MAF Grants and Awards Archive

SAULT BUILDING TO RECEIVE GRANT FOR RESTORATION Detroit, Michigan — April 20, 2007 — The Chippewa County Historical Society will meet on April 28 with two members of the jury for the David Evans Memorial Grant for Historic Preservation, Ralph and Jeanne Graham, to pick up their check for $5,000 that was approved recently by the Michigan Architectural Foundation and Clannad Foundation. The money, dedicated to restoring the roof on the News Building, the new home of the Chippewa County Historical Society at 115 Ashmun Street, in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, will be presented by the Graham’s who will tour the building and attend a noon reception. Members of the Eastern Upper Peninsula History Consortium and representatives from the County, City, and Downtown Development Authority will also be on hand. This will be the third Evans grant to go to the Upper Peninsula. The Pewabic House in Houghton and the tower on the old sheriff's house in Newberry were previous winners. The News Building constructed in 1889 originally housed Chase S. Osborn's Sault Ste. Marie News. The jury supports its adaptive reuse and felt that the restoration of the building would be a welcomed addition to the city’s ongoing "Cool Cities" initiatives, which includes the restoration of the 1930s Soo Theatre located in the 500 block of Ashmun Street. The Evans Memorial Grant seeks to reward non-profit groups who come up with an idea that leads to the creative reuse of a historic property. The Chippewa County Historical Society has a plan to use the first floor for their offices, exhibit and research space and a gift shop. They hope to rent half of the storefront to a compatible entity, possibly a for-profit retail operation. The two foundations joined, in memory of preservation architect David Evans, FAIA to initiate the Evans Memorial Preservation Grant Program in 1999 This annual award is made to a not-for-profit (501-C-3) organization that can demonstrate a creative solution to a preservation problem. Information is on line at AIAMI.com and the next grant program will be announced in December. The first award went to the Shielding Tree Nature Center to restore the Lawr Farm, in Port Oneida, Michigan, for adaptive reuse. This farm is one of several that are within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park. The second award went to the Coopersville Area Historical Society for the restoration of Interurban Car #8. Coopersville was commended for saving a unique example from America’s recent past. Number three was the Pewabic House in Houghton in the Upper Peninsula. The house is the family home of Mary Chase Stratton, the founder of Pewabic Pottery. The Pewabic Pottery was a leader in the art pottery movement in the early part of the Twentieth Century. They are still in business in Detroit. In Detroit for number four, the Corktown Tenement House is one of the few surviving examples of an Irish workers cottage left in the city. The long term goal is to restore the house for use as a Tenement Museum. For now, the Evans Grant provided funds to repair the roof. For the fifth year, the grant went back to the Upper Peninsula to Newberry to help to restore the Turret of the 1894 Queen Ann Style Sheriff’s Residence for the Luce County Historical Society. In the sixth year, the award went to the Pettibone Creek Hydroelectric Station in Milford to replace the quarry tile floor in an Art Deco structure that was designed by Albert Kahn as a power plant for Henry Ford in 1939. Number seven went to the Phoenix of the Detroit Fire Department to assist in the restoration of Engine 11, an 1883 Firehouse on Gratiot in Detroit. The firehouse was in service until 1989. The planned renovation includes an overhaul of the building's mechanical systems and improvements to the aesthetic properties of the exterior. The Perkins-Copland Log Cabin, now located in the Meridian Historical Village, is the eighth grant. Initially the cabin was used to teach outdoor education and pioneer living at Haslett Middle School. Budget cuts ended the program and the building fell into disrepair. Vandalism, because of its remote location, was a constant problem. The school district gave the building to the Friends of Historic Meridian and they have moved it to Okemos where it will be restored and used to demonstrate local history. ##

Detroit, Michigan . May 19, 2006 . The Perkins-Copland Log Cabin, originally located in Haslett but now in Okemos at the Meridian Historical Village, is one step closer to preservation thanks to the Michigan Architectural Founda­tion and the Clannad Foundation who once again made a Five Thousand Dollar Grant to a preservation project in Michigan. The award was presented in Ann Arbor on May 12 during the honor awards program of The American Institute of Ar­chitects - Michigan. The cabin was rescued from destruction by Robert Copland who used it to teach outdoor education and pioneer living to his Haslett Middle School students. Budget cuts ended the program and the building fell into disrepair.  Vandalism, because of its remote location, was a constant problem. The school district gave the building to the Friends of Historic Meridian in 2005 who have moved it to Okemos where it will be restored and used to demonstrate local history. The Evans Memorial Grant seeks to reward non-profit groups who come up with an idea that leads to the creative reuse of a historic property. Preferring to see historic building in their original setting, this is the first grant to a relocation project. An exception was made in this case since the loss of Michigan's primitive architecure is almost complete. The two foundations joined, in memory of preserva­tion architect David Evans, FAIA to initiate the Evans Memo­rial Preservation Grant Program in 1999  This annual award is made to a not-for-profit (501-C-3) organization that can demonstrate a creative solution to a preservation problem. Information is on line at AIAMI.com and the next grant pro­gram will be announced in December. ##

CORKTOWN HOUSE GET GRANT FOR PRESERVATION Detroit — May 3, 2002 — David Evans, FAIA was an architect and a strong supporter for historic preservation. When he died in 1998, the Clannad Foundation and the Michigan Architectural Foundation joined to create a memorial grant in his name. The $5,000 check was presented during the honor awards ceremony for the American Institute of Architects Michigan to the Corktown Development Corporation for the roof restoration on a house that will be developed for a tenement museum. The presentation was made May 3 at Cranbrook Academy of Art. The National Historic District of Corktown, located on the west side of downtown, is Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. It was named for County Cork, Ireland. By 1850, one in seven people in Detroit was from Ireland and made up the city’s largest national group. The area now is home to Maltese and Mexican families. However, Corktown has both the Most Holy Trinity Church and the Gaelic League and that makes it the vital center of Irish culture and ethnic identity in metropolitan Detroit. The workers tenement house is the oldest building in Corktown and one of the oldest residential structures in the city. A tenement museum will be placed in the house. It will feature a permanent display of the way immigrants lived during the early years of Detroit. The house is a vital relic of Corktown’s past. The Evans Grant will provide a new roof and protect the house until funds are raised to complete the restoration. The roof is in danger of collapse with a 12 inch hole that is causing serious damage. Michael Clear, Tim McKay, and R. Scott Martin of the Corktown Development Corporation received the check. AIA Michigan has over 2,000 members and is housed in the historic Beaubien House in downtown Detroit. The Michigan Honor Awards program is almost 40 years old and was organized to highlight well-designed buildings and to honor the people who create them. ##