sun and news 4-17-2021

The Sun and News, Saturday, April 17, 2021/ Page 3

Middleville hires consultant to seek historic designation for depot

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The Middleville Village
Council Tuesday approved
the hiring of a consultant to
work with the village on an
effort to have its 119-year-
old train depot be designated
as a national historic site.
The council unanimously
approved hiring Mannik
Smith Group, based in
Maumee, Ohio, with a
Michigan office in the Detroit
suburb of Canton, at a cost of
$9,700 to work on the appli-
cation to have the depot
included in the National Park
Service’s National Register
of Historic Places.
The council in February
had authorized Village
Manager Patricia Rayl to put
together bid specifications to
get a consultant who was
skilled in historic preserva-
tion, to stabilize and preserve
the exterior of the depot and
also make improvements to
the building’s interior. Two
companies responded to the

village’s request for propos-

als for the project.

Built in 1902, the depot

was a stop on the Michigan

Central Railroad’s Jackson-

to-Grand Rapids line. The

village acquired the depot in

May 2017 from Thornapple

Township.

Getting the depot on the

National Register would

open up options for funding

restoration of the depot, Rayl

said.

“It allows us to have

access to a wider variety of

grants, so that we can actual-

ly work on the inside, restor-

ing that [interior],” she said.

“It’s going to need a little bit

of cleanup, a little bit of

tweaking. For example, the

restrooms should be brought

up to [Americans with

Disabilities Act] standards,

so we’re probably going to

have to do a little bit of con-

struction there. But the heart

of the depot will remain the

same.”

A Hastings-based preser-

vation company, Vintage

Building and Restoration, put

together an estimate for the

village in August 2020 of

what the renovation could

cost, putting the potential

price tag at $40,500. That

estimate, according to village

documents, included repair-

ing copper gutters; repairing,

reglazing and repainting win-

dows; exterior cleaning of

the masonry and re-bricking

as needed; repair and repaint

the eaves and exterior trim;

and installing a handicap-ac-

cessible ramp with a metal

hand rail.

Founded in 1994, Mannik

Smith Group has worked

successfully to get recogni-

tion on the National Register

of Historic Places for several

Michigan sites, including the

Boys Club building in Battle

Creek, the Fidelity Building

in Benton Harbor and the

water treatment plant in

Marine City, which was a

federal Works Progress

Administration project,

according to the company’s

application.

A three-member historic

preservation team will visit

the State Historic

Preservation Office, the State

Library and State Archives to

search for relevant historic

information tied to the depot.

The team also is expected to

visit the University of

Michigan’s Bentley Library,

where the records of the

Michigan Central Railroad

Company are maintained.

“We anticipate that our

research will focus primarily

on this collection. Local his-

torical societies and libraries

will be contacted to deter-

mine their collections,” Brian

Geer, chief operations officer

for Mannik Smith Group,

wrote in the application to

the village. “Attempts will be

made to contact knowledge-

able informants identified by

these institutions, by

research, and by other local

contacts. Data from these

combined resources will pro-

vide detailed information

useful in determining the sig-

nificance of the railroad in

Middleville’s history and

development. The objective

of the research will be to

identify the period of con-

struction, historical chronol-

ogy, and the building’s phys-

ical evolution.”

The village got positive

references for Mannik Smith

Group from Okemos and

Tecumseh, Rayl said.

The proposed project

timeline calls for a final draft

of the village’s application to

be made to the State Historic

Preservation Office by

mid-July, a presentation to

the village council in

mid-August, and completion

by the end of the year,

according to the company’s

application.

Council Trustee Ed

Schellinger, who made the

motion to approve the hiring

of Mannik Smith Group, said

getting the depot on the

National Register would

bring visitors to the village.

“You would be surprised

at the number of retired rail-

road people that do nothing

more than drive around the

country looking for a project

like this,” Schellinger said.

“When we get our name in

the national registry book,

Middleville will be on their

planned itinerary.”

