The Inland Seas Education Association (ISEA) is celebrating the unveiling of its newly renovated $1.5 million facility in Suttons Bay – an expansion that will allow the educational nonprofit to host students and other groups overnight, broaden the group’s year-round programming, and chart a sustainable course forward into the future.

The opening of the newly named Capt. Thomas M. Kelly Biological Station coincides with ISEA’s 30th anniversary. Renovations to the 9,000 square-foot building include the construction of new dorms offering 40 beds, shower and restroom facilities, and classroom and lab space. The lower-level residential area has been constructed to resemble the berth of a ship, with the twin beds mimicking boat bunks.

“We wanted to replicate the experience of staying overnight on a ship,” says Executive Director Fred Sitkins. “Nobody who was in our facility before would recognize it now. It’s turned into a really unique space. We wanted to try and dispel the preconceived notion of what a dorm room is like.”

The project has been three years in the making, including a fundraising campaign that included both foundational grants and individual donations to cover the project costs. Sitkins says the expansion addresses a “long-standing operational need” to provide overnight accommodations to groups ISEA hosts. The organization – which offers hands-on, experiential learning aboard traditionally-rigged tall ship schooners to educate participants about the Great Lakes – works with approximately 125 schools from around the Great Lakes basin.

“Many of them come from more than three hours away, and affordable accommodations aren’t available in this region, so it limits the time they can spend here,” says Sitkins. “This will lengthen the time they can spend and deepen the impact of our programming.”

ISEA hosted its first tenants last week – a group of 30 teachers who stayed overnight for four nights – and has already lined several other groups up for the summer to test out the dorm program before a full launch in spring 2020. “Bookings (for the pilot period) happened so quickly we had to cut it off much sooner than we expected,” says Sitkins. “We already have several groups signing up for the spring.”

The day ISEA received its occupancy permit for the Capt. Thomas M. Kelly Biological Station – named for the organization’s late founder – coincided with another major milestone for ISEA. In 2017, the group received a transformational grant of $127,500 from Impact 100 to convert its schooner Utopia into an educational vessel certified to carry passengers. Following extensive renovations, the ship launched the same day the renovated Suttons Bay facility was issued its permit. “We didn’t plan it that way…it’s been a very busy, hectic time,” chuckles Sitkins. “When we were planning the building, our big focus was on three key strategic goals: organizational sustainability, increasing our reach, and deepening the impact of what we offered. This (grant) opportunity for Utopia was presented to us, and it will allow us to deepen our impact, so we decided to do it at the same time.”

Part of ISEA’s focus on organizational sustainability is planning for the next 30 years. As part of building renovations, the facility’s foundation was replaced, 30-year-guaranteed siding and roofing was used during construction, and the facility was made ADA-complaint throughout. A large solar array was also installed, generating almost 100 percent of the building’s energy needs. Overnight group stays and use of the Utopia – in addition to the group’s Inland Seas ship and chartered use of the Manitou – also means more revenue for the nonprofit, allowing ISEA to continue investing in equipment and expanded programming.

“For these next couple years, our catchphrase is basically implementation,” says Sitkins. “We want to implement all these changes we’ve launched as effectively as we can, recruiting schools and providing the best experience possible. Beyond that, the next big thing is expanding the work we do in the off-season. Schools come to us in the spring and fall because they’re in session and our boats are in the water, but our facility now allows us to offer a broad range of STEM programming year-round. We have lab space, we can build ROVs and ROV sensors, we can test them out under the ice of Suttons Bay."

Members of the public can see the newly renovated ISEA facility while visiting a new temporary art exhibit displayed at the property through July 20. Artist Deborah Hecht collects trash while walking the beach on Lake Michigan and collected so much in 2017 she decided to make artwork out of it. Her Beach Trash Series features found trash objects converted into colorful mosaics. “The challenge in these mosaics is to convey alarm about the problem and still have an intriguing composition,” she says. Proceeds from the sale of the mosaics throughout the month-long exhibit – which is open Monday-Friday from 8am to 5pm – will benefit ISEA.

Photo credit: ISEA