On July 8, independent engineers with the Bingham Farms firm of Wiss, Janney and Elstner Associates, inspected what remains of Ypsilanti’s historic Thompson Block. According to AnnArbor.com, their findings were made public today. Following is a clip from the article:
…A new report conducted by an independent engineer says a portion of the Thompson Blockbuilding could [...]
According to police, they’re ready to make an arrest in relation to the September 23, 2009 fire which gutted Ypsilanti’s historic Thompson Block. The individual, a 21 year old man by the name of Jacob Robert-Andrew Popiolek, is thought to have fled the area. According to the Ypsi Citizen, Popiolek is a “160-pound white male [...]
Yesterday, local blogger Steve Pierce, on his YpsiNews.com site, broke the news that Ypsilanti real estate developer and landlord Stewart Beal owed the City $86,068.80 in back taxes. He later revised the number to be $84,136.96. The error, he said, was “made by the reporter,” by which I assume he means himself… Here’s a clip [...]
Last night’s Dreamland Tonight taping went pretty well. Annie Palmer was a great musical guest, local real estate developer Stewart Beal brought us up to speed on the Thompson Block, and historian James Mann shared a few ghost stories. It was a little sloppy, as we were still kind of writing as we went along, [...]
Ready or not, it looks like another episode of Dreamland Tonight is going to tape tomorrow night, in Ypsilanti. Our guests will include local landlord and developer Stewart Beal, historian James Mann, and musician Annie Palmer. If the practice I just participate in is any indication, it’s going to be extremely loose, but I imagine [...]
Remember how Ypsi’s historic Thompson block burned down last fall, and how the building’s owner, Stewart Beal, had blocked up the streets with scaffolds in order to prevent what remained of the brick shell of the Civil War-era building from falling over into traffic, and how Beal was given unprecedented leeway in order to [...]
At 5:01 PM this afternoon, our city manager, Ed Koryzno, sent the following email to members of the Ypsi City Council.
Mayor and Council Members:
As you are aware, we are closely monitoring the fire damage at 400 North River.
The city attorney has assessed the situation, and in conjunction with reports from the fire marshal, DPW [...]
I had occasion to talk with a gentleman the other day who is in the construction business, and he indicated to me that saving the Thompson block at this point would be near impossible. He said that it was likely that the mortar holding the bricks in place, which was already beginning to fail in [...]
If you were awoken early this morning by the sounds of sirens and helicopters, as I was, here’s the reason why… It looks as though Ypsi’s historic Thompson block has burned down.
The redevelopment of the historic property, that one time served as Civil War barracks, after several years of ownership by infamous Ypsilanti landlord David [...]
This afternoon, Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority (YDDA) Director Brian Vosburg offered his resignation. According to board chair Peter Rinehart, Vosburg did so prior to a job evaluation that was to be conducted during a closed-door session of the board. While it may be true that no formal performance evaluation was conducted, it appears as though [...]
