Friends of Ypsilanti Freighthouse

A $35,000 grant from the Department of the Interior and administered by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) was awarded to the City of Ypsilanti. The Ypsilanti Freighthouse is the designated beneficiary of the funds. Grant proceeds will be matched at 40% with additional funds from The Friends of the Ypsilanti Freighthouse, the Depot Town DDA and the Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation.
“Our confidence is really boosted by this success,” said Bonnie Penet, FOYF Co-Chair and co-author with Nathalie Edmunds of the grant. “This site is a crown jewel in historic Depot Town.”

“This grant targets some of the most critical site issues surrounding the Freighthouse,” stresses Edmunds, “water run-off and accumulation, which is undermining the foundation and producing what is called ‘rising damp’ in the brick walls and mortar.

Repairs will involve the installation of proper drainage systems, collection of rain water run-off into the drains, and the contouring of the surfaces around the entire site, including nearby parking areas.

“We were very confident, because we did our homework and prepared our application with great care,” says Edmunds.

Having already begun the administrative work on the project, the FOYF look forward to the contractor’s work on the project to begin this summer and to be completed by the end of 2008.

Great news!  The money’s in; the figures have been tallied.  We raised just over $5100 at the Frenchie’s fundraiser on Tuesday, May 13.  The FOYF owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Sidetrack management staff who donated their time (and 100% of their tips) to this event.  Thanks also to Steve Gross and to our auction donors (see below) for a lively auction.  And thanks to all who came and helped to make the event a success!

Auction donors:

Café Luwak
Corner Brewery
Eleven West Salon and Spa
EMU Theatre
The Enchanted Florist
Haab’s Restaurant
Maria’s Skin Care
Sidetrack Bar and Grill
Honorable A. Thomas Truesdell
Ypsilanti Police Department

According to Ed Penet, Saturday night’s Fullfreight Banjo Benefit for the Freighthouse at the Corner Brewery raised just over $3000. By all accounts, it was an incredible event, one for which Caleb Brokaw, of the band Black Jake and the Carnies, deserves a great deal of credit! He dreamt it up, promoted it, did all the press releases, and made it a success! The results were amazing, and the place was packed! Check out the photos!
The FOYF owes Caleb, and all the bands that performed, a debt of gratitude! We were just happy to show-up and enjoy the music with the rest of you. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS A SUCCESS!
And look for FullFreight Fiddle (et al.) in your future.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to support the Friends’ application for a $15,000 grant through Hamburger Helper’s Helping Hand program. We received 272 notes of support - far more than any other projects that we’ve looked at. If you were one of the people who added your voice to the chorus of support, we’d like to thank you with a party at Frenchie’s (date TBD), so please provide us with your email address by sending a quick note to freighthouse@gmail.com.

The funds, if they’re awarded, will be used to make repairs to the once vital Freighthouse, which has been closed for the past several years on account of safety issues. Since the inception of the My Hometown Helper program, Hamburger Helper has aided 53 communities, awarding over $232,000.

Grant recipients will be announced on May 15.

Welcome to the Ypsilanti Freighthouse! We are glad you stopped by.