[nfbmi-talk] Fw: Article from Detroit Free Press Business 2013 04 04

Larry Posont president.nfb.mi at gmail.com
Fri Apr 5 13:57:13 UTC 2013




From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online 
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 12:11 AM
To: Larry Posont 
Subject: Article from Detroit Free Press Business 2013 04 04


Transfer of Fair Lane estate runs into delays By John Gallagher Detroit Free Press Business Writer With Henry Ford's 150th birthday to be celebrated this year, it appears one of the most obvious places to hold a birthday bash -- Ford's own Fair Lane estate in Dearborn -- may be off-limits to revelers. The estate closed to the public in December 2010 as part of a plan announced earlier that year for the University of Michigan to transfer ownership to the Ford family-run Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores. But the transfer has been delayed by numerous legal issues, and needed renovations on Fair Lane estimated to cost as much as $21 million haven't started. That means there'll be no partying this year at Fair Lane. If lawyers settle all the transfer issues, however, a ceremony to officially transfer ownership could be held at the estate on or about Ford's birth date of July 30. Kathleen Mullins, president of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, said untangling the ownership of Fair Lane from U-M has proven much more difficult than initially thought. We're still slogging through the issues," she said. It has been far more complicated in the details. The lawyers have had to struggle with issues involving parking, signage, utilities, maintenance costs and other roadblocks. The process has been complicated by U-M's academic schedule, a change in attorneys at the school, and other issues. I'm going to write a Harvard Business School paper on this," Mullins said. There's not any particular horrid thing. It's just slogging through. Ken Kettenbeil, vice chancellor for external relations at U-M's Dearborn campus, agreed that the process has been slow. The lawyers have been going back and forth for a while. Henry Ford built the estate between 1909 and 1915 after living in Detroit's Boston-Edison district. The design began as a Prairie Style-effort by architect Marion Mahoney Griffin of Chicago, but the Fords soon hired architect William Van Tine instead, who altered the plans to make the house more English baronial in style. Noted landscape architect Jens Jensen designed the grounds, as he did at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House. Henry Ford lived at Fair Lane for three decades. The Ford family gave up direct ownership in the 1950s after Henry's wife, Clara Ford, died. In April 2010, U-M announced that it would turn over its ownership and oversight of Fair Lane, a National Historic Landmark on the grounds of its Dearborn campus, to the Ford family-run board that also oversees the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House. Officials said at the time that the Ford House would be better able to care for the estate than U-M, which was spending $300,000 a year on operations. At that time, it was anticipated ownership would transfer in July 2011. But there have been extensions on that agreement since then. Although it will be a while yet before weddings or large-scale parties may be held again at Fair Lane, Mullins said she hoped the public could visit on occasion during the renovation process, possibly for smaller meetings and receptions. I have found from other major restoration projects I've overseen in my career that people love to see work in process and to learn how things are done," she said, "so we see this as an intriguing and very special experience we can provide. She added, "Yes, we look forward to having the public back at the estate. Structures get sad when they are closed for long periods of time. Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173 or gallagher99 at freepress.com This article is provided to you as a courtesy of NFB-NEWSLINE® Online for your sole use. The content of this E-mail is protected under copyright law, and is not to be distributed in any manner to others; infringement of our non-dissemination agreement is strictly prohibited. Allowing someone to have access to this material is in violation of the Terms of Use agreement that you electronically signed when you signed up for NFB-NEWSLINE® Online. Please do not forward this E-mail or its attachments to any other person or disseminate it in any manner. Thank you. The NFB-NEWSLINE® Team.


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