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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
June 28, 2012
I
NKSTER
- W
AYNE
Cancelled
First city post office
falls to demolition
2 Wayne businesses host free festival Sunday
By TomYates
Special Writer
It began in 1953 as the new, state-
of-the art Inkster Post Office.
It ended as an out of business
mattress and futon store.
For most of 59 years, the building
on eastbound Michigan Avenue
served the citizens of Inkster and
commuters on their way to work
who would use the drive-up mail-
box on the way to work. When the
post office moved half a mile west,
the building began a new life as a
series of budget furniture stores. It
died earlier this year when a fire
broke out in a recently closed mat-
tress and futon store which was
housed there.
While most of the post office his-
tory was of service to the communi-
ty, it also became a sign of the times
when thick bullet resistant plastic
shields were installed in the '70s.
The shields were installed after a
post office employee was shot and
killed during a robbery. The shields
destroyedmuch of the intimacy that
used to comewith a visit to the facil-
ity. The employees' warmth
remained but it was now filtered
through thick plastic.
On Saturday, June 16, a diesel
excavator was on site to reduce the
former post-office section of the
building to level ground. Starting
with pulling down the remaining
bits of the roof, a contractor piled
the steel pieces of the building to
the side to be then transferred to a
truck. Tony Simms, the leader of the
contracting crew taking the remains
of the building down, watched the
excavator moving steel roof beams
and, nodding his head in approval.
“When the government built this
building they meant for it to be here
for a long time,” he said. Simms
should know, one of his recent
assignments was to raze an 1874
building inDearborn.
The crew removed six truckloads
of scrapmetal the first Saturday and
still had more to haul away. The
brick and othermaterials remained,
and were scheduled for removal
last week.
Commuters along eastbound
Michigan Avenue will undoubtedly
notice something different as they
drive past the empty space where
the building once stood. For many
long-time Inkster residents it will be
a sign of the passing times and the
loss of a place that was once a vital
part of their hometown.
Two Wayne businesses are plan-
ning a free festival for the communi-
ty July 1 and hope to see the entire
community turn out for the event.
Dan Wright from the Outdoor
Fun Store and Mike Mueller and
Irene Ivanac from Strength and
Spirit will host the event from 10
a.m. until 6 p.m. in Goudy Park and
then will sponsor a free concert
from6-8 at the same venue.
"We'd love to see as many people
involved as possible,"Wright said.
There are three-legged races,
water balloons, kettlebell, belly
dance and Zumba demonstrations,
a nature walk and lots of prizes
planned along with a pie baking
contest.
Local judges will determine the
best pie around and visitors can bid
to win pies to take home. Entries in
the contest are still being accepted.
There will be live music by
Michelle Good from 10 a.m. until
noon, Rick Straub from noon until 2
p.m. andRobinMonterosso from2-4
p.m. Mark Boucher will take to the
Goudy Park stage from 4-6 p.m. and
the Petal Shop Band will perform
from6-8 p.m.
Families are encouraged to bring
a picnic lunch and spend the day at
the park.
Currently they need volunteers
to help with locating and acquiring
many of the needed supplies and
approaching Wayne businesses,
restaurants and merchants about
displaying posters and flyers for the
event.
They are also seeking sponsor-
ships and need people to plan and
organize the pie baking contest and
the subsequent auction of pies.
Volunteers to help with the set-
up and clean-up before and after
the event are needed and they also
need help with planning and super-
vising some children's activities dur-
ing the event.
Anyone interested in helping or
volunteering, or entering the pie
contest, should contact Ivanac at
(734) 578-1302.
Photo by Tom Yates