Holy Family Orphanage - Marquette, MI

It's a building that has sat largely vacant since the early 1980's and may soon come crumbling down. The Marquette City Commission has began preliminary planning to eventually tear down the old Holy Family Orphanage building in the city. A few weeks back the commission started plans to apply for a statewide grant to help fund the demolition of dilapidated buildings within a specific jurisdiction. Out of $15 million allocated to the demolition of such inhabitable buildings, $10 million is dedicated to the efforts in the city of Detroit alone, while the remaining $5 million is allocated to projects across the state. The city of Marquette is hoping that the Orphanage building is one of those projects selected for the year 2013.

For those unfamiliar with the Holy Family Orphanage Building in Marquette, it sits along the corner of Altamont and Fisher Streets. If you're traveling through the city along the US-41 bypass between the Grove Street intersection and the roundabout, you can't miss seeing the red-brick structure sitting from atop of a hill on the north side of the roadway. The majority of its windows and doorways are boarded up and it sits forlornly, waiting for someone to take it over and make it into something useful. However, it doesn't seem like that'll ever happen. The building has been owned by various owners since 1982 with nobody having a clear plan of what to do with the structure. It now sits in foreclosure and is in serious disrepair. A recent inspection done by the fire chief of the city of Marquette revealed that the roof has a couple of gaping holes and the structural integrity of the building is in serious doubt, with concrete crumbling inside and structural I-beams rotting away. At this point it seems it would take a miracle for somebody to swoop in and purchase the building, and at least make it safe.

Just think of the cost it would take in reviving a building like the Orphanage. It's a large, mammoth six-story building made of red brick and sandstone. It's a rather large building compared to Marquette's other buildings in the city. The Orphanage was constructed in 1915 at a cost of $100,000 at the time. It was considered to be a state of the art building for 1915 and it was the pride of the Most Rev. Frederick Eis, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Marquette during that time, who fought to fund and build the structure for the Diocese to house orphaned Catholic children in the Upper Peninsula. But it was built during an era when lead paint was predominantly used and asbestos was a common building material used in building construction during that era of time. Lead and asbestos abatement alone could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's not to say it isn't impossible for someone to step up and provide the money that's needed to rehabilitate the building. Just look at the history involving some of Marquette's other famous buildings that were close to being demolished, such as the Rosewood building and the Landmark in (once called the Hotel Northland). Both buildings were abandoned for years and were eventually overhauled into what they are today. Both are considered to be some of Marquette's finest and most historic structures standing today. Who's to say that same fate could become of the old Orphanage building?

Seeing that it has been since 1982 since the structure was last occupied and has gone through a handful of owners, it is likely the building will see the wrecking ball first before anyone puts together plans to save the structure. It's a shame because the building has been a part of the Marquette skyline for nearly 100 years. But as I mentioned earlier, the structural integrity of the building is questionable at best. Rehabbing a building like the Orphanage would probably take at least a couple of million dollars and it's much more cheaper these days to tear a building down rather than remodeling it. It's too bad that none of the owners since 1982 were really all that serious in turning the building into something useful. Then again, those that owned it were from out of state and probably never cared about one of Marquette's most interesting buildings. I guess time will tell regarding the fate of the Orphanage. If the grant money comes through for the city to tear it down, it likely won't see it's 100th year of standing.
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Recent Update:  The facility still stands and will do so until at least next year (2014).  So far it has not been determined whether or not the city and/or county will reapply for state grants to demolish the facility over the winter.  One would think so, considering it still stands in disrepair.  It's one of the buildings that the city of Marquette wants to see gone, as it is becoming a serious safety hazard.  That being said, I think if someone were to come forth and purchase the structure and put some serious money towards revitalizing the building and develop an aggressive construction schedule, I would think it would be saved from the wrecking ball.  Time will tell what ends up happening.

Trying to Make Sense of Tragedy

If you have watched the news lately, it's not hard to figure out what the lead story is. The senseless massacre of innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut is a nightmare and an unthinkable tragedy. We all hope it was only a bad dream, but when we wake up day after day, reality sets in once again - yes, it really did happen. There are many questions left unanswered, some questions probably won't ever be answered. I just cannot fathom what it must be like to be within a community that will be forever shaken by such a horrible event. I am hundreds of miles away from Connecticut and yet still feel close to the situation. I imagine many Americans and people around the world feel exactly the same way.

We have found out a few details regarding the killer. I am not mentioning his name because he doesn't need to be memorialized in any fashion. Apparently he was autistic, and people are quick to judge and say it's what caused him to kill 27 innocent people. Having autism does not automatically make a person "bad" and turn them into a killer. Obviously there is more to a person than just having a mental disease. They say he was quiet and described as a "loner." Some of his former classmates say they weren't surprised by his actions. Unfortunately nobody was able to step forward and lend a hand to this individual. Something obviously made him snap and he took it out in a gruesome manner. You know, not enough attention is ever brought towards mental health in this country. Obviously the killer had a problem and people knew it. Sadly, not enough was done to help this individual deal with his struggles in life. And 27 innocent victims had to pay for it.

