Dorothy Nimmer

I think the public is going to enjoy it," said Dorothy Nimmer, project chairman of the Winneconne Historical Society's Save the Steamboat Committee.
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Nimmer said her research shows that ArdenLeFevre owned the property where the steamboat house resided in Butte des Morts and it is believed he moved the cabins onto land in 1922.It is believed the house came from a boat that plied the Lake Winnebago system sometime between the mid-1800s and 1920.

Nimmer said the steamboat house will be available for the public to walk through following the dedication and then from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Sundays.A room in the steamboat house will eventually be set aside with artifacts and information about the steamboat era.Money from individuals and businesses, plus labor and materials, been donated to restore the steamboat house.

Also, grants have been received for the work from the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, Alliant Energy Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Fox Valley Region.In all, from $140,000 to $150,000, Nimmer said, is needed to restore the old steamboat house.

Dorothy Nimmer, project chairman of the Winneconne Historical Society's Save the Steamboat Committee, said plans are to eventually open the steamboat house as a museum.She said the goal is to have the work completed next year so it can be open for tours starting in July.

It's a big task considering the cabin section of the steamboat house measures 17-feet wide by 47-feet long and is two stories high.The house is 37-feet wide by 67-feet long.

Nimmer said her research shows that Arden W. LeFevre owned the property where the steamboat house resided in Butte des Morts and it's believed he moved the cabins onto the land in 1922.

Nimmer and about a dozen other volunteers have been working when time permits to get the historic steamboat suitable as a museum piece.Electricity has been extended to the steamboat house, which is on a foundation.

"The building has about 60 windows, and we had 28 of them re-glazed.The old putty - some of it came off easy and some of it stuck like glue," said Nimmer."That was a major project for us this year."

Volunteers also spent time off and on for six weeks using scrapers to get the siding ready for painting.

"We hope for enough 60 degree weather in the next two weeks to get the area we've scraped and sanded to be primed," Nimmer said.

"We'll be putting on one coat of primer this fall.Most of the places are down to the wood, and we'll put another primer coat on in the spring."

She said the inside of the cabin also will be refurbished.The floors will be sanded and varnished.The porch roof also needs to be reinforced.
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Nimmer said about $100,000 will be needed to restore the building.

Nimmer said grants for the work have come from the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, Alliant Energy Foundation and the Community Foundation of the Fox Valley Region.

Nimmer said she's appreciated the volunteers who have been working on the restoration project.

"Some I seek for advice and others have special tasks.Everyone is busy and there is a limited time to get things done," she said.

"Passers-by who have seen us working often stop to get a sneak preview to see when it will open and that is encouraging to us, also."

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Dorothy Nimmer, front, the chairwoman of the Save the Steamboat Committee, and volunteers Rita Cappert, from left, Jerry LaCosse, Mary Harper and Ernest Stelmach have been refurbishing the old steamboat house at Marble Park in Winneconne.

Dorothy Nimmer , chairwoman of the Winneconne Historical Society's Save the Steamboat Committee , said an Appleton firm will start to prepare the steamboat house around Sept. 10 for the move.

The last-minute donations made the difference , she said.Donations have come from both within and outside the community of Winneconne.That is significant in the fact that steamboats also linked communities together until the early 1900s..

Nimmer said the steamboat house is expected to be placed on a barge by the end of September for its move onto a foundation at Marble Park in Winneconne.

She said the committee had been up against a deadline with the house's owner , New London resident Larry Markman.He donated the structure to the Winneconne Historical Society.

About $18 , 000 still needed to complete the move will be borrowed , according to Nimmer.The total cost for the move to get the house to Marble Park on the village's west side is $65 , 500.The house will be turned into a museum operated by the Winneconne Historical Society.

Funds also will pay for moving utility lines and the foundation for the steamboat house.Fund raising to move the steamboat house started in May.

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Nimmer said the cabins are believed to come from a steamboat that travelled area waters from the late 1840s to the 1920s.