Back to Square One with Longworth Properties

CHELSEA: DDA recommends tearing down two-thirds of the Longworth; Mack building exempt from demolition

Published: Saturday, January 14, 2012


Peter Flintoft, the Downtown Development Authority board president, discusses the Longworth.

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The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority agreed to move forward with demolishing part of the Longworth in a special meeting Thursday morning.

The Longworth buildings are three adjacent buildings located on Jackson Street. The Chelsea Manufacturing Company—known as “The Mack”—was built in the early 1900s and is the only building that will be saved in the DDA’s current plan.

The other two buildings, The Chelsea Horse Livery and Feed, built in 1906, and The Daniels Motor Sales Showroom, built in 1940, are on either side of The Mack and are now slated for demolition.

The DDA bought the historic buildings in 2008, and since then the fate of the buildings has been in flux. After polling the public in April of 2009, the DDA decided to try to sell the buildings to someone who would renovate them.

According to DDA Treasurer Mark Heydlauff, no one had come forward with a viable business plan, and the DDA has done all it can to save the buildings.

“I think we’ve done a great job,” he said. “We’ve even thrown out the fact that we’d give the building away, and no one’s come forward with a business plan. We tried to fix up all the buildings and it just wasn’t there.”

DDA member Palmer Morrel-Samuels disagreed saying he didn’t believe business plans were given the consideration needed.

“Viable offers to purchase the building were, in my opinion, not given due consideration,” he said. “There were several offers to buy the building and we turned them down.”

Morrel-Samuels, who has been on the DDA for seven years, disagreed with the decision to demolish the buildings.

“I think that’s an unwise decision for one very important reason and that is the process that led to that process was in my view deeply flawed,” he said. Continued...



According to Morrel-Samuels, who was unable to attend Thurday’s meeting, when Lansing-based design firm Kincaid Henry came to the DDA to present its plan for the Longworth buildings, they were kicked out of the meeting while the board discussed it.

“On April 27, 2010, the DDA, in my opinion, violated the open meetings act by asking members of a design firm to leave the meeting even though the open meetings act makes it very clear that the only reason for making someone leave the meting is disturbing the peace,” he said.

Morrel-Samuels said he believes the way in which the public was polled about the fate of the buildings was flawed. None of the options, he said, involved keeping the Longworth building fully intact.

“When alternatives were discussed by members of the town, no plan was shown that preserved the Longworth building,” he said. “The fact that the DDA favors the alternative plan B does not reflect what the people favor.”

A petition gathered 700 signatures, Morrel-Samuels said, and it was largely ignored.

“The petition was ignored that showed that 700 people in town favored preserving the building and that was not given proper weight,” he said. “The Longworth building does not belong to the DDA, the Longworth building belongs to the people of Chelsea and that decision about what to do with the Longworth should not rest with the DDA.”

Morrel-Samuels believes the people of Chelsea should be making the decision, not the DDA.

“This is obviously a complex and controversial issue,” he said. “Great care, consideration and respect has to be preserved throughout the decision making process. In my view, the best way to resolve this issue is to have it decided by a referendum vote where all the citizens of Chelsea can cast their ballot in an open, democratic process.”

Preservation Chelsea Board Member Cathy Bean was upset with the DDA’s decision. She said the buildings are important historical structures.

“A railroad expert came in and said that having the livery and depot in the same spots may be the only one left in the country,” she said. Continued...

Bean said the DDA didn’t actively sell the buildings.

“They’re not marketing it," she said. "They spent $400,000 on these buildings; to tear them down would be a waste.”

The rest of the DDA was on board with the decision to tear down the two buildings.

“This now falls to us and the city,” Chelsea Mayor Jason Lindauer said. “That entire section, that block needs to be rebuilt.”

The DDA plans to decide how to prioritize the Longworth project at its next regular meeting at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 19.








The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority agreed to move forward with demolishing part of the Longworth in a special meeting Thursday morning.

The Longworth buildings are three adjacent buildings located on Jackson Street. The Chelsea Manufacturing Company—known as “The Mack”—was built in the early 1900s and is the only building that will be saved in the DDA’s current plan.

The other two buildings, The Chelsea Horse Livery and Feed, built in 1906, and The Daniels Motor Sales Showroom, built in 1940, are on either side of The Mack and are now slated for demolition.

The DDA bought the historic buildings in 2008, and since then the fate of the buildings has been in flux. After polling the public in April of 2009, the DDA decided to try to sell the buildings to someone who would renovate them.

According to DDA Treasurer Mark Heydlauff, no one had come forward with a viable business plan, and the DDA has done all it can to save the buildings.

“I think we’ve done a great job,” he said. “We’ve even thrown out the fact that we’d give the building away, and no one’s come forward with a business plan. We tried to fix up all the buildings and it just wasn’t there.”

DDA member Palmer Morrel-Samuels disagreed saying he didn’t believe business plans were given the consideration needed.

“Viable offers to purchase the building were, in my opinion, not given due consideration,” he said. “There were several offers to buy the building and we turned them down.”

Morrel-Samuels, who has been on the DDA for seven years, disagreed with the decision to demolish the buildings.

“I think that’s an unwise decision for one very important reason and that is the process that led to that process was in my view deeply flawed,” he said.

According to Morrel-Samuels, who was unable to attend Thurday’s meeting, when Lansing-based design firm Kincaid Henry came to the DDA to present its plan for the Longworth buildings, they were kicked out of the meeting while the board discussed it.

“On April 27, 2010, the DDA, in my opinion, violated the open meetings act by asking members of a design firm to leave the meeting even though the open meetings act makes it very clear that the only reason for making someone leave the meting is disturbing the peace,” he said.

Morrel-Samuels said he believes the way in which the public was polled about the fate of the buildings was flawed. None of the options, he said, involved keeping the Longworth building fully intact.

“When alternatives were discussed by members of the town, no plan was shown that preserved the Longworth building,” he said. “The fact that the DDA favors the alternative plan B does not reflect what the people favor.”

A petition gathered 700 signatures, Morrel-Samuels said, and it was largely ignored.

“The petition was ignored that showed that 700 people in town favored preserving the building and that was not given proper weight,” he said. “The Longworth building does not belong to the DDA, the Longworth building belongs to the people of Chelsea and that decision about what to do with the Longworth should not rest with the DDA.”

Morrel-Samuels believes the people of Chelsea should be making the decision, not the DDA.

“This is obviously a complex and controversial issue,” he said. “Great care, consideration and respect has to be preserved throughout the decision making process. In my view, the best way to resolve this issue is to have it decided by a referendum vote where all the citizens of Chelsea can cast their ballot in an open, democratic process.”

Preservation Chelsea Board Member Cathy Bean was upset with the DDA’s decision. She said the buildings are important historical structures.

“A railroad expert came in and said that having the livery and depot in the same spots may be the only one left in the country,” she said.

Bean said the DDA didn’t actively sell the buildings.

“They’re not marketing it," she said. "They spent $400,000 on these buildings; to tear them down would be a waste.”

The rest of the DDA was on board with the decision to tear down the two buildings.

“This now falls to us and the city,” Chelsea Mayor Jason Lindauer said. “That entire section, that block needs to be rebuilt.”

The DDA plans to decide how to prioritize the Longworth project at its next regular meeting at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 19.

Staff writer Krista Gjestland can be reached at kgjestland@heritage.com, 734-429-7380 or on Twitter @kgjestland.