If you spent any time in Douglas, Mich., from about 1950 to the mid-1970s, maybe you frequented it (or at the very least saw it): the Root Beer Barrel concession stand, which sold foot-long hot dogs and root beer to tourists and residents.
After the Barrel closed its doors for the final time in the 1970s, the structure sat dormant for decades along West Center St. in Douglas, decomposing and falling apart.
Efforts are underway to bring this lakeshore icon back to life, thanks to a local group coming together, and the city of Douglas putting its full support behind the campaign.
“We’re finally to the construction phase,” said William LeFevere, Douglas City Manager. “This is a project that started in collaboration with the Historical Society and the city a number of years ago.”
Five years ago, to be exact.
That’s when a plan was pulled together by a group of people calling themselves Friends of the Barrel.
“In 2011, one of our Historical Society members heard that the Root Beer Barrel was scheduled for demolition,” said Victor Bella, member of Friends of the Barrel. “A few of us got together in conjunction with the Historical Society, then got a bunch of volunteers to see if it might be feasible to save the Barrel.”
Volunteers have spent the past few years sanding, varnishing and refurbishing each of the 120 wooden staves that make up the Barrel. Once the project is complete, all the staves will be brought to the corner of West Center and Ferry Streets in Douglas. That’s where the group will resurrect this lakeshore icon.
The Douglas Root Beer Barrel was originally constructed in the early 1950s. It stood 17 feet tall and was a popular attraction amongst tourists and residents lived near or visited Oval Beach. It ceased operations in the 1970s, then sat dormant by the side of the road for decades, decaying and crumbling.
“We let the community know that for $150, they could buy a stave, then be memorialized by a small plaque on each of those staves,” Bella said. “That’s how we raised the major amount of the money that we needed for the project.”
Even students from Saugatuck High School have been recruited to help with the project.
“The kids are working on the steelwork for the bottom of the foundation,” said Vince Heyser, industrial education instructor at Saugatuck High School. “The students started in February, and we’re nearing the homestretch.
“We have some detail work and painting to do yet, and then we should be done.”
The plan is for all the materials to be brought to the site late this spring, with the Root Beer Barrel re-constructed sometime during the summer.
“We believe in preserving our heritage and our history, and this is another example of the community coming together to do just that,” LeFevere said.