Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Ongoing structural stabilization at the Quincy Mining Company smelter complex, in Ripley, includes installing modern plexiglass windows, as can be seen on the reverberatory furnace building.

CALUMET TOWNSHIP – The Quincy Smelter Complex was a topic of discussion during Tuesday’s Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission quarterly meeting. Ongoing structural stabilization of the complex includes installing plexiglass windows in several buildings, including the cupola furnace building and the reverberatory furnace building.

After the smelter was shut down in 1971, the window openings of the sandstone buildings were covered by plywood to keep out vandals and Keweenaw winters. The wood, however, prohibited natural light from entering the interiors, requiring flashlights or invasive modern light rigging to navigate.

The window project, which began in 2022, includes removing the old rotting wood coverings, patch window openings, and fit custom clear plexiglass panes in sections of the reverberatory furnace building, as well as the cupola furnace building.

Robert Maxon, facilities management and chief of operations with KNHP, said the installation of the windows has significantly increased the amount of natural light in the interior of the buildings, increases safety and making the buildings more period appropriate.

When the smelter was constructed in 1898, the facility utilized large windows to provide natural light. The addition of the plexiglass, while not historically accurate, restores how the complex was originally lit.

Sean Gohman, executive director of the advisory commission said the changes at the complex are impressive.

“If you haven’t been to the smelter in the last few years, it’s a very different place, interior-wise. It’s cleaner, and there is a lot more light,” he said. “Six years ago, none of them had plexiglass windows.”

Maxon said along with the installation of the windows, replacing the windows has also included masonry repair to several buildings. These include the essay office the machine shop, the cupola furnace building and the reverberatory furnace building.

The Quincy smelter, currently owned by the advisory commission, is globally significant, because it is the only remaining intact copper smelting facility in existence.

When it closed in 1971, the company secured the premises and walked away. As a result, the original 19th-century machinery, furnaces, and narrow-gauge rail tracks remain perfectly preserved. This includes a laboratory, assay office, casting floor, a rolling stock warehouse and a waterfront shipping dock.

Gohman said the commission is currently considering upgrading the electrical system at the complex.

“Only two buildings have light,” he said. “Three buildings have outlets.”

Increased lighting, he said, improves safety and enhances visitor experiences. Upgrading the electrical system will enable the improvement of existing programs there, and potentially adding to them.

The Quincy Smelter is integral to interpreting the industrial heritage of the Keweenaw. As the world’s last remaining intact copper smelter of its era, the complex completes the interpretation copper production from mining copper to refining it for market. The complex stands as a premier interpretive asset for the National Park Service.

“We’ve made good progress down there,” Maxon said. “I’m very, very pleased with what’s going on.”