Future of torn down building site undecided

ISHPEMING — Out with the old and in with the new. We’ve all heard that expression a time or two.

The city of Ishpeming has taken that saying to heart, tearing down an old, deteriorated building that had more to do with blight than anything else. City officials were able to remove this building, located on the 200 block of Division Street, thanks to a grant from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

According to city manager Mark Slown, the city plans on filling the torn down building with dirt and putting grass on top. What the city will do with the property after that is still up in the air.

“What may happen there could depend on a lot of other factors. I’m not going to speculate about them right now because there’s just too many possibilities,” said Slown.

“It could turn into something really cool and we’ll just leave it at that. Personally, and I speak only for myself, that part of town could be re–developed in a really nice way at some point in the future. Whether that will happen or not is an unknown,” he added.

The cities of Ishpeming and Negaunee received more than $200,000 from MSHDA to take down several buildings. Slown expects the current project to be completed by the end of the month.