The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Gordon Hall is coming home
Dexter Area Historical Society has winning bid
By Heather Connor, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: November 24, 2005
After many long years of raising money and anxiety over possibly losing a treasured landmark, Gordon Hall is finally coming home to Dexter.
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The University of Michigan announced Monday it has accepted a $1.5 million bid from the Dexter Area Historical Society for Gordon Hall and the 67 acres it rests on.
The home of the founder of Dexter Village, Gordon Hall is now the future home of the historical society, as well as a winery and a small retirement community.
The historical society managed to raise nearly the entire $1.5 million bid in a span of 2 1/2 months leading up to the Nov. 15 deadline of a 10 percent bid down with the university.
Paul Bishop, a local businessman and former village president, and Village Council Trustee Paul Cousins were instrumental in the process, said Gill Campbell, president of the Dexter Area Historical Society.
"Without both leading this, we would have had difficulty doing this," Campbell said of Bishop and Cousins. "They have been working tirelessly. Everybody in the society was involved. It was truly a communitywide effort."
Bishop said they were lucky that everyone who had pledged funds for the campaign came through.
"Paul and I couldn't have done it alone," he said. "Some people didn't give us a chance. I was confident all the way through."
Said Cousins, "I'm elated to death. It's been a long journey. We'll have plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and it's certainly an early Christmas present."
The campaign began five years ago when the society sought to obtain the property after learning the university was looking to sell it.
Some fund-raising efforts were as small as kindergartners selling cookies and cupcakes to as large as the village's contribution of $200,000.
Cambell said a group of kindergartners had raised about $800 selling baked goods while a fourth-grade class raised $4,600 in pledges in a history trivia game.
"Those little things brought about a tremendous amount of community effort because the children were learning about Gordon Hall's history along with their families," he said.
Both Campbell and Cousins said contributions to the campaign are still coming in. The historical society will continue to need donations to begin the restoration of the building, Cousins said.
The addition of the Vinosity winery and United Methodist Retirement Communities of Chelsea will provide the steady income the historical society will need to restore and maintain the property, Cousins said. The historical society will also seek federal and state grants, he said.
The retirement communities seeks to build 25 duplexes on 12 acres of wooded property that would not interfere with preserving the historic aspects of the area, Cousins said.
The retirement community will buy its share of the land, while the winery will likely take out a 20-year or longer lease.
Diane Brown of the University of Michigan Facilities and Operations Department said the historical society's bid was among three for the property.
Brown would not disclose the identities of the other bidders.
"According to our standard purchasing protocol, we do not release details regarding other bids or vendor proposals," Brown said.
Campbell said it is good to have a partnership with the university, as the historical society plans to call on them to help with the historic preservation of the hall.
"In the end, they probably had higher bids than ours," Campbell said. "Hats off to the university for taking our bid."
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