GRAND RAPIDS, MI - An old west side house recommended for designation as a historic place may not stand much longer.
A moratorium is set to expire next month, giving the owner of the vacant 140-year-old house at 2500 Lake Michigan Dr. NW, the right to proceed with an approved demolition. City commissioners expressed little passion Tuesday, July 28, for saving the house by declaring it a historic district.
"It will expire and the owner can do as they wish," Mayor George Heartwell said.
The commission put a moratorium on demolition last year after the city's Board of Zoning Appeals overturned the Planning Commission's denial of permission to tear down the house.
Covenant Village of the Great Lakes, a senior-citizen housing provider, bought the house in 2006 and sought to raze it to avoid paying ongoing maintenance costs. The property on the south side of Lake Michigan Drive between Collindale and Covell avenues could be a site for future expansion of the adjacent Covenant Village campus.
City Commission in January voted 5-2 to extend the moratorium another six months, until Aug. 20.
"It's a crying shame," said Rebecca Smith-Hoffman, who authored a study of the house and found it to be worthy of designation as a historic place because it's "a fine example of Italianate residential architecture that has survived the transformation of its surroundings from farm land to city suburb."
"I don't want the city to be sued (by the property owner). On the other hand, once it's gone, it's gone. If it's not protected, it's gone. It's a travesty if it's knocked down."
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The director of Covenant Village was not immediately available Tuesday for comment on any plans to demolish the building or sell it for relocation.
Matt Vande Bunte covers government for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at mvandebu@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.