The historic Antoine Labadie home at 150 Spruce soon will be moved to a new location at Maple and Third, a mile south of its current location.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – The Antoine Labadie house soon will be on the move again.
Funds from the city’s Tax Increment Finance Authority and the Wyandotte Community Alliance and will finance the move and rehabilitation, respectively, of the house at 150 Spruce to the city-owned lot at the southwest corner of Maple and Third.
The City Council authorized the use of TIFA money to move the historic house at its Feb. 22 meeting, with only Councilman Leonard Sabuda opposed. The alliance voted to use its funds to rehabilitate the structure at its Feb. 3 meeting.
The Engineering Department will help coordinate the move. The house, which had been moved in the past, did not qualify for standard historical preservation designation because of the earlier relocation.
The land adjacent to and occupied by the Labadie house is being acquired for medical and office building space to help support Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital.
Alliance member Corki Benson told the council that the WCA was committing $100,000 in funding to rehabilitate the house, which bears the name of its former owner, one of Wyandotte’s earliest residents.
The renovation will take place after it is moved to its new location and set on a new foundation with a basement provided by TIFA funding.
Authority funds also will be used to construct and connect underground utilities, including a geothermal system. Any remaining money will be applied toward building renovations.
The move will bring the Labadie house closer to downtown and other city historic properties.
To keep costs down, the renovation will not be strictly historical, alliance members say, because doing so would be cost prohibitive. They instead will try to follow the original style of the home using modern materials and technology.