The anticipated cafe opening at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse this summer didn't come to pass, as project leaders need to make tracks on a couple other items first. The Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse (FOYF), the citizen group tasked with managing the 1878 facility, has asked to amend the management agreement it has with the city of Ypsilanti to give the FOYF the authority to rent the property out for long-term leases.
Such an arrangement would provide the group with the cash flow it needs to make interior renovations and add the kitchen and bathroom facilities required to operate a cafe, says Ed Penet, chair of the FOYF building committee. He's been in discussions with parties interested in operating the cafe, but their identities are under wraps for the moment. Besides dining, retail is a possibility for the space, Penet says. The Freighthouse would also serve as a train depot for the potential Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter rail line.
The FOYF also submitted architectural and engineering plans to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office in mid-July and is awaiting their clearance, Penet says.
The group has budgeted $300-$350,000 for interior work, and another $30,000-40,000 for a fire suppression system. "The [Cross Street] streetscape project that's ongoing right now...was very fortunate for us," Penet says. It enabled the group to use extra monies from the MDOT project to finance the running of several hundred feet of water line from Cross Street to an exterior wall of the Freighthouse. The water lines will serve as part of the fire suppression system and for plumbing the interior. "That was a really, really important breakthrough during the summer."
Rail rumbles or not, Penet's new bullseye date for a cafe opening is spring 2012.
"With or without the train, the Ypsilanti Freighthouse is a long term commitment to be a community center and a focal point for the city and the citizens and southeastern Michigan," he adds.
Source: Ed Penet, chair of the Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse building committee
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
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