Council declines $40,000 Federal grant for Aquarium roof

**detroitsgwenivere** · December-01-09, 11:06 PM

Originally Posted by esteban

A Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium board member informs me, "...Joann Watson's office said it was the Mayor's doing. She has a call into the Mayor's office and is trying to get to the bottom of it for us. It seems very weird...."

That's all I have for now.

Oh, my Heart.....!!!

**jt1** · December-01-09, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by esteban

A Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium board member informs me, "...Joann Watson's office said it was the Mayor's doing. She has a call into the Mayor's office and is trying to get to the bottom of it for us. It seems very weird...."

That's all I have for now.

So let me get this straight:
1. FOBI [[A damn good organization) says that CC refused money from the feds. With nothing to support this you post this.
2. After a follow up you blindly believe JoAnn Watson [[of all people) that Mayor Bing refused the money.

I'm a proponent of facts so maybe before finding out that the Easter Bunny refused the funds we should get some concrete facts.

The truth is I called the feds and told them no thanks.

**Guideboat** · December-02-09, 11:55 PM

Any new information on this?

Canute · December-03-09, 10:28 AM

MonCon probably stole $40k in computers alone.

**English** · December-03-09, 11:40 AM

Sounds as if the Council just did it to spite the Friends of the BIA. I wouldn't be surprised.

Hopefully the funds will be available again under the Pugh council. Say what you like about him, but I don't think the historic and symbolic importance of the aquarium will be lost on a media guy.

**Fury13** · December-03-09, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by English

Sounds as if the Council just did it to spite the Friends of the BIA. I wouldn't be surprised.

Hopefully the funds will be available again under the Pugh council. Say what you like about him, but I don't think the historic and symbolic importance of the aquarium will be lost on a media guy.

Hope you're right. The aquarium is a special place. It's one of those resources we can't afford to lose.

**Detroit Stylin** · December-03-09, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by Fury13

Hope you're right. The aquarium is a special place. It's one of those resources we can't afford to lose.

or replicate nor replace.....

**tallboy66** · December-03-09, 09:15 PM

And the self destruction continues.

**tallboy66** · December-03-09, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by Fury13

Hope you're right. The aquarium is a special place. It's one of those resources we can't afford to lose.

And the Motown building, and tiger Stadium and... just tear it down and put up another parking lot.

**Dan** · December-03-09, 09:39 PM

Morons....

**barebain** · December-04-09, 01:27 PM

Couple of details I picked up while doing some google stalk:

According to the MI SHPO website [[i.e. the people responsible for awarding the grant), the $40,000 grant was, in fact, declined.

There was also a Freep article stating that the repairs to the roof would amount to $195,000 total.

As a historical architect, I have seen these grants in action. They are distributed on a yearly basis, with funds coming from the National Park Service. They must be used for their intended purpose, and there is a timeline to use them once allocated. The grant is a 60-40 matching grant, with the recipient having to pay the entire project cost up front. The recipient then asks the state for reimbursement of 60% of the total project costs not to exceed the limit of the grant.

All of this means that the city would have to foot the $195,000 bill for the roof renovation [[not sure how much money the FOBIA has to contribute) sometime over the course of the next fiscal year. My guess is, the city took one look at that contract, and said, "Not this year, not with a $300 million deficit", and declined the grant.

Not sure if the FOBIA could re-submit their application. SHPO is usually pretty understanding of the economics of any development project, but they might need some pretty definitive commitment from the city to do the restoration if a future grant is to be allocated.

MichMatters · December-04-09, 10:20 PM

Thank you for doing some research, barebain. I'm still eagerly awaiting the local media to pick this up, though. It's definitely newsworthy, and I'd like to hear the council and/or mayor say, themselves, that this was the reason for the declining to send this forward.

**esteban** · January-21-10, 05:09 PM

The money is gone. President Vance Patrick of the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium informs us that we have to re-apply for the $40,000 in kind contribution grant from the state. The previous City council simply could not find the time to pull it's thumb out of it's ass to send an acceptance. Hopefully the new City Council can demonstrate a modicum of competence.

**Zacha341** · January-21-10, 05:15 PM

I'm looking for more info too and just angry... so are we just to bull-doze every remaining gem of the city? Perhaps I should just calm down...

there's got to be some explanation...? Right?

Originally Posted by Jimaz

It wouldn't seem difficult to match only $40,000. Maybe $40,000 [[or $80,000?!) isn't enough to complete the job?

I searched for more news on this but found nothing.

**Zacha341** · January-21-10, 05:31 PM

Thank you for this info... it is appreciated!

Originally Posted by barebain

Couple of details I picked up while doing some google stalk:

According to the MI SHPO website [[i.e. the people responsible for awarding the grant), the $40,000 grant was, in fact, declined.

There was also a Freep article stating that the repairs to the roof would amount to $195,000 total.

As a historical architect, I have seen these grants in action. They are distributed on a yearly basis, with funds coming from the National Park Service. They must be used for their intended purpose, and there is a timeline to use them once allocated. The grant is a 60-40 matching grant, with the recipient having to pay the entire project cost up front. The recipient then asks the state for reimbursement of 60% of the total project costs not to exceed the limit of the grant.

All of this means that the city would have to foot the $195,000 bill for the roof renovation [[not sure how much money the FOBIA has to contribute) sometime over the course of the next fiscal year. My guess is, the city took one look at that contract, and said, "Not this year, not with a $300 million deficit", and declined the grant.

Not sure if the FOBIA could re-submit their application. SHPO is usually pretty understanding of the economics of any development project, but they might need some pretty definitive commitment from the city to do the restoration if a future grant is to be allocated.

**Guideboat** · January-21-10, 11:59 PM

Can they get someone in to at least board up the open window frames in the cupola? Hell, for that matter, I'll volunteer to do it if some springs for a few sheets of plywood. Really.