Port Huron Museums buys trolley for $1 for tours, events

PORT HURON, Mich. — Instead of wearing his fedora on historical Port Huron tours, one museum employee might be wearing an old-fashioned trolley driver uniform instead.

This would match the 1992 Chance Coach VS-24 trolley that Port Huron Museums acquired July 8, said Andrew Kercher, community engagement director.

“I think we’re going to get a lot of use out of it,” he told the Times Herald.

The trolley can seat 20 people and have 16 standing at full capacity. It has one wheelchair spot available, a back porch and a bell people can ring, Kercher said.

David McElroy, Blue Water Area Transit assistant general manager and director of finance, said the “historic trolley” has over 200,000 miles on it and had met its usefulness for their organization.

They still wanted it to be in the community and reached out to see if any organizations were interested in the trolley. The museums were, it was a good fit, and the transit board approved the sale of the trolley for $1, he said.

“We’re very excited it’s going to stay in the area,” McElroy said.

Veronica Campbell, the museums’ executive director, said the entities have been in talks for the transaction since last fall. The museum board approved the purchase in December and it was picked it up on July 8.

“That officially made it ours,” Campbell said.

Kercher said staff aren’t sure yet of all the ways they could use the trolley, as new ideas come up every day.

Among the things staff currently plan to use it for include renting it for special events, using it to transport people to and from different museum site locations and to do tours based on Kercher’s popular Facebook Live tours.

He said he’s thinking of doing three types of tours: A commercial and industry tour of businesses; schools and neighbourhoods tours; and a “murder and mayhem” tour that will include things you might not find on a tourism bureau brochure.

Because the museum is still concerned about the pandemic, the trolley isn’t currently in use, Kercher said.

He said staff are going to give the trolley a safety inspection and give the wood and brass a good polish while finalizing the general policies for it.

They’re also looking at getting advertisements for the sides of it, as the ad for the Thomas Edison Inn is “a little dated,” he said.

Maybe not this summer with the pandemic, but in the future there will be a lot of tourists in Port Huron and cruise ships might eventually be stopping here. This will be one more thing to attract them, Kercher said.

“I think it’s going to be a great tool to have,” he said.

Campbell said the trolley will be operational when the museum is open, April through October, and they have researched other trolley companies’ protocols, rental agreements and cleaning processes to have it operational before the end of the year.

“Everything will be safe and we’ll be happy to get it going this fall,” she said.

They have some ideas for storage but right now they’re using it as advertisement sitting in the Carnegie Center parking lot, she said.

Kercher said people can help get the trolley going by buying a ticket for the museum now. The more stable the museum is financially, the sooner they can get the trolley going.

“I’m excited for all the possibilities,” he said.

Bryce Airgood, The Associated Press