Lincoln Park DDA approves contract to raze Mellus building

Thursday, October 15, 2009 | Source: metromode

They're gassing up the building eaters in downtown Lincoln Park, now that the city's Downtown Development Authority has approved a hit on the historic Mellus Newspaper building.

The long-time home to Downriver's community newspapers has been at the center of a preservation versus demolition debate in Lincoln Park for much of this year. The DDA bought the long vacant building, which some city officials have been set on tearing down for a surface parking lot. Local residents from the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance have been fighting to find a developer for it at the same time. An earlier proposal for a film-based business has fallen through.

"I might be too late because our DDA approved a demolition bid Thursday evening to demolish this building and the one next to it," Leslie Lynch Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance, wrote in a mass email asking for help last weekend. "However, I heard today that it is not a done deal until the contract is signed. Additional news is that there is a developer that has been trying to connect up with our DDA and city on the buildings. The DDA chairperson says there's still time for them or anyone else to contact her on the building."

Similar buildings in serious disrepair have also been saved at the last minute. The demolition contract was signed and the dumpster parked next to the 401 N Main building on the north side of downtown Royal Oak a few years ago. Local residents were able to find a developer and it now serves as not only one of downtown's contemporary architectural gems, but as the home to one of Metro Detroit's prominent law firms.

The Mellus was built in the 1940s. It is an intrinsic part of the downriver suburb's history, having served as the home of Lincoln Park's local newspaper for decades. Local preservationists think saving the Mellus and the adjacent Pollak (named after Pollak Jewelers) building are important steps toward preserving downtown Lincoln Park's heritage.

The building on Fort Street still has its original porcelain-enameled Moderne commercial exterior, while the Pollak building retains its terrazzo entrance sidewalk.

Source: Leslie Lynch Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance
Writer: Jon Zemke