WHAT DOES CLOSING FOR THE SEASON LOOK LIKE ON MACKINAC ISLAND?
RESTAURANT: This time of the year we are breaking down equipment, sanitizing and scrubbing everything down, and making sure it’s clean and ready to go for next year. FERRY SERVICE: When we begin to prepare for the close of our season, we have the equipment to haul our boats out of the water where they sit by the Marine Service Building for the winter season. Each boat accumulates a list of things that need to be done to it. Some are large projects and some are small. On shore, we have tents at both of our Mackinaw City and St. Ignace locations. We wash those and will take them down and store them beginning Nov. 1. We also work on winterizing the Mackinac Island dock. Our maintenance crew will make a few trips to Mackinac Island to make sure all the water is out of the pipes and get everything ready to shut the entire place down. MACKINAC STATE HISTORIC PARKS: We start transitioning into “closing” mode the first week in October. By this point most years we’re down to a pretty limited crew and a lot of staff is covering several areas of the operation:- In sales and marketing, we’re starting to do an inventory of our stores while preparing to close the Visitor’s Center, South Sally Port Entrance, Mackinac Art Museum, and Biddle House sales locations.
- For park operations, closing is far more involved, as they are physically winterizing buildings for the off-season such as the Scout Barracks, Commanding Officers Quarters, and Officer’s Quarters. They're also getting started on major offseason projects as well as interior building painting. Staff is also beginning to get winter items ready, such as snowmobile signs and barriers. They’ll also begin closing public restrooms in the coming weeks.
- On the interpretation side, the workday stays pretty much the same until we close the site. MSHP administration typically moves off Mackinac Island during the first full week of October to transition into winter mode. Offices are packed, and all our equipment is brought back to the mainland on our LCM (landing craft mechanized, a Korean War-era ship that serves as our freight hauler).