked out with the city council before a wrecking ball levels the WILKIE.
Since you're up there on the beautiful Upper Mississippi, please keep us posted with future bulletins. Thanks!
13/06/2007 1:10 pm
Thanks Keith,
I agree it would be a shame to lose the Wilkie, however if the new museum gets the Thompson next year, I would expect they will have a whole lot of space for river history collections and the like. While not right downtown, it is located on the bank near the barge fleeting area, about 1/2 mile upstream from the Wilkie. Altho not a real steamboat, the Thompson has been on the river a long time, has a lot of history connected to her and is a real boat. Plus the new museum is a private venture and the owners appear to really do things right, much unlike the local politicians in these towns.
23/12/2014 4:24 pm
I have had a request for photos of the engines of the Wilkie. I can't seem to get a reply to go through. You can contact me at [email protected]
Roland Gilliam