Tag Archives: OTCA

Habitat for Humanity Lansing Joins with The Old Town Commercial Association

Posted on November 15, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Habitat for Humanity Lansing has joined with the Old Town
Commercial Association to continue its mission of bringing affordable
housing to low-income families.

“We just recently joined the Old Town Commercial Association so that we get more involved there and create some relationships with the businesses,” said Dena Vatalaro the development director for Habitat for Humanity Lansing.  “Now that our fall fundraiser is over, we will be reaching out to them.”

Habitat Lansing has also worked with the Ingham
County Land Bank to build homes, including a project west of Old Town on 1719 Robertson Ave.  While this location is not in Old Town, the Land Bank has expressed the need for more residential housing in and around Old Town.

“Old Town, I think, suffers from a pretty significant lack of residential dwellings,” said Eric Schertzing, Ingham County treasurer and chairman of Ingham County Land Bank.

Habitat Lansing completed one project in the Old Town area in 2010 and three in 2009, according to the Habitat for Humanity website.  A house at 1433 Massachusetts Ave. was renovated last year, while 1633 Massachusetts Ave. was remodeled in 2009. 
1719 Vermont Ave. and 1540 Ballard St. were both constructed by Habitat Lansing in 2009 in partnership with local churches.

OTCA does not see the need for creating more residential
housing, but instead making existing homes more livable.

“Based on vacancy rate in the surrounding neighborhoods there doesn’t seem to be a need,” said Brittney Hoszkiw, executive director of the OTCA, when asked about increasing the number of homes.  “However, programs like the
Landbank have identified the Old Town area as a concentration area for taking
vacant or blighted properties and making the appropriate improvements to get
them back on the tax roll.”

“They [Habitat Lansing] will receive member service and assistance from our office in business development, marketing and promotion,” said Hoszkiw, about the terms of the partnership.

 

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Michigan Historic Preservation Network Looks to Make Dilapidation Renovation

Posted on October 25, 2011 by | Leave a comment

By: Jack Crawley
Old Town Times staff writer

Thelma Joyce Osteen Comfort Station; Photo by: Jack Crawley

 

The Michigan Historic Preservation Network recently put in a bid to purchase and renovate the long-vacant Thelma Joyce Osteen Comfort Station, located at 313 E. Grand River Ave. in Old Town.

The MHPN plans to use the second floor of the two-story building as its new headquarters, while leasing out the first floor for retail. The purchase price of the building is currently set at $60,000 and will be be voted upon in the coming weeks.

MHPN Executive Director Nancy Finegood said that the Michigan Historic Tax Credit program will provide a tax credit and the organization will also receive a small facade grant from the City of Lansing. Preserving the Comfort Station would fall in line with MHPN’s stated goal of advocating for “Michigan’s historic places to contribute to our economic vitality, sense of place and connection to the past.” The Comfort Station is nearly 100 years old. It was originally “affiliated with an interurban rail system,” and has most recently been used as a meeting place for community groups.

Old Town Commercial Association Executive Director Brittney Hoszkiw said that she is excited to see the Comfort Station put to productive use. A network dedicated to preserving history moving into a historic building in Lansing’s historic district seems to be a great fit. Finegood said that they are the “perfect tenants” for the building and that MHPN has been looking into using the building since it moved to Lansing nine years ago.

The MHPN is currently headquartered in Old Town, at 107 E. Grand River Ave., just down the road from its proposed new headquarters, at 107 E. Grand River Ave.

Finegood feels that the move to the Comfort Station is advantageous to MHPN. “We’ve been wanting to purchase a building to sort of walk the walk, instead of just talk the talk about rehabbing a historic building,” she said. We’ve been around for over 30 years and we’ve never had the opportunity to actually purchase and rehab a building.”

MHPN must address health issues within the building, since the building currently contains asbestos and lead inside. Finegood said that they are in the process of reviewing the environmental analysis to determine the cost of that abatement. Other renovations are anticipated to cost the network about $400,000.

