• Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
WZMQ 19 News | CBS | MeTV Marquette
Partly Cloudy

Marquette
Partly Cloudy 84°

Clear

Escanaba
Clear 78°

Mostly Cloudy

Houghton
Mostly Cloudy 72°

Clear

Iron Mountain
Clear 86°

Watch
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
WZMQ 19 News | CBS | MeTV Marquette
No Result
View All Result
WZMQ 19 News | CBS | MeTV Marquette
No Result
View All Result

1 Weather Alert

View Details »

Community rallies around artists who lost their work to smoke damage in Ludington Street fire

by Lily Simmons
January 30, 2024 - Updated on February 1, 2024
A A

ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – On January 24, a fire in Downtown Escanaba took the life of one person and destroyed two businesses. As law enforcement continue to investigate the incident, neighboring establishments are dealing with the aftermath.

“I was going to work at 3:00 in the morning and got the text and then came down about 4:00 to see all the smoke enveloping this building from the fire,” said Craig Woerpel, owner of the building that houses the East Ludington Gallery.

After Public Safety crews put out the blaze, Woerpel says the first issue to address was the water damage.

“We realized that there was two feet of water in the basement,” he said. “The boiler no longer works, which means we don’t have heat in the building.”

As the roof of Schwalbach Kitchens next door collapsed, a crack formed in the wall of the gallery.

“We pulled the paneling away from the inside, and you can see that the crack—that’s a 13-inch deep wall—and the crack is at three inches at one point,” Woerpel said.

That crack left all of the art inside the gallery to sustain heavy smoke damage.

“This is what the counter looked like,” Woerpel said of the image below. “This was a cribbage board that was here in the shape of the U.P. and that’s what the smoke damage is. You can’t even rub that off.”

The fire also displaced Woerpel’s niece, Lauren Hovland, who lived above the gallery.

“She had a print that she was working on that was covered, and you can see the difference between the canvas and where the smoke came down, so it ruined a lot of her artwork and her art supplies,” he said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help her restock her art supplies. To support the 24 gallery artists who lost their work, the Bonifas Arts Center will host a spaghetti dinner on Friday, February 2, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

“People need to realize that the fire impacted more than two buildings,” Woerpel said. “Although there was a death there and that’s extremely tragic, it’s still impacting the people who live around the fire, including the artists from the gallery. We also need to find out what we can do for the people on the other side of the fire. They need new furniture; they can’t get it with low income. We need to figure out how we can support them.”

The Bonifas spaghetti dinner will take place in the Studio Gallery with a suggested donation of $10. Attendees are asked to use the studio entrance. Click here for more information. Click here to donate to Hovland’s GoFundMe.

Anyone with ideas of ways to help other neighboring businesses and residents can contact Woerpel at craig@escanabadowntown.com.

Get WZMQ 19 anytime, anywhere

Download the app

AppleAndroid

Watch on TV

RokuFire TVZeam

Connect on social media

FacebookTwitterInstagram

More

News

Marquette Kiwanis Club holds 30th annual Fourth of July Parade

July 4, 2025
News

Gladstone celebrates Fourth of July with annual parade

July 4, 2025
News

Bark River Township holds annual July 4th tug-of-war competition

July 4, 2025
Co-founder Tom Nault leads the Patriotic Pedal Parade
News

Delta County cyclists ride in 6th annual Patriotic Pedal Parade

July 4, 2025
News

Body recovered from Lake Superior within Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

July 3, 2025 - Updated on July 4, 2025
News

Boaters share their Independence Day Spirit

July 3, 2025 - Updated on July 4, 2025
Next Post

Straight Line Archery to participate in Meijer State Games

Community Foundation distributed $180,000 to nonprofits focused on homelessness

  • Home
  • News
  • Weather
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Events
  • Programming
  • Station
WZMQ CBS | 19 News

© 2025 WZMQ, LLC | FCC Public File | EEO Report

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
  • Events
  • Programming
    • Programming Guide
    • CBS
    • MeTV
    • Start TV
    • Heroes & Icons
    • Court TV
    • ION
  • Station
    • About Us
    • Community Involvement
    • Mobile App
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Advertising
    • Request Copy of Story
    • FCC Public File
    • EEO Report
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
  • Events
  • Programming
    • Programming Guide
    • CBS
    • MeTV
    • Start TV
    • Heroes & Icons
    • Court TV
    • ION
  • Station
    • About Us
    • Community Involvement
    • Mobile App
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Advertising
    • Request Copy of Story
    • FCC Public File
    • EEO Report
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our privacy policy.