In the days and weeks to come, gun control will become an issue of great importance in our country. As you can imagine, prior to this the focus was on the "Fiscal Cliff" and stalemate that exists within the government to solve this issue. Now an even greater issue is upon the representatives that make up the House and Senate, as well as our President. Something has to be done to combat these incidents from occurring time and time again. We need to look at better gun control measures, be it banning the purchase of semi-automatic weapons by any average American, stricter gun policies, etc. I am not an expert on guns and I do not propose the banning of all firearms in our country. I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where hunting is a big thing. We need to tread carefully on this matter and reach a solution that'll make the majority of American's satisfied. Rifles used for hunting are ok in my view. But something has to be done with the use of semi-automatic weapons. If these murderers are able to shoot round after round of ammunition and kill dozens of innocent victims and reload in seconds, there's definitely something wrong with that.

There's a rather poignant song out there that really speaks to me during times like these. It was released in 1987 by the hair metal group White Lion. The song is titled "When the Children Cry." The lyrics talk of the evil that exists in our world, situations in which our children are born into and have to deal with as they grow. Unfortunately for 20 young children, they won't know what it's like to grow up, gone way, WAY too young in life. I just can't imagine how sick an individual has to be in order to shoot innocent six and seven year old children screaming and not knowing what is going on. You just have to hope they didn't have to suffer. And the teachers and support staff who tried to apprehend the shooter, unsuccessfully. They are regarded as heroes, some even trying to act as shields in front of children as they took on bullets to the body. It's a sad situation that any competent human being can never comprehend. My condolences to the families of those who lost individuals in this heinous act and may someday, you are able to find peace.

I Will Return

Howdy folks. Yes, I'm still out there. Just wanted you all to know that I do plan on returning to the blog soon. I'm not going to give a definite time - I'll give you a heads up when the time comes. But this long, extended break has given me the opportunity to rejuvenate my batteries when it comes to writing. I'm not going to make any promises as to how often I'll write; it'll probably be slow at first and then gradually pick up as we head into the winter season. Anyways, I just wanted to give a brief update on the future of this blog. No, it's not dead - in fact it's far from being dead. So stay tuned, my ponderings will be returning soon.

Is It Really Global Warming?

Once again here in Upper Michigan, we've had a very slow start to winter. Actually today, January 2, 2012, we've finally experienced our first big snow storm of the season. And it's not exactly a true snow storm in typical fashion because it's all lake effect snow coming off Lake Superior. Not even southern counties in the U.P. are seeing this snowfall. I've never been a big believer of global warming and have thought all along that it's only been the media trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. But within the last decade, our winter's here in Upper Michigan have been unusual to say the least. I'm not saying I'm a total believer yet of the global warming hype, but maybe I am starting to open up more to the idea of it.

It probably took until the middle of November until we received our first measurable snows here in the U.P. Typically that happens a month earlier. If I remember correctly, we had a couple of decent bouts of lake effect snow from that point on, but then we experienced a couple of incredible thaws. They included stretches of days with temperatures in the 40's and low temperatures above freezing overnight. Needless to say, the snow cover dwindled to very little. Where I live along the Lake Superior shore east of Marquette, we didn't receive a decent snow cover up until the last few days. Here and in the city of Marquette, we were only a few days short of having a green Christmas - until a small clipper system dropped in about three inches of snow. So once again, similar to other winters within the last decade, we've had a very slow start to winter.

Back when I was a kid growing up in the U.P., there was never a doubt about us not having snow for deer season. It always helps the hunters to have some snow cover to track the deer after they shoot them. And then while spending Thanksgiving at my grandma's house, we'd be walking along the pathway leading up to her house, all bundled up, with a snowbank up to our knees. And barely having five inches of snow on the ground for Christmas day? Absolutely unheard of (except for the Christmas of 1994 where not one location in the Upper Peninsula had snow). But all of these seem to be the reality rather than the exception lately. Not to say that I've been disappointed with these mild winters because it sure makes it nice traveling on the roads with little snow. But in the end, it does hurt local businesses that depend on the snow. It seems like more and more of the mom-and-pop businesses are shutting down because they can't sustain themselves because of these goofy winters.

So despite our slow start to the winter season here in the U.P., maybe this storm will kick start things and produce epic snows that people seem to have been missing lately. I can't tell you when the last time we've had a truly monstrous blizzard. So we're definitely overdue. I wouldn't mind getting the opportunity to do some cross country skiing before the season is out. And then once March rolls around, it can melt on the way to a nice, mild spring. As for global warming - I'm still not entirely sold on it. It seems like we go through patterns in the weather where we have mild stretches, then cold stretches, and it cycles back and forth through time. I still believe that we're in a mild stretch, but I certainly no longer think that global warming is out of the question. We'll see if these mild winters continue in the years to come.