Developers interested in the Mellus for film studios

metromode, 9/17/2009

It looks like there is still interest and life in the historic Mellus Newspaper building in downtown Lincoln Park.

Lincoln Park Productions, a local start-up based in the film industry, has approached the city about turning the one-time home of the Downriver suburb's local newspaper into a production studio or film training school for Michigan's emerging film industry. However, a deal is far from done and the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance is still looking for developers interested in the building.

The 2-story building had been vacant for a number of years before the Lincoln Park Downtown Development Authority purchased it last year. City officials have solicited demolition bids to turn the building plot into a surface parking lot.

While city officials state the building is beyond help, local preservationists have brought a number of respected architects forward to say it could be easily restored. Ideas have ranged from an arts center to a retail incubator for fledgling businesses in need of just a little space. The Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance is open to all ideas.

A key, and lucrative, part to any rehabilitation plan could be Michigan's newly expanded historic tax credits. Since the Mellus is on the National Register of Historic Places, it is eligible for historic and brownfield tax credits that could knock up to 50 percent of the construction costs off the project.

The building on Fort Street was built in the 1940s. It is an intrinsic part of the downriver suburb's history, having served as the home of Lincoln Park's local newspaper for decades. Local preservationists think saving the Mellus and the adjacent Pollak (named after Pollak Jewelers) building are important steps toward preserving downtown Lincoln Park's heritage.

The Mellus still has its original porcelain-enameled Moderne commercial exterior, while the Pollak building retains its terrazzo entrance sidewalk.

Source: Leslie Lynch-Wilson, president of the Lincoln Park Preservation Alliance
Writer: Jon Zemke