Ypsilanti's Thompson Block: No fire cause yet; owner plans to save facade
The façade of Ypsilanti’s Thompson Block is now held together by a complex series of braces, a month after the historic Depot Town structure was damaged in an early morning fire.
The cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined, Ypsilanti Fire officials said. They sent soil and floor samples to a Michigan State Police lab for analysis this week.
“I can’t rule out arson,” said Ypsilanti Fire Inspector John Roe. “And I can’t rule out that it was accidental.”
The soil and floor samples were sent for analysis after an accelerant-detection dog alerted investigators to some areas of soil at the site on Friday, Roe said. The samples will be tested for traces of flammable liquids.
Meanwhile, owner Stewart Beal said 30 boxes of scaffolding - representing about $15,000 in lumber - were erected over the past three weeks to preserve the building’s historic exterior.
“They’re actually bolted into the street,” Beal said of the work completed Monday. “… That was just to make sure we had to the choice to save the façade.”
The fast-moving blaze broke out about 1:40 a.m. Sept. 23 at the building at the northwest corner of Cross and River streets, across from the Sidetrack Bar and Grill.
The blaze gutted the southern two-thirds of the building. Fire officials estimate damage at $113,400 to the 30,000-square-foot building and $40,000 to its contents.
Beal said that estimate doesn’t count the costs associated with his years-long renovation of the property, which fell into disrepair over decades before he acquired the property in a tax sale for $346,186.
Beal said he’s still forming plans for the structure’s future. The fire halted long-awaited renovations in the structure that anchors the eastern gateway to Ypsilanti’s Depot Town.
Beal - who noted it’s still too early to set a timeline for the next steps - said he’s been consumed with shoring up the façade over the past weeks.
“That’s been the urgent issue,” Beal said. “We’ve spent the last 25 days there, working every single day.”
Engineers have determined the building’s exterior can be salvaged, Beal said. He’s now expecting to resume renovations on the portion of the building that wasn’t damaged before eventually building new construction behind the façade on the building’s original footprint.
“Our very tentative plan is to save the existing façade as it is, and then renovate the two buildings that were undamaged in the fire,” Beal said.
Before the fire, Beal had resumed work on the property, after his plans to convert the building into retail space and condos - at a cost of about $1.6 million - were stalled during the financial crisis.
Over the coming months, Beal expects to firm up his plans for the property, now that he’s determined that the shell of the 1860s-era property can be saved. Beal said he’s committed to keeping the landmark aspects of the building, even with the fire destruction.
“In a different building in a different location, that’s what we would have done,” he said of comments that it would be easier to tear it down. “With that building, that’s not what we’re going to do.”
AnnArbor.com reporter Lee Higgins also contributed to this report.
Comments
Mike D.
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 11:39 p.m.
So much hostility! I read this story and see a property developer who's persevered with a project through the credit implosion and a fire, and who has tried to do the right thing by preserving an historic facade that helps to anchor depot down visually (at least in my opinion). If any of you think this is selfish on Stewart's part, that he will save money by preserving the facade instead of demolishing it, you're mistaken. There's huge cost involved in constructing around a legacy facade. I met Stewart a couple times, and he struck me as a sincere young man. Maybe it's just that he's a real person to me and not an evil "property developer," but I don't get where all the hostility is coming from. There's construction all around us, the economy (still) sucks, and the lack of free-flowing money means projects inconvenience us longer than we'd like (Stadium Bridge et al). Instead of rushing to complain about your fellow man, put yourself in his shoes and give him the benefit of the doubt.
The Picker
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 6:19 p.m.
Sure Mr Beal wants to preserve the existing structure at any price, No historic facade, No historic funds. Is this project still worthy of these precious funds?
Ypsidweller
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 5:56 p.m.
Not all indicators of bigger banking problems burned in the middle of the night.
AndyYpsilanti
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 1:22 p.m.
