Muskegon Heights Council hopes to kick-start preservation of historic Strand Building

The historic Strand Building in downtown Muskegon Heights will at last get a new roof, an outlay the city hopes will be among the first of several needed to rehabilitate the vacant 1920s-era building that once housed a movie theatre.

Using state and federal grants to pay for the $150,000 roof and other improvements, the Muskegon Heights Council hope the investment will stabilize the dilapidated three-story brick building it has owned for the past few years. 

According to excerpts from the story:

Officials hope the vacant building will eventually draw the interest of a developer — that someone, somehow, can raise the estimated $9 million it would take to rehabilitate it. They think it could one day be the cornerstone for a renewed downtown business district.

Muskegon Heights officials three years ago sought offers from potential developers interested in tackling the project. But they weren’t satisfied with any of the plans that were pitched.

Read the complete story, and view a video and slide show here

 

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