A Community Cause
Community support is also what helped save the asylum from demolition. Drastic cuts in state funding, accusations of civil rights violations, and improved drug therapies all contributed to the closing of the Northern Michigan Asylum in 1989 after over a century of operation. For close to a decade following the closure, the state, county, and city reviewed various proposals for the future use of the hospital buildings and grounds. A futile search for a suitable use ended in the recommendation that the asylum be demolished.
Fortunately, “community support was vociferous in sending the message to the group that demolition was not an option,” Ray recalls. In protest, a citizen activist committee formed in 1998, of which Ray was a member. “It was just a local grass roots group, but ended up with 5,000 members,” he says. With the committee’s support, Ray helped organize a team of local architects and engineers who conducted a feasibility study on the buildings’ condition and potential for reuse and economic viability. Not surprisingly, they found that the structures were built to last 500 to 1,000 years, Ray says.
Finally, after two years of negotiating, “we requested an option to purchase [Sub-area 2]” (see “Finding Funding”, end of article), Ray says. Meanwhile, however, the buildings were deteriorating and being vandalized. “Our mantra through the whole negotiating process was like a clock ticking: Every tick is another brick,” Ray says.
In 2001, The Minervini Group’s proposal to create a mixed-use residential and commercial community that preserved the historic features of the site was accepted. “In 2002 the property and buildings were deeded to us for $1,” Ray says.
Roofing Race
Out of necessity, the first improvement made to the property was to reshingle Building 50. “The roof should have been replaced 30 years ago,” Ray says, but it wasn’t because the state knew the hospital would close. “Water damage is more insidious than fire. The water caused rotted floor joists and deteriorated brick and sections of the roof. It leaked through four levels.”
Even though the damage from the leaky roof was limited to a small section of the building, the Minervinis had the entire building reroofed. “We could have just done the main [segment of the] building, but reshingling the entire building was a symbol of accomplishment and our commitment to the community,” Ray notes.
The roof was completed 12 months ahead of schedule, thanks to two local roofing companies that competed against each other. They started work on opposite ends of the building, roofing about 710 squares each, and the company that reached the middle first won the contract to roof the chapel section’s 80 squares. Drawing on a company line of credit secured with personal assets, it cost the Minervinis more than $1 million to reroof, but “we saved the whole building,” Ray says proudly.
Money Matters
“Architects like to say, ‘Form follows function.’ That’s not true,” Ray says. “Form follows funding. When you reduce a project like this down to the lowest common denominator, it needs to be economically viable in order for it to happen. If you can figure out a way to fund it, you’re set. You have to create a product people are willing to pay for.” The Minervinis’ cash investment and company efforts have brought nearly $20 million in rehabilitation investments to the project (see “Finding Funding”, end of article), and the profit from phase 1 will be used to fund the next phase.
The Long Haul
Although the first phase is complete, the Minervinis are far from finishing the project. Ray estimates it could take nearly 12 years and $300 million to finish. But that doesn’t deter them.
“We’re part of the problem if we don’t do anything,” Marsha says. “We have an obligation,” Ray echoes, adding, “It’s a humbling experience to work with old buildings; we are their temporary custodians. Here we have an opportunity to do well by doing good. It isn’t just about the bottom line; it’s about the end of the line.”
— Emily Wittbrodt is REMODELING’s former assistant editor.