I thought for sure that they would have to number the bricks, tear it down, and rebuild it by the numbers as a faade to a new building. While I do support efforts to save the building, I think it would be only fair to tell the public when we get our streets back. And I agree with Murf; it's been a month, and there should be some sort of permit/payment to the city if the roads are going to remain closed indefinitely
DepotMom
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 1 p.m.
Knock down the facade. I can tell you as someone who LIVES ON THE BLOCK, Mr. Beal's pipe dreams are very inconvenient. Old & new mix well together all the time in cities around the world. You don't have to save everything to maintain the historic integrity of Depot Town. Forest for the trees on this one.
Paula Gardner
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 11:35 a.m.
ypsidweller, Thanks for your interest in the story - and in the property. You do raise valid points. There were a couple of years when I was not reporting on the property, but instead edited the stories at Ann Arbor Business Review. During that time, the leasing/lending situation at the property changed. So anyone looking at reporting over time for the building should find stories like this one (actually by Dan Meisler, not Sarah Rigg, due to an MLive archiving glitch). Looking back, some local situations actually were indicators of bigger banking problems, and I believe the Thompson Block is one of them: http://www.mlive.com/businessreview/annarbor/index.ssf/2008/12/credit_crunch_hits_close_to_ho.html
Ypsidweller
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 11:05 a.m.
And sorry to the author of this article; but if one goes back and reads all the articles where she quotes Mr. Beal (going back to 2006) Not one of his quotes ever came true. I believe nothing he says now. One example: "Soon the daily work crews on the site will move into the more visible areas repairing the crumbling brick, rotting wood and missing windows that dominate the faade. When the project is completed in late 2007, the overhaul will transform the 30,000-square-foot, historic building into a showcase" AA Business Review July 2006 "In every case, he says, hes improved the values of the properties" AA.Com 8/9/09 "And he says that the Thompson Block - proposed as the biggest redevelopment project in the Depot Town area - will be move-in ready by September 2010" 9/27/09 Would be nice to start asking tougher questions.
Murf
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 10:39 a.m.
Amen Ypsidweller. Perhaps you will remember a few years back when they are actively working on it (i.e., replacing some of the brick in the back of the building), they had that sidewalk closed forever. Once the work seemed to stop again an they were made to board up the windows, the sidewalk was finally open to the public. Now it's back to illegally crossing River St. between Sidetracks and Hudson Motors.
Ypsidweller
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 9:58 a.m.
Sec. 94-111. Building materials. Except for the purpose of building and with permission from the superintendent of public works, no person shall place any stone, timber, lumber, planks, boards, bricks or other materials in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk or other public space. Sec. 50-67. Street obstructions. A person or persons shall not erect, construct, place or maintain any bumps, fences, gates, chains, bars, pipes, wood or metal horses or any other type of obstruction in or on any street, within the boundaries of the municipality.
Ypsidweller
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 9:53 a.m.
Beal is violating city codes/MDOT regulations and needs to get the crap off the sidewalk and streets so the public can once again utilize them. He has no right to block public city streets or public sidewalks, and should be fined for doing so. He should have a street closure permit at present. I doubt he does. And those are very temporary, as if one needs to trench for one day for a new water line. Unfortunately I have little confidence that the City of Ypsilanti knows how to handle such a situation. Nor do they have the resources. Would be interesting to see who inspected the building and when. I have a feeling no one did.
Murf
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 8:24 a.m.
Also, does this now mean that the Amtrak train can now return to going full speed through the nearby crossing or does it still have to crawl through this area to avoid more damage to this fiasco?
Murf
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 8:14 a.m.
Currently, his wood is very problematic for everyone that lives in the general area...but not that he cares, from the sound of it in this article. I hope the city is reaping the benefits and making him pay daily/weekly/monthly for half of Cross being closed.
Laura Bien
Thu, Oct 22, 2009 : 6:31 a.m.
Thank you for the update! It really is a huge and complex web of scaffolding if you see it in person. I hope things work out to a stable state before the winter.