Keweenaw County selling buildings at old Air Force station
Keweenaw County selling buildings at old Air Force station
| CAPTION: Kurt Hauglie/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton Township Supervisor Jim Vivian looks over some of the houses at the former Air Force radar station on Mount Horace Greeley being sold by Keweenaw County. Sealed bids for the houses will be accepted through today. |
By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer
GRATIOT LAKE — The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners is selling several houses at what commissioners think are bargain prices. The only catch is the purchasers will have to move them at their own expense.
The 10 two-, three- and four-bedroom houses are on the former Air Force radar station on Mt. Horace Greeley, which is owned by the county. Houghton Township Supervisor Jim Vivian, who volunteered to take the lead in the process to get them sold, said potential buyers have been examining the buildings since July 1.
Vivian said today is the last scheduled day for taking sealed bids on the buildings, but he will still talk to anyone who may be interested in taking a look at them. He can be reached at 906-0869-6555.
There are about 40 more similar houses on the property, which were used to house officers and their families, but before the county tries to sell those they decided to start on a smaller sale with the 10 houses.
“We thought we’d feel the water and see what the interest is,” he said.
All the houses were built in the 1950s, Vivian said, and the two-bedroom houses are 25 feet by 36 feet. The three-bedroom houses are 25 feet by 42 feet. He’s uncertain of the size of the one four-bedroom house.
Most of the houses have unattached garages, Vivian said, but they’re being sold separately.
Vivian said interest in the houses has been fairly high.
“I’ve handed out about two dozen bidding packets,” he said.
It’s uncertain how many of those people will actually make bids, however, Vivian said.
The Air Force station closed in the early 1980s, Vivian said, and it sat unused for 12 to 14 years. Then in the 1990s, Youth Services International established an academy for delinquent youth, but they were housed in the enlisted barracks.
Vivian said most of the youths who stayed at the site were from downstate, particularly Wayne and Macomb counties, and it became too difficult to transport them so YSI closed after two and a half years.
Although buyers of the houses will have to pay to move them, Vivian said that cost will vary and be determined by the company hired to do the move, how far the buildings have to be transported and if any utility wires or signs need to be moved to make room for the buildings.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com
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