What's next for the orphanage?
MARQUETTE -- One dollar...that was the only bid at Thursday morning's auction at the Marquette County Courthouse, and it was rejected because it wasn't nearly enough.
The Meranto Living Trust, which owns the property after the most recent owner defaulted, set the bid at $400,000, far more than potential buyers wanted to pay.
"I don't have that kind of money. I wouldn't stick that kind of money into the purchase of it anyway, it's not worth that kind of money," says Steve Carpenter of Marquette.
"I think the building needs a lot of renovation, and people, I don't think, just to bring it up to code, are going to be able to come up with that kind of money in this area," says Sergeant Kenneth Kent of the Marquette County Sheriff's Department.
Officials estimated it could cost over $5 million to renovate the building or just $250,000 to tear it down, which could explain why it's sat vacant for nearly three decades. And now, the governor's proposed phase out of historic tax credits makes the property even less attractive.
"The building is sound--it's in rough shape, it needs to be gutted out--the structure's sound and it's definitely salvageable, but the costs are very high, so without some kind of incentive, it would be very hard to do," says architect Barry Polzin.
Because the orphanage failed to sell, the property now reverts to the Meranto Living Trust.
The city says the trust will either have to bring the building up to code or tear it down.
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The old Marquette orphanage was up for auction Thursday morning outside the Marquette County Courthouse in Marquette; the minimum bid had to be $400,000. One person came up with a one dollar bid. It was rejected.
The orphanage will now revert to the Meranto Family Living Trust. Roger L. Rinne, the orphanage's owner, had been borrowing money from the Meranto Trust to pay the mortgage on the building. It was the Meranto Trust that foreclosed on Rinne and put the orphanage up for auction.
It is now up to the people listed on the Meranto Family Living Trust to either bring the building up to code or tear it down.
Officials say it could cost over $5 million to restore the building and $250,000 to tear it down.
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