The Teweles and Brandeis Granary was built 116 years ago. Four years ago, a professional design and structural engineering firm, hired by the City, concluded that the elevator was $150,000 shy of being stabilized and ready for a future use.
Please Pledge Your Support. More information about the Granary here.
Press Release: City prepares to tear down Historic Grain Elevator without proper study.
See the 2013 Structural Analysis of Grain Elevator (8Mb) from engineering firm Meyer Borgman Johnson. In 2013, the City of Sturgeon Bay hired Meyer Borgman Johnson (MBJ), a professional structural design and engineering firm, to conduct a thorough structural analysis of the granary’s superstructure. After taking measurements, the firm stated, “a detailed computer analysis model was constructed to capture the elevator behavior. The model includes over 1,000 pieces, over 700 plates, and over 1,200 connections. Twenty-six different load combinations of wind, self-weight, and live load were considered… The computer analysis was supplemented by hand calculations and MBJ analysis spreadsheets to determine loads and to confirm the computer results.”
In summarizing its findings, MBJ goes on to state, “Based on the information gathered during the site visit report and the subsequent calculations, it is our conclusion that the existing elevator is in generally good condition and retains sufficient capacity to support this intended use, with some modifications.”