Yankee Springs planners approve

new site for pickleball courts

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Pickleball enthusiasts in

Yankee Springs Township

will soon have a new place to

play – and can treat them-

selves to ice cream after-

ward.

The township planning

commission Thursday night

unanimously approved a site

plan and special land-use

permit that will allow for six

new pickleball courts to be

built on property on the east-

ern portion of the Curley

Cone restaurant and ice

cream shop on M-179.

“We could not be more

excited and enthusiastic

about the project, and I could

not be happier with the

amount of support that

Yankee Springs Township

has shown us,” Curley Cone

owner Julie Fox said in a

telephone shortly after the

meeting.

The passage of the site

plan for the pickleball courts

came three months after the

township board voted to

allow additional pickleball

courts at Yankee Springs

Township Park. However,

that approval set forth ground

rules that included requiring

the township to be responsi-

ble for all aspects of the proj-

ect, including the hiring of

the contractors and determin-

ing how funds raised by the

Promote Pickleball Team

would be spent. The citi-

zen-based group – which has

been working to expand

pickleball courts at the town-

ship park for more than two

years – had offered to raise

$100,000 to pay for the con-

struction of the courts.

PPT representatives, who

said they had their own con-

tractors ready in place to

build additional courts at the

park, considered the town-

ship’s conditions a

deal-breaker and decided to

pursue other options.

“I want to acknowledge

that Julie is willing to put

pickleball courts on her prop-

erty,” PPT representative

Phyllis Wordhouse said

during Thursday’s public

hearing. “This has been a

19-month process for us, and

the township itself asked us

to look for a business owner

who would be willing to

work with us, partner with

us. I hope this is going to be

successful tonight, because

we don’t want to wait 20

months. We’ve had over 10

meetings with the township.”

Concerns were raised

about an easement to the

nearby township water tower.

“This is a vital water

main. It connects the water

tower to the distribution line

and M-179,” said Don

DeVries, an engineer at Fleis

& Vandenbrink.

“We currently don’t use

the easement for ingress and

egress, we actually use the

driveway,” said Trustee

Larry Knowles, who is the

township board’s representa-

tive on the planning commis-

sion. “I’d like to think that

would still stay in effect.”

An earlier site plan for

Curley Cone proposed con-

struction of a deck over the

easement area, which raised

a concern for DeVries.

Planning commissioner

Frank Fiala praised the pro-

posal, calling it “fantastic.”

“From looking at this site

plan and the planning that

has gone in here and all the

things that Julie has done at

that facility, I think it’s just

outstanding,” Fiala said. “It’s

an example of what we

would like people to do, to

accommodate the pickleball,

the activities and the things

that she’s doing. I just

applaud that.”

The board agreed to

waive landscaping and buff-

ering requirements for the

project.

No timetable for con-

struction of the courts has

been determined.

SATURDAY, APRIL 24|NOON-5PM

DOWNTOWN MIDDLEVILLE

PROUDLY

PRESENTS

EXPLORE THE PAUL HENRY TRAIL AND HISTORIC,

DOWNTOWN MIDDLEVILLE BY PARTICIPATING IN THE

SPRING SAFARI & TRIVIA QUEST! CHECK IN AT THE GAZEBO

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PLUS, DON’T MISS THE SIDEWALK CHALK ART COMPETITION PLUS, DON’T MISS THE SIDEWALK CHALK ART COMPETITION

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284 N BRIGGS ROAD - MIDDLEVILLE, MICHIGAN 49333

269-795-9091 / FAX 269-795-

158695

YANKEE SPRINGS TOWNSHIP

SPRING

CLEANUP DAY

Saturday, April 24, 2021

9:00 AM start @ the Fire Station

1425 S. Payne Lake Rd.

Please come and join us in cleaning along the roads in the

township with a special emphasis on the old shooting range.

A dumpster for trash collected will be provided along

with trash bags.

Please call the Township office with any questions 269-

795-9091.

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“I think it’s just

outstanding. It’s an

example of what

we would like

people to do ...”

Frank Fiala,

planning commissioner