By Jimmy Lovrein of Forum News Service - October 14, 2019

When Hayes Scriven applied for a tour guide position at Split Rock Lighthouse after college, he didn’t get the job.

The Split Rock program manager at the time looked at Scriven after the interview and told him he was too qualified for role and would one day be his boss, Scriven said.

Hayes Scriven

Next month, Scriven, the executive director of the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wis., will take over as site manager of Split Rock, where he’ll oversee all the daily operations of the historic lighthouse on Lake Superior’s North Shore. He replaces Lee Radzak, who retired in April after 36 years in that role.

And like Radzak and the lighthouse keepers before him, Scriven, his wife, Jenny, and their two children will live on site, just a few hundred feet from the lighthouse.Split Rock Lighthouse was commissioned in 1910, and operated until 1969. The state of Minnesota took over the property in 1971, and the Minnesota Historical Society has managed it since 1976.

Scriven will start in his role at Split Rock on a part-time basis on Nov. 1 as he finishes up at the Bong Center, where he finishes Nov. 8, one day after a major auction there. By Dec. 1, he’ll be full time at Split Rock.

“It is really my dream job,” Scriven said.

Scriven has served as the executive director at the Bong Center since 2017. During his time there, he helped boost attendance by 38 percent and membership by 15 percent.

“To see the attendance really be up is probably my proudest thing because then I know people are aware of it,” Scriven said. “They’re there; they’re taking value in it.”

Terry Lundberg, board chair of the Bong Center, said Scriven will be missed.

“Under Hayes’ leadership and energy, it’s totally revived the center from the board’s perspective and from the staff and volunteers,” Lundberg said. “He being a new, fresh set of eyes and the energy has really increased our attendance.”

Lundberg said the Bong Center has interviewed executive director candidates and expects an announcement soon.

At Split Rock, Scriven said he’s looking to boost programming during the “shoulder season” — the late fall and early spring months when tourist traffic is low.

All of that experience made Scriven an attractive candidate, Ben Leonard, director of greater Minnesota and partnership sites at MNHS, said in a news release last week.

“Hayes emerged from a very competitive applicant pool because of his proven track record leading cultural institutions and his community connections along the North Shore,” Leonard said.

To read the original story and read related reporting, follow the slink to the Twin Cities.com website.  https://www.twincities.com/2019/10/14/split-rock-lighthouse-gets-a-new-keeper-and-hell-live-there-to...