During the public comment segment at the Sept DDA meeting Tom Girard, city resident and engineer at the U of
M, spoke up about lack of basic care and attention to the Longworth
complex that the DDA owns. The property was bought so as to improve the
appearance of the north access to Chelsea. Sad to say but action, or
lack thereof, speaks louder than words in this case, since the purchase
of this property by the DDA has left it in pretty much the condition at
the time of purchase about four years ago. Bear with me as I share some
of the history around this topic.
I was a DDA Board member for twelve
years. Last year I was replaced at the choice of the mayor. However, I
was present during the process from the beginning regarding this
property. Mark Heydlauf, a board member since the Chelsea
DDA's inception, brought before the board the need to purchase the
Longworth property. The basic reasons being: it creates a very
poor image of Chelsea to those heading south on M52 via auto, and
the flash view of Chelsea to those traveling on the train. It
was identified as a "significant" gateway structure and property that
the DDA should purchase and improve. No question, the property had been
deteriorating for years and needed attention. Years prior to this no
one was at all interested in purchasing it and the property was only
getting worse in it's
appearance and upkeep. After a series of presentations,
evaluations and visioning to the DDA Board, a decision was made
to purchase it. The costs to purchase exceeded $400,000 that included:
purchase, engineering studies, soil testing, purchase options, etc. The
vote to buy the property was unanimous. It was purchased at a price that exceeded the appraised value.
I'm formerly a restoration contractor and builder.
Rule #1 when a property is purchased is: take necessary steps to ensure
the entire exterior envelope be dry and secured. Exterior
envelope includes: windows, doors, grade for drainage, exterior walls
and roof. Studies and evaluations of the property clearly showed that
the buildings needed to be protected from the elements. Water was
coming in from the roof and parts of the foundation. Windows were
broken and access to the inside was possible. The DDA addressed the
security issues but nothing else.
Then, a visioning session was set up with the public
to show what options were being considered for the property in hopes
that improvement to the property could start within a year. Of the
options presented, Option B was selected. Option B showed the adaptive
reuse of only one of the three historic structures. Two buildings were
tobe demolished for parking and a small green space. Consideration for
saving all three of the historically significant buildings to be
adaptively reused was not offered or considered by the DDA. The fact
that one of the historic structures would be adaptively reused was a
revelation in itself. In the twelve years I was on the Board, not once
had the DDA purchased any historic property, improved and adaptively
reused it. I jumped on this opportunity in hopes this might occur. The
Board recognized "Option B"
as the option of choice at the visioning session and voted to go
forward with this choice.
Then the game changed. Mark Creswell, a citizen and
local businessman, stepped up to possibly purchase the property. Ut
oh! No one thought there would be interest in this property. Now the
DDA was presented with a dilemma: does the DDA want to get the Longworth
property off their books and allow an entreprenuer to start a business
in this space that might produce revenue or does the DDA carry on with
the envisioned plan for combination demolition/adaptive
re-use plan which keeps the property under the public domain incurring
expenses with all Option B elements they once felt needed to be there?
Through much discussion it was decided to allow
consideration of the sale of the property to other entities should the
DDA's purchase conditions be met by a potential buyer. Thus started the
long and tedious effort to possibly have the property put back on the
tax roles and it's improvement fall on the back of a possible
future purchaser. (The process being tedious because it involved:
creation of a "Request for Proposal" ["RFP"] which is a written
question/answer document of many pages, potential buyers requesting
the "RFP" because it had to be completed to be considered a potential
purchaser, completion of the RFP, committee review of the completed
version of the RFP and then, committee accepted RFP's went to the board
for their review). This is a lengthy, time consuming process.
At this point, a number of the DDA Board members
decided there would be no more monies spent on this property if it was
to be owned by someone else in the future. It was at this point that
there appeared a division amongst the Board. Some said that the
property is nothing but old buildings that should be torn down and to go
forward with the plan and others stating that if it can be purchased by
an entreprenuer for private enterprise we should allow that option to
go forward. Once the prospect of private ownership of the property was
in play, the boards commitment to protecting the structure further from
deterioration during the RFP process and thereafter all but disappeared.
Twice, I put forward a motion to spend some money to
protect the buildings. Reasonable sums of money to protect the DDA/City
investment. By role call vote the motions were defeated. Now in the
last four years nothing of significance has been done to improve the
exterior envelopes and incoming water has continued. Even the
one historic structure that was planned to be adaptively reused is in
peril. Maybe those wishing to see the old structures go and
have parking put in its place could see how this might happen.
Its known as "Demolition by Neglect". Can I say for sure this was the
plan? No I can't. Do actions speak louder than words? Demolition is
going forward as I speak.
Jim Myles
Chelsea, MI
Owners and Innkeepers
website: www.chelseahouseinn.com
email: innkeeper@chelseahouseinn.com
toll free: 877-618-4935
local: 734-475-2244
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