Then and Now
A Look Back in Time
In 1983, the Calumet Air Force Station was in full operation with two active radar towers, 45 houses, a movie theater, and even a bowling alley. It was a vital link in an air defense grid that stretched from Washington to Maine and from Michigan all the way to the Arctic regions of Canada. The goal was to detect any Soviet aircraft approaching America from the north, and to direct interceptor aircraft towards these threats. Now, 39 years later, the former station sits abandoned atop Mount Horace Greeley. The houses are all empty, the bowling alley is collapsed, and a cell tower sits where the main radar array once stood. Time, weather, vandals, and thieves have taken their toll on the facility, but the structures still stand and await new life.
A Look Forward
In August 2021, a group of friends and family composed of Michigan Tech alumni, Eagle Scouts, environmental engineers, outdoors enthusiasts, and history nerds purchased the former Calumet Air Force Station from Keweenaw County with the goal of saving the structures, restoring the property, and opening it up to the public. The property will need extensive repairs and cleanup work to restore it to a usable status. Roofs, doors, and windows will need to be replaced, water pumps and lines will need to be replaced and restored, debris will need to be removed, graffiti painted over, roads and sidewalks repaired, and new infrastructure will need to be installed.
