Grand Haven to Host Historic Preservation Workshop
November 17

As conclusion to a two and one-half-year effort to identify historic tourism-related sites along the West Michigan shoreline from New Buffalo to Ludington, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will be in Grand Haven on November 17 to talk about the programs available for protecting those and other historic sites in West Michigan. The SHPO is a division of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). At a workshop hosted by the Grand Haven Convention & Visitors Bureau, SHPO staff will explain the different types of historic designations and their benefits, historic preservation tax credits available to property owners, the standards and criteria for rehabilitation work in historic districts, and the way in which these programs are tools for creating a unique community identity and tourist destination.

In addition, the SHPO’s preservation planner, Amy Arnold, will provide an overview of the West Michigan Pike Heritage Route. Arnold directed the West Michigan Roadmap project, which began in 2007, after the office received a federal Preserve America grant. “Although the grant project is coming to a end, hopefully this will be the beginning of a new era of appreciation for and preservation of West Michigan’s unique tourist sites,” Arnold stated. “The variety of mom and pop motels, restaurants, and resorts that still exist is fantastic. It will be up to individual communities to determine the fate of those structures and other historic resources by providing the incentives and protection needed to maintain the region’s unique identity.”

The SHPO collaborated with Michigan Beachtowns, Inc., a consortium of convention and visitors bureaus, on the project. Over the two and one-half-year period hundreds of sites along a 170-mile corridor were identified, a one-thousand page report was written, preservation workshops were held, three sites were nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, and five Michigan Historical Markers were approved by the Michigan Historical Commission. A traveling photographic exhibit of work by Vince Musi, who has worked with National Geographic, is currently touring the area. Musi spent two weeks during the summer of 2008 capturing the West Michigan Pike experience. The exhibit will be on display at the Lakeshore Museum Center in Muskegon until December 6.The public is welcome to attend the November 17 workshop, which will be held at the Loutit District Library, 407 Columbus Avenue, in Grand Haven. Note that reservations are required. For reservations call Kim at the Grand Haven Area Convention & Visitors Bureau by November 12, at 616/842-4499. This program is made possible in part by a Preserve America grant through the National Park Service.
         
The State Historic Preservation Office is part of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority is dedicated to building a thriving and vibrant future for Michigan. MSHDA provides tools and resources to improve people’s lives through programs across the state. These programs assist with housing, build strong neighborhoods, and help create places where people want to live and work. MSHDA’s programs work in four areas: affordable rental housing; supporting homeownership; ending homelessness; and creating vibrant cites and neighborhoods.*

*MSHDA’s loan and operating expenses are financed through the sale of tax-exempt and taxable bonds as well as notes to private investors, not from state tax revenues. Proceeds are loaned at below-market interest rates to developers of rental housing, and help fund mortgages and home improvement loans. MSHDA also administers several federal housing programs.