Locals rally to find Mellus developer before demo deadline

Thursday, July 30, 2009 | Source: metromode

Rubber, meet road. The two are about to establish contact when it comes to the future of the Mellus Newspapers building.

The Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance is letting loose a public call for developers, building huggers or anyone else who is interested in redeveloping, or helping to redevelop, the historic building in downtown Lincoln Park. City officials have set a Sept. 1 deadline for demolition bids to turn the building plot into a surface parking lot.

While city officials state the building is beyond help, local preservationists have brought a number of respected architects forward to say it could be easily restored. Ideas have ranged from an arts center to a retail incubator for fledgling businesses in need of just a little space, but the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance is open to all ideas.

"The object is to save the building," says Leslie Lynch-Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance. "We think it would be cool if someone is interested in our vision of having a retail incubator but we want to see the building restored. If someone wanted to put offices in there it would be fine."

What could be a key, and lucrative, part to any rehabilitation plan are Michigan's newly expanded historic tax credits. Since the Mellus is on the National Register of Historic Places, it could be eligible for historic and brownfield tax credits that could knock up to 50 percent of the construction costs off the project.

The single-story building on Fort Street was built in the 1940s. It is an intrinsic part of the downriver suburb's history, serving 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 is an important step toward preserving downtown Lincoln Park's heritage.

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

For information, contact Lynch-Wilson at LALynch@wideopenwest.com or (313) 598-3137.

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