Kevin Braciszeski - Daily News Staff Writer

A $30,000 federal grant will help the Mason County Historical Society pay for a study to learn whether a maritime museum in Ludington’s former U.S. Coast Guard station is feasible.

“We’re really pleased, really pleased,” Ron Wood, director of the Mason County Historical Society, said about the grant. “Any time we can get a grant like that it helps us stretch our local dollars.”

Plans to transform the former Coast Guard station, built in 1934, into a maritime museum have been discussed since Ludington’s Coast Guard crew moved into a new station in 2004. Wood said there is currently no estimate about how much the transformation will cost, but said there will be after the feasibility study is completed.

“The feasibility study will be very in depth and get us to a point we’ll have preliminary estimates on costs and preliminary design concepts. Then we can apply for larger grants,” Wood said.

The historical society already raised $29,300 toward the local match for the feasibility study, Wood said, adding that the local money was needed first to qualify for the grant, which came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program.

“The first phase of fundraising went well, very well,” Wood said, adding that there will be more fundraising in the future because the historical society will need money to change the building into a museum, including the creation of exhibits. He also plans to apply for more grant money for the work.

“I think the community is very excited about having a maritime museum,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, announced Monday that the historical society would receive the $30,000 grant.

“West Michigan features a rich maritime history that should be preserved for future generations,” he said. “The feasibility study is a positive development toward retrofitting the Ludington Coast Guard station into a local attraction.”