Tannery tower's demise marks end of an era

August 22, 2007
By Eric Gaertner
Chronicle Staff Writer

One of the most highly visible structures on the White Lake shoreline was demolished Tuesday afternoon, marking a significant turning point in Whitehall's history.

The 110-foot-tall brick tower of the main, 140-year-old building on the former Whitehall Leather Co. tannery site crumbled quickly to the ground at 12:24 p.m. after dynamite charges were detonated. The tower, which formerly served as a water tower for the tannery, was the final building on the 33-acre site to be demolished as part of a large-scale redevelopment project.

Developers have proposed building a 200-unit condominium community on the Lake Street site. A tentative schedule calls for a condominium model to be open by September 2008, but the rubble from the demolished buildings needs to be cleared and a final cleanup plan needs to be approved before new construction begins.

The site has a significant and somewhat infamous history. That has made the demolition and proposed redevelopment a controversial issue among the community, although most seem to agree a cleanup of the site is the most important item.

The tannery site was contaminated from more than a century of leather-tanning operations.

Many city officials have pointed to the proposed condominium development as being desirable because of the higher cleanup standards required for a residential development and the tax base generated for a site that has been vacant for years.

Bob Bartlett, a Whitehall resident since 1938, seemed to share that viewpoint. He watched Tuesday's demolition from behind a police barricade at the corner of Misco Drive and Lake Street.

"They've been working at this for a long time," Bartlett said. "I think everybody will be glad when the condos go up."

City Manager Scott Huebler, who has overseen much of the project for the city, called Tuesday's demolition "another step" in one of the most important projects in recent city history.

Other residents, including some former tannery employees and local historians, were disappointed to see all of the buildings demolished. They had hoped the developers would have built some of the condominiums into the existing buildings to recognize the historical impact of the tannery on the community.

The tannery used to be one of the area's largest employers and its gymnasium used to serve as a community center.

"We're tearing down history," said Tracy Brandel, a Whitehall resident who watched with her father and two children. "I love that building."

Brandel's children, ages 5 and 7, even built a small, replica tower and tore it down to simulate the demolition on the tannery site. They previously visited the site periodically to watch the demolition process of the other buildings.

Norm Ullman, former Whitehall mayor, called the demolition of the tannery tower the "end of an era."

"A lot of people supported their families at that place," said Ullman, a local history buff who questioned the lack of preservation displayed by the demolition.

Roger Scharmer, a Montague resident and historian with the White Lake Historical Society, agreed with Ullman.

"It's a strange moment in time to see all the old tannery buildings destroyed," Scharmer said. "Saving the tower or some other old textured building into the developers' plans would have been interesting and desirable."

Mick McGraw, one of the developers, has said the development team considered building some condominiums into the tannery buildings, but they determined that wasn't feasible because of the age and condition of the buildings.

Huebler said the next step in the site's redevelopment is removal and some reuse of the rubble. Much of the brick and concrete is expected to be crushed for reuse as the base for the roads on the redeveloped site. Huebler said much of the lumber also will be reused by the developers.

The deadline for removal of the debris and rubble by the contractor, Pitsch Company of Grand Rapids, is Sept. 12. Truckloads of rubble are expected to be removed in the coming weeks.

Negotiations on a final environmental cleanup plan, called a remedial action plan, also continue. Huebler said the supervising group -- representatives from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, developer, the city and Genesco, the former owner of the site -- are scheduled to meet Sept. 5 to discuss remaining issues.

Huebler said he is hopeful results from the new test wells at Svensson Park will be available at that meeting. Recent tests from a well showed groundwater contamination levels exceeding the DEQ's standards at Svensson Park.

The demolition of the tannery's tower encountered delays for weeks, including a delay resulting from an excavator being too short to reach the top of the tower. That led to the switch to the dynamite-charged demolition.