Bids received for a downtown buildings survey on Mackinac Island are more than twice the amount the city had budgeted for the project, causing city and preservation officials to scramble for more funds.

Mackinac Island had received $16,000 in state and federal grants for the project, but the two bids received were much higher. One was for $37,535 from Past Perfect of Grand Rapids and the other was for $45,811.37 from the Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group of Jackson. An incomplete response with no price was received from Akershoek One of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The downtown business area, from Marquette Park to the school, is being planned as a local historic district and the necessary survey of historic resources would include a history of each building, architectural details, and location in relationship to other structures.

The city's Historic District Study Committee, which reviewed the survey bids Monday, August 23, will seek advice from Amy Arnold, a preservation planner with the State Historic Preservation Office who wrote the bid specifications on the city's behalf to ensure they met grant guidelines.

Committee members hope Ms. Arnold will help get the bid amounts reduced without having to re-bid the project. The city had planned for the survey work to begin in early September.

The committee believes the two survey companies will revise their bids when they learn that previous survey work in the downtown area is available and will reduce research time. The city is making available volunteer photographic assistance, which also should help to lower bid amounts, and it hopes the companies will see some prestige in working on a history project on Mackinac Island.

Proposal Impacts Businesses

as Well as Preservation Efforts, Some Point Out

Committee member and business owner Steve Moskwa said the focus of the Island has changed through the years, and so have the buildings. The committee needs to keep that in mind, he said, as it moves through the exploratory process of considering the local historic district for the downtown.

“We evolve slowly here,” he said. “We evolve in a way that supports businesses. The businesses are approximately 55% of the tax base here and I think we have to be very careful about going forward and what we're going to do.”

A workshop that will explain the economic benefits of establishing a historic district is being planned, and bids for that element of the historic district planning process are to be reviewed Monday, September 6.

During an hour-long discussion, the committee offered varying opinions on preservation before finally agreeing another informational and education meeting is needed about local historic districts and the responsibility of historic district commissions.

Previously, preservationists spoke at city council meetings in October 2009, again in May of this year, and in June they held a workshop and one breakout question and answer session.

Property owners have a lot invested in their business, Mr. Moskwa said, and were too busy to attend those meetings, and this fall would be a better time to meet with them.

Businessman Ira Green said property owners should be personally invited to meetings.

Committee member Mike Hart wondered how many meetings the city needs to hold.

Resident Lorna Straus, a member of the Hubbard's Annex Historic District Study Committee, said not all Annex property owners attended their meetings, but they all had a chance to attend. Hubbard's Annex is the first historic district on the Island, established last month.

Mr. Moskwa said some people are concerned that the proposed downtown historic district would be governed by a national group of preservationists.

That, however, is not correct, said experts during a June community workshop. A historic district commission here would be comprised of local residents and downtown business owners.

A Historic District Commission, explained the preservationists, oversees exterior construction projects proposed in any local historic districts. The commission determines design guidelines for structures in any designated historic district on the Island while following the guidelines established by the U.S. Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.

Mr. Green said he had never been invited to a meeting to discuss the idea of the proposed downtown historic district. He contended wording was biased on the moratorium petition that was circulated by citizens asking the city to delay any demolition, and he asked the committee to conduct an opinion survey of property owners in the proposed district.

Mr. Hart addressed Mr. Green's concerns, saying there have been several meetings on historic preservation, and pointed out that Mr. Green attended some of them.

“If you ask people an opinion on a matter that they have not studied, even perhaps saying, 'I'm not going to because I don't want it,' and so learn nothing, you are asking people an opinion about a matter they simply don't understand and won't understand because they are not trying. We are trying. I'm not saying they are all not interested, I'm just saying the opportunity has been there to learn, and if they still say they don't know anything, the question, then, is, were you there at that seminar? If the answer is 'no,' well, how many seminars do we have to hold?”

Nevertheless, the committee said it will try to schedule another workshop for early September, if the state preservationists can come back up.

Mr. Green said people signing the demolition moratorium petition did not indicate whether they were property owners.

Resident Nancy May, who spearheaded the petition that garnered more than 320 signatures, was in attendance at Monday's meeting and told Mr. Green that about two-thirds of the downtown landowners signed the petition.

“What upsets me, and it really does, is that this is about downtown,” said Mr. Green. “It's about the whole Island. I would think, out of respect, I don't see why, I couldn't even imagine why you won't take one night and invite every landowner here. Those are the people I think you need to hear from.”

Funding for the survey and workshops is from the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority through the State Historic Preservation Office.