MARQUETTE — The Marquette County Land Bank will receive over $200,000 to help improve neighborhoods in Negaunee and Ishpeming.

The money comes from a grant with the Blight Elimination Program. The plan is to demolish three commercial buildings and eight residential structures located in the two neighborhoods.

“In residential areas we like to try to work with a joining property owners as much as we can,” said Marquette County Treasurer Anne Giroux, “so if there are folks who own property on either side we try to work with them. It’s an opportunity for them to make their yard bigger, build a garage, put a shed up or a garden, something like that. The commercial side we’ll be working very closely with the city.”

The MSHDA thinks of investing in blight elimination as investing in the future.
A large amount of time, thought, and consideration go into the decision of each residential or commercial structure that is taken down.

“Some of them have standing water in the basement, some of them are partially burned, lots of roof issues, water damage and things like that. So these are buildings that really are beyond saving and in all cases there’s a recognized need to eliminate the blight. The feeling is that the properties around those properties once you remove them, their values will increase as a result of the demolition activity.”

The demolition bids have already been placed and activity is expected to go quickly sometime this summer.