• Saturday-What'sUP November 11 - 10:02 am

Jeff Dennis, Manager of the Pearce Funeral Home in Lake Linden, recently purchased the two homes shown in the top photo, that were directly across the street from the funeral home. Both houses were owned by the same person and had been for sale for about five years with no interested buyers on the market. The homes had fallen into disrepair, so after purchasing them, Jeff decided to have them torn down and use the property to make a much needed parking lot for patrons of the funeral home, since that has always been a problem for folks that are coming to pay their last respects.

Jeff snapped several photos of the houses coming down, showing how quickly that takes place, versus the amount of time it takes to put one up. Then once the pile of rubble was cleaned up, the next step was to level the lot and bring in some fill dirt to complete a brand new space for parking, shown in the last photo. It sure opened up those lots there and I bet the neighbors on either side are pleased to have a better view, with more light coming in their own windows. Even though it's sad to see the houses gone, it's a definite improvement to the street, since the houses were just sitting there deteriorating more and more. Making this a parking lot, was a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Today, again, brings around another anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. We send out a hug to those in the Pasty Cam family who were touched by that tragedy, to all who had a bond with the 29 men who lost their lives on that day in 1975.

Cheryl -- Thinking of you today. We send our prayers and love.

As my Dad, who was a carpenter/contractor, always
said, those houses were someone's pride and joy when
they were first built. But he also didn't bat an
eye when it came down to a situation like this.
Would agree, the folks around would rather not have
them there, empty and going down hill.

Will never forget that day in 1975 while a student
at NMU. Our hearts are filled with prayers for the
family members, now as they were then. Blessings to
Cheryl today.

Old houses to a parking lot, urban renewal, not always a bad thing.

Yes it is always better to tear them down and build parking lot instead of giving them to Habbitat to rehab and help the needy. Definately don't need/want "that kind of people" in "my" town.

I know a lot of you will be unhappy about my post but it was not just about one town or even the whole UP. There is way too much greed and not enough compassion in this country. I know that 99% of us will put a nickle in the SA Red Bucket but there is that 1% who will reach in the bucket and take a handful.

Sorry about the rant.

Richard, I pretty much said the same thing about tearing down those houses, though I know the space was needed and it probably would have cost a fortune to repair them. I also think of the families who grew up there. Thankfully, they'll always have their memories. So, I am actually torn on this one. Sometimes it's cheaper to put up a new house than to totally renovate an older one. Mixed feelings for sure.

You are right Deb. And I certainly don't know the situation up there. I live in Milwaukee. And before that South Florida where they actually tried to make it illegal to be homeless. That didn't work so then thay passed a law about feeding the homeless. They figure if they don't see the problem it will go away. Last I heard there was one church there that has almost a million dollars in fines for feeding and sheltering the homeless.

Always sad to see old houses come down, but when they become 'eyesores' and start to fall apart, the wrecking ball is merciful. IMO

What is really sad is what new or refurbished homes for the needy end up looking like after a few years of neglect. Not uncommon around here for some of those habitat houses become homes to druggies and or prostitution. Just impossible to do the right thing everytime I guess....

Ain't it the truth, Janie!!

These homes were available for apparently 5 years and none of you bought and renovated them for the “needy.” Instead, a small businessperson purchased them to enhance their business and improve the neighborhood. Stop squawking. You had your chance.

Gary in co, I'm sure you could relate to this, but a lot of these old homes not worthy of anything but demolition are donated to or bought buy local Fire fighters in use for training skills. That's what we did with the original old farm house on our property after our new house was finished. Sad to see the house I grew up in burn down, but how impressive it was to watch the training of our brave fire fighters!

Good suggestion, but I don’t think the neighbors of these demolished homes would have appreciated having a housefire so close. It could have been used for forcible entry, ventilation, and search training though.

I was working with Michigan State University in and around 1995 when they had the bell for restoration. I was with an official of the University and looked at the bell through a door window and I said I have to go in there and touch it, he said no you can't go in there. BUT I did and had the honor of touching it, It looked so bad when I saw it.But you go to Paradise and see it and it is like new. Before you could not even see the name Fitzgerald on it. So at that time it was quite an honor to touch it knowing 29 men lost there lives on it.

Hmmmmm, I guess I didn't know that we were "squawking", but just stating an opinion. I'm happy to see that Jeff was able to buy them for more parking for his business, but also feel for the families who grew up there. They were rundown, though, so it had to be done. I couldn't have bought them if I wanted to, living in MN. I just know that if my childhood home got in such a state of disrepair, I would STILL feel sad to see it gone.

