BOATS GREAT LAKES

Heritage Marine

Kiyi

Steve Sola (left) and Matt Kampf, both of Duluth, put in the first and the last bid for the light tower next to the Aerial Lift Bridge, which was discarded by the federal government last year. They’re not sure what they’ll do with their new property. "Something will evolve, we’re just not exactly sure what it is." Ken Newhams / duluthshippingnews.com

When the federal government put the light tower next to the Aerial Lift Bridge on the auction block, Steven Sola and a friend decided it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"You don’t get the chance to buy something very often that all you can really do is take care of it for the next guy," Sola said Wednesday. "You’re really just borrowing it. That’s cool. We weren’t going to pass it up."

Sola and Matt Kampf, both of Duluth, placed the winning bid of $31,000 for the light tower on Monday. Beyond preserving the tower, they’re not sure yet what they’re going to do with the structure, formally called the Duluth Harbor South Breakwater Inner Light.

"Something will evolve, we’re just not exactly sure what it is," Sola said.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 67-foot-tall tower’s white, iron lantern room is supported by a black steel framework and a central cylinder housing a cast-iron cylindrical stair. The tower’s light was first lit in 1901.

The federal government decided last year it no longer needed the 107-year-old light, a relic of the time before radio, radar and GPS. The government tried to give the tower to a school or other agency that would use it for educational, recreational or historic preservation purposes. But with no takers, the U.S. General Services Administration decided to put it on the auction block.

Sola and Kampf put in the first bid — for $11,000 — on Sept. 18. Another party put in a $16,000 bid on Nov. 14. Sola and Kampf responded with a $21,000 bid on Nov. 30. The other party put in a $26,000 bid at 1:38 p.m. on Monday. Sola and Kampf put in their winning bid 66 minutes later.

Sola grew up on Park Point. His family owns the South Pier Inn. Kampf grew up in Hibbing but lived many years on Cape Cod before moving to Duluth.

"I mentioned the lighthouse to him and he said, ‘I’m in,’ " Sola said.

The partners need to reach a lease agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, complete a photographic survey of the structure and have separate electric meters installed, said Arthur Ullenberg of the GSA.

This is not Sola’s first brush with a bit of Duluth history. In February 2007, he was one of the people who discovered the remains of a wooden ship about 150 feet off Park Point near the 2600 block of Minnesota Avenue. The wreck is believed to be the Amethyst, a harbor tug that was scuttled in 1888.