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.
9 comments:
There are grants for restorations as well.
National Registry of Historic Buildings.
It saddens me when perfectly useful buildings are torn down.
Check out the West Baden Springs Hotel restoration in Indiana.
B.
What was it used for before it closed in 1982?
I'm not sure if you're still running this site, but I'm curious...has there been any additional news in the past few months? Are they really planning on tearing it down? My grandmother was a resident for two years, back in 1922 and I'm trying to do research on it that goes beyond the myths...unfortunately she has alzheimer's and is unable to help me out, sadly.
Thank you,
Heidi
YooperBreadCrumbs@gmail.com
Hello,
I was wondering if you had heard of any new developments regarding the status of the orphanage? I am doing research on it and hoping to go beyond the myths; my grandmother was a resident in 1922 for two years but, unfortunately, has alzheimer's and is unable to contribute.
Thanks again!
Jo
yooperbreadcrumbs@gmail.com
Hello, thanks for your comments. As of now, the orphanage will stand for at least another year. The city/county was not awarded grant money to go towards the demolition.
I randomly came across this building thanks to another website...I would hate to see it get demolished.
A cool idea that I think could make a lot of money and would present a good solution to keeping the building around would be to turn it into an attraction for paranormal seekers/researchers and people who are looking to scare themselves for a night.
Look at places like the Farrar Schoolhouse in Farrar, IA, Villisca Ax Murder House in Villisca, IA, and other places like the Waverly Hills Sanitarium in Louisville, KY. Farrar and Waverly Hills are the types of places that are similar to the Holy Family Orphanage. I'm sure there are many more similar places as well.
These places offer groups the chance to stay overnight in the buildings for a certain fee. These groups can explore the building, investigate for paranormal activity, and whatever else they'd like. I think something similar would be awesome here because there's so much paranormal activity that apparently happens here.
Just my two cents on what I think should be done. I'm a college student in Iowa who recently stayed at Farrar and Villisca and had a blast. I know there are many other places that offer this kind of experience. If someone could only save and promise to restore Holy Family Orphanage, this type of business would definitely generate a great deal of money for whomever did so.
my name is Courtney Larsen and I always see the Orphanage on the highway when we pass the VA hospital that is across from it on the way to see my brother Brent at NMU. I think that instead of tearing it down they should make it a Michigan landmark because I never knew that there were orphanages in the U.S and when I think of it, it reminds me of my life because I was in foster care which when you think about it, it is just like being in an orphanage. Because my birth parents did't take care of me, so me and my brother and sister where put in foster care, which is like a orphanage. Or they could tear down the building and put a sign up saying and telling about the orphanage that was on that plot of land.
The church stopped using it in the 1960's, when the university purchased it. Portions of the building housed various fraternities and offices up until NMU sold it in 1986. I spent two semesters studying at NMU, as a history major.
I explored this building back when I was in college at NMU in 2001. I wish the community would pull some grants and pull together to fix it. I hate seeing old building wasted. Just like the Newberry State Hospital they turned a small portion into a prison but the rest rots away. What a shame.
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