Restoration takes shape.

Byline: Shelley Nelson

Sep. 8--Imagine the Frank D. Rockefeller afloat north of the SS Meteor's current location. People could still walk around it on an expanded Barker's Island, but access to the ship would be found through a skywalk from an adjoining interpretive center. The center would tell the story of shipbuilding in the Twin Ports, Alexander McDougall's dream of an international shipping company and the novel whale-like ships his company American Steel Barge Co., built, and the story of the one-of-a-kind ship. The depression left in its wake would become a reflecting pool.

The Meteor won't look like it does today. It would look like the Frank D. Rockefeller that sailed the Great Lakes, circa 1925. That's the image emerging for restoration of the one-of-a-kind whaleback and people …