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Now a sign of decay to some, the Wilkie represented a fresh start for many Winonans after its predecessor — a real steamboat also named the Wilkie — burned to the ground at the same spot in Levee Park. The new replica was rebuilt in 1981-82, and in the years that followed, its museum drew thousands of visitors and its Grand Salon hosted countless weddings, meetings and parties.
While the Wilkie was creating rich memories for its patrons, the boat’s structure was steadily deteriorating — a victim of shoddy construction and maintenance. The lack of steady funding for repairs was due to faltering revenues, which in turn were linked to a musical-chairs sequence of managers, a constant burden of debt and a business plan that, from the start, lacked clear direction.
The Wilkie’s story began in 1956, when Dr. Lewis Younger, president of the Winona County Historical Society, arranged the acquisition of the James P. Pearson II, one of America’s few remaining wooden-hulled steamboats. The Wilkie Bros. Foundation paid to restore and rename the boat, which was perched in Levee Park as a museum and monument to steamboats on the upper Mississippi River.
The original Wilkie hosted scores of visitors until March 12, 1981, when Winona firefighters arrived just after midnight to find the boat consumed in flames.
Winonans, undeterred, vowed not to be without a Wilkie for long. Less than seven months after the fire, supporters raised more than $200,000 to build a new boat — an outpouring of support that benefactor Leighton Wilkie dubbed “a miracle.” Leighton Wilkie, whose family funded the restoration of the original Wilkie, donated $200,000 toward the new boat.
The still-uncompleted structure opened in 1983 to much fanfare. But despite sunny revenue projections, the boat lost money two of its first three years in operation — all while being managed by three different groups in its first four years.
The third managerial group, Marlene Kohner and Carole Nelson, appeared to have the Wilkie on sound financial footing by 1988, when they predicted 10,000 visitors would tour the boat.
The Wilkie’s early demise was foreshadowed later that year, when Mayor Earl Laufenburger acknowledged the boat’s roof had leaked “from Day One.” A Wilkie board member acknowledged the boat’s wood already was rotting — a situation he called “embarrassing.” Then, in 1991, a 12-year-old Winona boy suffered minor injuries after falling from the Wilkie’s second-story deck. The boy had been leaning on a rotting piece of railing that collapsed.
The Wilkie’s never-say-die supporters held telethons, auctions and other events to raise money for repairs. Things seemed to be looking up in 1991, when the city loaned $63,000 to the Wilkie Board of Directors to repair the boat.
Then, in 1995, Winona businessman Paul Sweazey became chairman of the Wilkie board. Sweazey’s secretive style alienated other board members and local leaders. By 2001, the Wilkie hosted just 1,700 visitors.
The city deemed the structure unsafe in June 2006 and closed it to the public. The Wilkie’s lease for its site in Levee Park expired in November 2006, triggering 18 months of debate over what to do with some of Winona’s choicest real estate.
The city council originally gave Wilkie supporters a year to raise the nearly $500,000 needed to repair and reopen the boat. But the council cut that effort short in summer 2007, and after months of waffling, finally voted to raze the boat in early 2008.
While Wilkie lovers mourn its loss, many now are clamoring for another steamboat replica and museum to be built at the site.
One of the Wilkie’s most ardent supporters, Roxy Kohner, says the site was her personal place of reflection and solace.
“You can sit there, and it transports you back to a simpler time,” Kohner said. “You could be riding up the river without a care in the world.”
Contact Mark Sommerhauser at (507) 453-3514 or msommerhauser@winonadailynews.com
