Ypsilanti Freighthouse looks at more renovations with grant money

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | Source: Concentrate

The folks trying to save the Ypsilanti Freighthouse are ready to do the heavy lifting required to breathe new life into the historic structure in Depot Town.

The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation has given a $100,000 grant to the Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse. That money will be spent on engineering and architectural drawings that will be used to collect bids for a full renovation project.

"It's the most important things that need to be done to open the doors," says Bonnie Penet, co-chair of the Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse. "It will be from the foundation up."

She hopes to have the drawings in hand within 12 weeks. The Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse are working to raise the rest of the money, at least $550,000, needed to complete structural repairs to the building.

"We could easily spend a million or more on everything we want," Penet says. "But to just get the doors open is $550,000."

The Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse is applying for Federal Stimulus money through MDOT and its also trying to get a federal earmark similar to the one that Tiger Stadium received through U.S. Rep. John Dingell's office. The group is also lobbying the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments to use the building as Ypsilanti's station on the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line.

All of that and probably more will be needed to bring the 130-year-old building back to its glory days. The Freighthouse was closed in 2004 due to a couple of significant-but-not-insurmountable issues.

For instance, the west wall is bowing out and needs to be repaired. A deck attached to the building needs to be rebuilt. The floor also needs to be refurbished to eliminate trip hazards. Some work has been done when the friends group got the surrounding grounds regarded so water will be directed away from the building's base.

The 5,000-square-foot, red-brick structure was used as a freighthouse until right after World War II, when it was converted into warehouse. In 1979 the city bought it and turned it into a community center, where it made the state Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Source: Bonnie Penet, co-chair of the Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse
Writer: Jon Zemke