LISD delays demolition of historic Sutton School

By DEB WUETHRICH

Trustees of the Lenawee Intermediate School District Board of Education were at an impasse for a time Monday night when asked to take action on a recommendation to proceed with the demolition of the old Sutton School which sits on the Milton C. Porter campus on Sutton Road. This took place at the board’s regular monthly meeting following pleas by some local individuals to consider providing area preservationists more time to come up with funding and a viable plan for reuse of the building.

“If we could just have a little more time to raise the money to bring the building up to code, I think we could do it,” said Lisa Powell, Executive Director of the Tecumseh Area Historical Museum. Powell has been working with Kimberly Davis, Executive Director of the Underground Railroad Program on the Adrian College campus, along with other preservationists, jointly pursuing funding and a viable plan to restore the building.

The LISD board has been studying the issue since 2004 of what to do with the deteriorating structure, built by an area abolitionist in 1859. The school district had determined that the building no longer holds any educational use and the cost of maintaining it or undertaking costly renovations did not constitute a good use of education dollars. The district also contacted approximately 40 groups in the area to see if there would be interest in usage and the funding to support renovation and operation; there was no apparent interest. A full review and summary report was then prepared for the board’s September meeting last year with a recommendation to accept a bid from Wilson Backhoe for demolition for $13,980, plus a $10,000 asbestos abatement bid, and the measure was approved.

Representatives of area preservationist groups attended the October board meeting, however, and asked the board members to delay the demolition. Kimberly Davis was one of several individuals who spoke at that meeting, noting the historical significance of the Sutton family, who had helped slaves escape to freedom, having a hidden room in the basement of a home that has since been restored on the Wacker Chemical property.

At that meeting, the LISD board decided to allow the group until December to organize and firm up a proposal to preserve the structure — including a demonstrated commitment of resources. At this past Monday night’s meeting, LISD Superintendent Steve Krusich told the board members that he guessed he and his staff had spent at least 10 hours a week on discussions involving the project over the past four months. Those discussions included an interest by the Leh-Nah-Weh Native American organization in turning the old school into a Native American Culture and Education Center. While the project looked possible for a time, a discovery several weeks ago put a stumbling block on that path. It was learned that the building has a code designating it for educational use for K-12 students, but to use it as a cultural center would change the designation to an assembly use and necessitate a costly upgrade at an estimated $30,000-$50,000.  Once the project no longer appeared to be making any headway, Krusich put together a recommendation for action to proceed with the asbestos removal and demolition.

In the action item, Krusich wrote, “Multiple community inquiries and hours of focused discussions have failed to identify a promising and cost effective strategy. While there continues to be community interest in preserving and restoring the building, no individual or group has come forward with the necessary dollars or a workable plan. It is abundantly clear that the LISD cannot use its special education funds for historical building preservation.”

During the public comment portion of the board meeting, Pat Van Camp, president of the Promenade Tecumseh Committee, asked the board to at least postpone the demolition for a while. “Please see this as an asset and not as a liability,” she said.

Ina Woolum, a board member of the Tecumseh Area Historical Society, said she thought an effort involving the Leh-Nah-Weh organization would be a great opportunity. “Nowhere do they have a single building to display their arts, crafts and beautiful culture,” she said. “To me this would be an opportunity for our school kids to be able to go over there.”

Kim Koch, also a member of the Tecumseh Area Historical Society board along with the Tecumseh Historic Preservation Commission, pointed out that “these things don’t happen overnight,” and asked for a “change in urgency” in tearing the building down so the preservation groups would have more time to examine a strategy for salvaging the structure. “To tear down that building wouldn’t be doing anybody a service, the board, the school or the public,” he said. Koch maintained that there are dollars available for such projects, however, grants would need to be applied for and entities such as the Wacker Chemical Corporation board would have to be approached. “Time is more important than the money,” he said.

LISD board members expressed concerns on several fronts. Trustee Kathryn Mohr, who ultimately voted no on the time extension, several times asked how much money would actually be required to bring the building up to code, and did the group have a budget, and whom, exactly, would the board be dealing with in terms of accountability. The board members also were concerned that the others who had been in on the discussions, such as representatives of the Leh-Nah-Weh Native American organization and Kimberly Davis, were not present, but those present mentioned that those were the groups that still would be interested in pursuing the renovation.

LISD Facilities and Maintenance Director, Tom Salsbury issued a reminder that it was not just about the finances to bring the building up to code, but about operational maintenance as well. There would also be details to be worked out in terms of the “volunteer” professionals whose services had been committed according to Powell and Koch.

Trustees Vic Hogue and John Lark noted that they would like to have a little more time just to fully understand what they were voting on and to allow a little more time to explore all the options. Hogue made a motion to delay the demolition for 60 days. He said he would like to have an executive session as part of the April meeting to discuss sale and leasing of property. Because of the location of the property, any use by another group would likely be a lease agreement with the LISD still owning the building.

“I wish this building was somewhere else. I wish we could give it to somebody,” said Mohr, picking up on a comment by Krusich that if the structure were elsewhere it might have been donated. “I wish someone could afford it and preserve it, but the reality is not there.”
Krusich said that the issue is still one of making a decision as a school district for appropriate use of educational dollars, which must remain central to the district’s mission of educating students. “This has been widely publicized and no one has stepped up with the dollars,” he said, adding that he believes it’s admirable that there are individuals hoping to restore and preserve structures in the community. “I see a lot of well-intended hopes and dreams, and we have pursued this with good faith, but there is no strategic financial plan to support it for this building.”

The board is scheduled to bring the issue back to its May 5 meeting.