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MARQUETTE -- 10:50 am 

Nikki Junewicz reports that so far no valid offers have been made on the orphanage. Minimum bid had to be $400,000. One person came up with a $1 bid. It was rejected.

It appears that the orphanage will now revert to the Meranto family living trust. The Meranto family owned the orphanage prior to selling it to Roger Rinne who, officials say, defaulted on the mortgage.

An update on the auction will be coming up shortly.

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9:20 a.m. Thursday

City officials tell TV6 and FOX UP that the auction of the orphanage will take place this morning.

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Its appearance, an eyesore to many.  Its presence, haunting.

The old Marquette orphanage last housed children almost 50 years ago, and it's sat vacant since the 1980s.

"It's got definite hazards for the kids.  It makes the property look less attractive by having an abandoned building right here," says Jennifer Bleckiner, a Marquette resident who lives near the orphanage.

"It needs to be, something needs to be done; it's the stagnancy of it is kind of what is frightening," says Richard Prunick, also a Marquette resident.

Although the building is worthless, the land is valued at nearly $280,000.  City officials say the current property owner, Roger L. Rinne, has gone into default on the mortgage.  He owes the city thousands in fines for violating city ordinances, for failure to board windows, maintain the landscaping, and replace the roof.  The building was put up for auction by the lender, who foreclosed on Rinne.

If the building is sold to a new owner, the city will have a more difficult time collecting the fines owed to them.  But they say that's not their top priority.

"The city's ultimate goal is for this building to be cleaned up, to be in compliance with ordinances, to not be a public nuisance, and in an ideal world, we would love to see someone make use of this building," says city attorney Suzanne Larson.

If the building is sold Thursday, the new owners will be required to either bring the building up to code or tear it down.

The Sheriff's Department has yet to receive the deed from from the attorney for the building, and if they don't receive it by 10 a.m. Thursday, the auction will be pushed back yet again.