Beyond the initial rehabilitation of the historic building, Finegood said that MHPN has both short-term and long-term goals in mind. Finegood said that the network would like to use the building for teaching preservation skills and for job training workshops. “We’re going to be starting a revolving fund program where we lend grant money to small projects that would not be eligible for federal tax credits. This will be our first acquisition … and it will be a model for other projects,” Finegood said of MHPN’s long-term goals.

Many who live in or around Old Town seem eager to see the Comfort Station come back to life. “I know that it hasn’t been used for much, so I guess that if they can find a reasonably productive use for it, that’s good,” said Steve Butts, who lives near Old Town. Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing believes people are excited that an organization that does historic work will be using a historic structure.

On the other side of the coin, some oppose the sale. “There was a contingent from the ‘old’ Old Town who believed that it should always be a neighborhood center,” said Bill Castanier, a literary journalist who used to have an office in Old Town and still lives near the area. He said that he believes that this contingent will make their voices heard on the issue, but that they will not prevail because MHPN wants to use the building for a good public purpose.

Residents will have a chance to voice their opinion on the Comfort Station purchase when the Lansing City Council hosts a public hearing on the issue on Oct. 24 at Lansing City Hall, 124 W. Michigan Ave., at 7 p.m.

Please see the qualifications below that the City of Lansing required of all applicants in order to put in a bid on the building.

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New Mural Program for Old Town

Posted on October 11, 2011 by | Leave a comment

A new mural will decorate the walls of the alley
on the corner of Turner Street and E. Grand River Ave.

The program called Art Spot allowed residents and visitors to choose from more than 10 sketches of prospective murals that could appear in the alley.

“Local artists had the opportunity to submit sketches,” said Brittney Hoszkiw the executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association. “If chosen they will be the ones installing the murals. We hope to begin work immediately, but completion will depend on the weather.” The winners have not yet been announced.

She added that the mural will be in three different parts, on three different buildings: the Wild Rose Café, Swanson Design and 317 E. Grand River Ave.

Planned Mural Locations

 

The OTCA, the mural’s design committee and the business owners involved in the project met Monday night to discuss and solidify the plan for the project, said OTCA Employee Lisa Wright.

The Ingham County Treasurer, Eric Schertzing recently supported a similar project in North Lansing where local artists were allowed to paint their own graffiti on the Deluxe Inn after it closed.  The Inn was eventually demolished, but the murals will stay. Schertzing said in an earlier interview that Old Town is based on art and that anything aimed at promoting art will help the community.

Residents of Old Town Group also supports the program and anything generally related to art in Old Town.

“I think any program to help advance art in Old Town is one I would support,” said Mike Davis Jr., the president of the ROOT Group.

“It will create another layer of opportunity, make a utilitarian alley into an attraction in the community and provide an outlet for emerging artists to display their work in the Lansing
area,” Hoszkiw said.

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Oktoberfest a Major Boost to OTCA Budget

Posted on October 11, 2011 by | Leave a comment

By Jack Crawley
Old Town Times staff writer

While Old Town’s Oktoberfest aims to make a cultural impact as “Mid-Michigan’s only German-style event,” it also makes a major contribution to the Old Town Commercial Association’s finances — to the (polka) tune of almost 20% of its annual budget.

OTCA Executive Director Brittney Hoszkiw confirmed that the 2010 Oktoberfest brought in more than $12,000, and she expects this year’s festival, on Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday Oct. 8,, to be even bigger. This is the festival’s sixth year and Hoszkiw says it has consistently made a profit for OTCA.

Festivals like Oktoberfest, as well as the Festival of the Sun and Festival of the Moon which celebrate the longest day and the shortest night of the year, are a fun night on the town for the general public, but they’re much more than that to OTCA. Together, the three events make up 70% of OTCA’s budget. The rest of OTCA’s funding comes mostly from memberships and grants. Here’s a look at the breakdown of the OTCA’s 2010 budget income:

Festivals and events not only help the OTCA and Old Town financially, but they help bring exposure to the community: “Festivals and events bring large groups to the Old Town neighborhood that wouldn’t normally visit while reinforcing a brand or experience and raising funds for a good cause. It is a win-win-win,” said Hoszkiw.

Naturally, this also helps local businesses.

