Facing an Oct. 19 deadline, leaders of the fight to preserve a historic Chelsea building pleaded Wednesday evening for more time to form a plan.

They also urged city officials not to make a hasty decision on the future of the Chelsea House.

The 11,000-square-foot Chelsea House, built in 1905, is one of just five livery buildings remaining in Michigan. It's part of the rare example of a well-integrated historic railway station corridor, say leaders of the Save the Livery Coalition. 

Chelsea Livery Building is threatened with demolition.

The concrete-block building, which originally kept horses and carriages for rail passengers, faces north to the railroad tracks along Jackson Street just east of M-52.

Chelsea’s Downtown Development Authority acquired the building for $400,000 last December and announced plans to raze it and replace it with a 17-car parking lot. But in early September, the DDA voted 5-4 to postpone the demolition.

“This is going to be a huge black hole for the city of Chelsea if we don’t put it back on the tax rolls,” said Tom Girard, a resident who came to the meeting at the historic Chelsea Depot. 

Girard said he'd like to see the building adapted by private entrepreneurs and reused. 

Coalition member Mark Creswell said it would also be easier to seal the existing structure to contain toxic metal residues left there after a plating business operated in the building from 1946 to 2002. Keeping a roof and sound floors in place is a better means of preventing the release of heavy metals such as zinc and chromium, Creswell argued.

“You can have kids playing on it and have restaurants there - that’s not a problem,” Creswell said.

He suggested using the building for civic purposes in the short term and selling it when the economy picks up.

Another coalition member, Jan Bernath, said the DDA’s stated mission is to capitalize on Chelsea’s historic character instead of destroying it. She suggested an indoor farmer’s market for the space. It could also be adapted for exhibition and performance uses, she said.

One reason not to rush demolition is grant money might be available to help with restoration, which is estimated at $478,000 “for a nice, high-end, white-boxed facility,” Creswell said.

But DDA member Mark Heydlauff cautioned, “It has to make economic sense.”

At the end of the meeting, Tom Diab - coalition member, small-business owner and president of the Chelsea Area Historical Society - expressed satisfaction the DDA and city will allow preservationists time to fully research grant options.

Sources for state funds could come through restoration and preservation agencies, brownfield redevelopment sources and green initiatives.

“We ended the evening saying we’re going to work together. We know we can get these grants," Diab said. “It’s quite a sad thing to see such a wonderful history as that on the chopping block."

Ronald Ahrens is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.