As promised, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm came to town this morning to drop off a giant $500,000 check for the restoration of Ypsilanti’s historic Freighthouse… Here’s a photo snapped by our friend Thomas Kula, who somehow managed to position himself in the front row:
The following video comes from the Ypsilanti Citizen. If you watch it, you’ll hear me begin clapping at the 2-minute mark, after Granholm says that we’re partnering with other midwestern states to propose a regional high-speed rail network connecting Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and St Louis. I began clapping enthusiastically, and it took a full second or two before others decided to join me. As it turned out, it was alright, but, for that second or two, it was excruciating. Clapping first is a risky proposition.
As for this funding, Ypsi wasn’t alone. According to the Governor, 22 communities in the state were able to tap into the portion of the Recovery Act stimulus funds earmarked for “transportation enhancement.” The total allocated for Michigan was $873 million. And, happily, we got $500,000 of that this morning.
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And, as Granholm pointed out, the check wasn’t really hers to give, as it was federal money… She said that before asking Congressman John Dingell to come up and address the crowd.
Mark,
As a board member of the FOYF, I would personally like to thank you for the part you played in aligning the stars to get the freighthouse reopened. Your continued support through your blog kept the beloved freighthouse on the front burner at crucial times.
I remember the day you brought the Ann Arbor Foundation to the freighthouse so our board could give them a pitch for their support. It worked. Without the money we received from them, we could not have been so shovel ready when Pete Murdoch and Kirk Profit finished helping to align those stars to get the stimulus money. Thank you, thank you and thank you
The check is hanging on the backbar mirror at the Sidetrack!
I guess we all did our part. If it weren’t for you, Linda, who knows how things would have turned out. My guess is that the city would have sold the building to a private entity, as Cheryl was hoping. Thankfully, however, you were tenacious and wouldn’t let that happen. Fortunately, we had the right combination of people in town at the right time. We should all be proud of what were able to accomplish… Now let’s hope this can jump start the Thompson Block, and breathe some new life into Water Street.
Obviously, we should be shocked and outraged by this. It is a crime that the federal government would be giving money to anyone.
what?! they’re inside the freighthouse? did anyone fall through the floor?
;)
It’s great news! I find it funny though that theres all this talk about rail transit the same time there’s a big rush to tear down michigan central station in detroit. Granted that will take a lot longer and a lot more money, I hope the state has some involvement in that decision.
I miss the good old days when our leaders had to actually get in a longboat armed to the teeth, and row to strange foreign lands to come back and lavish the village with such opulent plunder. Moral distance.
I was there. Looking around I saw a project that brought us all together as a community. What a great start. Can we work this way to achieve other goals? I hope we can. I think we can. Combine and conquer. We are so small as a community about 4.2 square miles I think, and so few people. We need the combined strength, history and abilities of everyone here to truly prosper.
Congratulations!
We were just there yesterday after a dinner at Beezy’s, wandering down to the grand opening of Depot Town Tattoo, and letting our son climb all over the red caboose (trains trains trains)
Looking forward to the awesome things to come in the renovated Freighthouse! Go Ypsi!
(I love the fact that I come to this post about a wonderful event in support of a place that is near and dear to our hearts in so many ways and I have to see yet another post from BAsshole attempting to spoil everybody’s fun. Can’t you just STFU one time? Isn’t Glenn Beck on or something? I hear he uses small words and has a smaller penis, but makes up for it by carrying a big gun. Go troll at a teabag party or something. You must be great fun at parties.)
Back to the point: Congrats to everybody on all their work here. I got married there in 2000 and have very fond memories of the place. I was dubious about the efforts to keep it open, but you all held out hope and kept at it and now there is a light at the end of that tunnel. Absolutely fantastic job!
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[…] getting high-speed rail to Chicago is a cause close to his heart, and what Governor Granholm said when she was here in Ypsi a few days ago about the the advance work being done by Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St Louis […]
[…] remember how, a few months ago, I told you that we were going to receive $500,000 through the federal stimulus program to restore our historic Freighthouse? Well, today it became news on Capital Hill, as Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) named the project […]