Kristin Szymusiak, the owner of Polka Dots, a boutique in Old Town, said that while Oktoberfest helps bring in some business, it’s limited because it is held in a nearby parking lot and drinks must be kept in the tents there. Szymusiak credits other festivals with bringing in plenty of business: “Jazz Fest and Blues Fest are the biggest festivals down here. [They] bring down thousands of people; some people that have never been down here before. They realize how cool it is, and then they come back and they tell all of their friends, so I think all of the festivals help bring people down here.”

Favorites Cafe has not yet experienced Oktoberfest (the cafe will celebrate it’s one year anniversary Nov. 12). Co-owner Kim Robertson expects it to give her business a boost.

“For the most part it’s slow (in Old Town), but getting Oktoberfest, Jazz Fest, Blues Fest, we get tons of people, so that means lots of people who don’t know we’re here are now walking in and saying ‘Oh! New place!’ And from what I’ve found with Blues Fest and Jazz Fest just recently is the people who I didn’t know before, that Monday or Tuesday after those festivals were down here, were coming back,” Robertson said.

While these festivals draw thousands of visitors, Michigan State University journalism senior Jennifer Raye believes that they would be even more successful if they were promoted more strongly to MSU students. Raye had not previously heard about Oktoberfest, but her interest was immediately piqued when she saw the headlining band of the weekend, the Polish Muslims. “I would specifically go for the Polish Muslims. It’s a band my dad would make me listen to when I was younger, and they had songs about weasels and Jesus,” Raye said. “I would go just to listen to them.”

Tickets to Oktoberfest are available through the event website. Tickets are $13 each if purchased before 10p.m. on Thurs., Oct. 6 and $17 at the door. The price includes admission to the festival, a souvenir beer mug and three food and drink tickets. The festival is located in the park and parking lot on the corner of Turner Street and Grand River Avenue.

Please see the OTCA annual budget below.

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Old Town’s Last Farmers Market Draws Near

Posted on October 4, 2011 by | Leave a comment

The Residents of Old Town Group met Thursday, Sept. 22 and discussed a number of issues including the last day of the Old Town Farmers Market (Oct. 2).

The ROOT Group was started in the winter of 2009, said Brittney Hoszkiw, the executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association.  The group addresses issues “dictated by the members and their interests,” said Hoszkiw.  Community empowerment is the main focus, she said.   The group consists of residents, police officers and business owners in the area. Though the group includes police officers, Hoszkiw said they do not discuss crime, but leave those discussions to area Neighborhood Watch groups.

Two of the main focuses of the ROOT Group are the maintenance of the Old Town Community Garden and the Old Town Farmer’s Market, said Mike Davis Jr., president of the group.   The garden, located on the corner of N. Cedar and E. Maple streets, grows flowers and fruits and vegetables.

Davis said the ROOT Group is renovating the garden. A Lowe’s Home Improvement store donated a shed, he said.

“We are hoping for some pavers very soon,” Davis said.  “We are also working on a rain collection system from the shed.”

 

Map of OTCA to Community Garden

The group also supports the Old Town Farmers Market, which is held on the first Sunday of every month.  Davis said that the last month’s market attracted a large number of customers. The market features vendors selling produce, cheeses, meats and fish.

The market is held in the parking lot of Grand Café and Sir Pizza, located on the corner of Turner Street and Grand River Avenue.

“The market helps to bring people to the community,” said Ruben Garcia, a vendor who sells at the market.  “Especially since the Art Walk is also on the same day.  It brings double the traffic.” Garcia sells hot sauces, cheeses, cheese sauces and chips.

Garcia suggested that the Market should be moved to a later time.  With the art walk, morning church goers, and the market all working together, the events could form a steady stream of traffic in the community, he suggested.

Ingham County Treasurer Eric Schertzing spoke in an earlier interview, and said that in order to revitalize the Old Town community, foot traffic through walkable areas is a key.  With many other businesses located within less than 500 feet, including Favorites Café, Katalyst Gallery, Persperctive2 Studio, Love, Betti and many other restaurants and boutique shops, the market brings that foot traffic.

 

 

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