The Bunker

These are some clips about the Towner House I copied from YHF newsletters while we were still living in Ypsilanti. We decided to move before I figured out what happened to it.


"Bring paint scrapers, wire brushes, and your lunch - we'll provide coffee We had two good work sessions on the inside of the house last fall - we should be able to get a lot done on the outside in two days." June 14, 1975


"At this writing, the house has been about half scrapped and primed and, hopefully, by the time of our first meeting, the scraping and the priming will be done and a good part of the final paint coat will be on and the house will soon be an asset to the community again. We had some help with scraping we NEED HELP WITH PAINTING!" September 24, 1975

[More:]

"Painting on the house itself is almost done and is hardly recognixable as the same building we started with last year at this tine. Unhappily, however, due to lack of help and dropping temperatured, the back of the house and the garage will go unpainted this winter." November 1975


"BAD NEWS - but not surprising: the Towner House assessment went from $12,000 to $15,400." March, 1980


"At a recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the Heritage Foundation the members, after lengthy consideration, reluctantly decided that the Foundation could no longer lease the Towner House from the Presbyterian Church. Many factors entered into that unhappy decision, but cheif among them was the growing necessity for major repairs (new roof, exterior paint, new boiler and insulation) and the apparent unwillingness of the Church to grant a long-term lease which would have been necessary in order for the Foundation to recover those large expenditures through rent." November 1980


"The Historic Commission has scheduled, as required by law, a public meeting on the proposed demolition of the Towner House at 303 North Huron." February 9, 1982


"Delay of decision on demolition permit for the Towner House, 303 N. Huron at the request of the owner The Commission is now scheduled to act upon the permit at its May 4 meeting." March 1982


"A further gthirty-day extension on the demolition permit was recently granted by the Historic District Commission. This was done at the request of the Pesbyterian Chirch in order to give the Children's Museum group more time to establish a time schedule for the repair and restoration of the building. Judy White, co-chair, feels assured that they will meet the deadline and that the museum project will 'fly'." May 1982


"... Thus far the Friends of the Towner House Museum have been able to meet theose deadlines. But FUNDING IS URGENT!" May 1983


"News from YHF BOARD: At its October metting, the Board voted to donate $1,800 to the Friends of the Towner House Children's Museum to aid in the installation of a much-needed new heating system in the building. Installation should be complete by the time you have this Newsletter and at least half the cost will have been borne by the Heritage Foundation." November 1983


TOWNER HOUSE DEMOLISHED? THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH HAS APPLIED FOR A PERMIT TO DEMOLISH THE TOWNER HOUSE (ACROSS THE STREET PROM OLD TOWN HALL). THERE WILL BE A PUBLIC HEARING ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1992 AT 7:00 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL. January 1992


HURON STREET: TEXTBOOK IN AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE

We should never forget the uniqueness of our Huron Street. While most Anerican streets reflect one period of our history——say, in Queen Annes or bungalows——Huron Street has just about every important style since the earliest years of our Republic: Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, Queen Anne, Romanesque, English Tudor, etc. etc. It is almost a textbook in American historic architecture. That is one reason why the TownerHRouse is so important to its original site. One of the oldest house in town, it adds its own special statement to the history of that most precious and important avenue. It should never be willfully destroyed. Even
moving it to another location would cancel out a major portion of its significance and value.

THE FOUNDATION MAKES OFFER TO STABILIZE THE TOWNER HOUSE
The Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation has made an offer of up to $6,000 to the Presbyterian Church, which now owns the Towner House, to stabilize (not to restore) that structure, while a decision is being made about its fate by the Michigan Historic Preservation Review Board in Lansing. November 1993