A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
March 31, 2016
N
ORTHVILLE
- P
LYMOUTH
Old Village project is OK’d
for brownfield tax plan
Cruise raffled by orchestra
Evening of Improv planned
The four Plymouth commissioners in
attendance at the meeting last week
unanimously agreed to a brownfield
plan for the Starkweather School proj-
ect inOldVillage.
The plan will allow the project to
apply for tax-increment financing to
help the development of 22 loft apart-
ments and 23 single-family homes on the
5.57 acre site on Holbrook. Mark
Menuck of Curtis-Plymouth LLC, the
developer of the project, said work
could begin as early as this spring at the
vacant school building purchased from
the Plymouth-Canton district for $1.15
million.
Menuck said the plan will keep many
of the historic features of the school,
originally built in 1927.
“We want to build a really nice high-
er-end community for Old Village,” said
Menuck, a third-generation builder and
a partner in Curtis-Plymouth LLC. The
project is estimated to cost $2.5 to $3mil-
lion.
He said the single family homes
would be at least 2,000 square feet and
fit the styles currently in Old Village.
Prices for the homes, he said, would be
in the $500,000 range.
The new financing will allow the city
to reserve the property tax revenue from
the site and use up to $1.07 million of
those funds to reimburse the developers
for the cost of restoring the school build-
ing over 11 years. Eligible costs would
include hazard remediation, like the
removal of lead paint or asbestos insula-
tion and the restoration of original wood
flooring or ceilings that were not part of
the original building.
Administration costs of $165,000 will
be paid to the city and $412,492 of the
reserved tax money will be deposited in
the site remediation revolving fund in
the city during the last four years of the
plan.
The original plan of the developers
was to raze the school building for the
construction of the new apartments.
Menuck said that he worked with city
officials, preservationists and residents
of Old Village to save the old school
building. The developers are applying
for recognition of the building from the
National Register of Historic Places
which would also, if approved, make the
project eligible for tax credits.
Commissioners Colleen Pobur, Oliver
Wolcott, Joe Valenti and Mike Wright
voted to approve the brownfieldplan.
Mayor Dan Dwyer and commission-
ers Dan Dalton and Suzi Deal did not
attend themeeting.
Tickets are now on sale for The
Michigan Philharmonic raffle of a cruise
of the Baltic seas, Scandinavia and
Russia.
Tickets priced at $50 will be entered
into the drawing for the 11-day round trip
from Copenhagen Denmark for two from
Aug. 4-19. The prize includes airfare for
two. The cruise will be aboard the Regal
Princess from Princess Cruise Lines and
the 11-night voyage will depart from
Copenhagen and visit the ports of Oslo,
Norway; Berlin, Germany; Tallinn,
Estonia; spend two days in St. Petersburg,
Russia; Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm,
Sweden.
Only 400 tickets will be sold for the
drawing which will take place May 21 at
the SalemHigh School auditorium. Ticket
holders need not be present to win and
will be notified the same day as the draw-
ing.
For information or tickets, contact the
philharmonic office at (734) 451-2112.
Tipping Point Theatre will present
The Return of Improv at the Point begin-
ning at 7 p.m. April 17. Back by popular
demand, this evening of off-the-cuff come-
dy is in the style of the television show
WhoseLine is it Anyway?
Audience-solicited suggestions will be
spun into comedy gold, live on stage, by a
cast of seasoned improvisers hosted by
DaveDavies.
Tickets for this one night only
fundraiser are $20 and are on sale now at
the Tipping Point Theatre box office, 361
East Cady St. in Northville. All seats are
reserved.
Dave Davies has been a professional
actor, improviser, and instructor for two
decades. He was last seen at Tipping
Point in Leaving Iowa, Murder at the
Howard Johnson, Looking and winner of
the Members Choice Award for best actor
in Love List, Last of the Red Hot Lovers,
Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and
then some!) and Don't Dress for Dinner.
Davies has performed on several stages
throughout the U.S. and internationally
from Canada to Puerto Rico. He is a
member of SAG-AFTRA and can be seen
in several movies including A Very
Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas,
Restitution, and Lifetime channel's Last
ManStanding.
Davies currently teaches children at
several Detroit Public Schools through
The Detroit Creativity Project. He also
teaches adult classes at Planet Ant
Theatre, Tipping Point Theatre,
Greenfield Village, the Actors Loft, and
several other locations.
Purchase tickets on line at
pingpointtheatre.com or call the box
office at (248) 347-0003.
Happy anniversary
Toni Monteith celebrated 30 years working at Station 885 restaurant in Old Village
recently. On hand to congratulate her were Jerry Costanza, left, of LaBistecca
restaurant, and his brother, Station 885 owner Robert Costanza. “She's a great
employee and has always been a great promoter of the restaurant. She is such
an asset, she's like everybody's mom, and everyone goes to her for some level-
headed advice,” Robert Costanza said. “Thirty years is a long time and we think
of her as part of the family.”
Photo by Dave Willett