I agree that it's sad to see these houses come down and the memories that they held in them, but when you look at how long they were on the market...5 years....and no one was interested in purchasing them and the family wasn't interested in keeping them for the memories themselves and when they're falling into such disrepair that it's not even feasible to try to fix them up, then Jeff Dennis did the neighbors and the village a favor by taking them down, before they were a danger and an eyesore that the development association would then have to step in to demolish them.

By the way, in talking with Jeff, he said that they were going to try to salvage the one on the right, but after really looking at the house, it just would have cost way too much.
As for donating them to someone like Habitat? They may have had to do the same thing that Jeff did, too then, since they don't have a lot of money to make major renovations, either.

I have to agree with Gary W. Long (Gary in co), they were available and no one stepped up and did anything with them for 5 long years...ask the neighbors about the chimney falling right off the house, going through their garage roof and landing on their car. Jeff did the right thing in my opinion. Just sayin'....

In Memory of the 29 men who lost their lives on the Edmund Fitzgerald, here's a Cameo from a few years back, of a video made to honor these men:
Tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald

I especially want to mention, Ransom Cundy, who grew up here in the Keweenaw and was Cheryl Cundy Rozman's Dad. Thinking of you, today, Cheryl and the rest of the families of the crew. RIP...

Yeah, that's why I said that sometimes it's cheaper to build a new house than to fix up an older one in such disrepair. Jeff's a nice guy. It's good to see he was able to use the lots if nothing else.

Along with the extra light going into the neighbors homes, I can also hear the roar of snowmobilers parking there, instead of the street, to go to The Loading Zone..

So true Deb. Bob & I priced what it would cost to update the original old farm house that was here....it priced about $15,000.00 more than to build our 1500 sq. ft. ranch house, with a 5 stall garage! I loved that old farm house, I grew up in it, but no asbestos in our new house was a big plus too!

There are a lot of houses in our area that are run down simply because people cannot afford to fix them. New siding, windows, etc., is very expensive. If someone doesn't have the money, then they don't have it, it's not because they don't care or because they are druggie's or prostitutes.

Remembering what today is and keeping the family and friends of the 29 in my thoughts and prayers.

Reading back thru the posts from yesterday, i have
to say i must hang out with the wrong crowd.
Including the folks here. The vast majority of
the people i know go out of their way to help
others. Giving of their time & talents, their
resources, and their money. They help those who
have fallen on hard times, including, as we
celebrate Veteran's Day today, our military
people. They would prefer to help someone fix up
their home and stay there, warm & safe, than tear
down that house. So to focus on those who aren't
generous and giving seems to accentuate the
negative. I pray we don't do that and become
negative like they are.

Same goes here. Ontonagon is famous for helping families in need. The Jan Tucker radio show is famous for "radio-action". Whenever someone needs help, the people of this small community come forward and give it their all. We have always participated in helping the people in our community and always will.
How would you like to see your house demolished because there was nothing left to do?
This small town has really suffered after losing the paper mill. So many families losing their homes. But, we have tried to stick together and help those in need. Don't need any stinking parking lots.

JBuck and Waveaction...
I'm not sure why you both think that this is a negative, especially since you don't know the whole story or the people involved. The folks that lived in these two houses, passed away a number of years ago and one of the kids 'inherited' them. NO ONE has lived in either of the houses for about 5 years or more. The son who inherited them, lives across the country and has no intention of living here in Lake Linden again, so he did not want them, either for himself or to fix up and rent out. The other member of the family has her own home, plus a cottage to care for and didn't want them, either. They were on the market for five years with few if any folks even looking at them to purchase. The cost to renovate them would have been more than building new houses there.

Lake Linden is a very giving community and we take care of our neighbors that need help. Jeff Dennis is one of the more caring residents of our town and for you to say what you did, not knowing him or our townfolk was uncalled for.
My apologies to Jeff for comments such as those.

My post was not directed at Jeff. It was directed at some of the posts.

All I know is.....waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day, I babysat in one of those homes. The baby was sleeping, I was watching a Dracula movie in the dark, and the little closet door under the steps, slllllllooooooowly swung open...and it creaked all the way.....WOWOWOWOW!!!!!!! I went and got the baby...and was ready to run. LOLOL!!!