Owner of old Holy Name Orphanage files bankruptcy.
MARQUETTE -- It's big, old, and crumbling in places. Twenty-four years after its doors closed, the old Holy Name Orphanage in Marquette still sits empty.
It's not that developers don't have interest in the property. People with money from out of state have looked at it, and local businesswoman Treasure Lampi raised funds two years ago to turn the 93-year-old building into a school for performing arts. That plan fell through.
In the meantime, the current absentee owner, Roger Rinne, has built up $6,000 in fines for code violations, including a hole in the building's roof, unsafe steps and handrails, and noxious weeds on the property.
In August, a judge called the property a public nuisance and ordered Rinne to repair it. So far, he has not complied. Instead, he filed for bankruptcy. Documents he filed in Arizona last November show he owes thousands of dollars to a handful of banks and other creditors.
Rinne, who resides in Arizona, told Upper Michigan's Source over the phone that he won't make a statement about the building now. But he does plan to release a statement next month.
So now what? Marquette City Attorney Ron Keefe says besides waiting out the bankruptcy and taking Rinne back to court, there's nothing the City Commission can do.
"Right," said Keefe. "They can't do it anymore then they can do it to your house or mine. We could go back to court. I'm sure the court would allow us to make the repairs ourselves and then charge him back. Of course, that's the big question, whether you'd ever get paid back."
But if the city does ask a judge to condemn the building, they're stuck paying the landowner what the building is worth. That's before the cost of demolition or renovation, which would include costly removal of asbestos and other toxins.
At this point, city officials say their job is just to keep the property safe and to apply pressure on Rinne to either make the renovations or sell the property.
"I think it can be done, with grant funding," said Mayor John Kivela. "Whether it's through MSHDA, whether it's through Federal Housing grants."
City officials say they're not deterred by Rinne's inactivity, and they're not giving up.
"In the past nine or ten years that I've worked in and out of this community," said City Planner, Dennis Stachewicz, "this is the first time in my history that a City Attorney and I have stepped up to the plate and actually gone over to the court and gotten a court order to get something done with the building and get something moving."
In the meantime, the neglected property serves as a parking lot for homes across the street.
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