Historic depot donated by Arcus to Kalamazoo Community Foundation

Kathy Jennings | Thursday, August 1, 2013

Walking by the Comerica Building on Rose Street in downtown Kalamazoo you might not realize that on the third floor of the towering office building is the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

By mid-year in 2014 the Kalamazoo Community Foundation expects to have a lot more street-level visibility as it moves into the Arcus Depot. The building has been donated to Kalamazoo Community Foundation by John Stryker's Arcus Foundation. It comes with a one-time grant of $1 million to cover the cost of renovations and moving.

The Arcus Foundation, which also has offices in New York, has determined it can no longer use the Depot.

The former railway passenger and warehouse depot on the corner of East Michigan Avenue and Pitcher Street, was built in 1874. Arcus founder and President Jon Stryker, a Kalamazoo native, purchased it in 2003 and went on to bring about award-winning renovations to the depot, creating 10,000 square feet of offices for the Arcus Foundation and other nonprofit agencies.

“We wanted to ensure that the Depot would continue to serve the Kalamazoo community and that its architectural integrity would be maintained,” says Kevin Jennings, Arcus’ executive director. “The Kalamazoo Community Foundation emerged as the ideal steward of this community resource and the architectural legacy that the Depot represents, and we are delighted to give this important asset to the Community Foundation.”

The Depot is currently listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Places.

The Arcus Foundation and other nonprofits have used the offices since then. Agencies currently housed in the Depot include Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy & Action in the Community (ISAAC), Kalamazoo River Watershed Council, Fair Housing Center of Kalamazoo County, Advocacy Services for Kids, and Parent-to-Parent. The Community Foundation will work with these agencies as they relocate.

Community Foundation President and CEO Carrie Pickett-Erway says there is great value for the Foundation in having a permanent location for its work. "Making our home in the iconic Depot, a visible and accessible symbol of Kalamazoo’s history and promise, will deepen our connection to grantees, donors and community groups," says Pickett-Erway.

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Kalamazoo Community Foundation