Dearborn Sells City Hall For Use By Artists

DEARBORN (WWJ/AP) - Dearborn is selling its old city hall to a Minnesota-based nonprofit that plans to convert the 91-year-old Georgian Revival-style building into a work space for artists.

Dearborn City Council approved the $1.65 million sale earlier this week to Artspace Projects, despite objections from some residents.

"There is something wrong here," Steve Dobkowski, a Dearborn resident, told the Detroit Free Press. "I'm warning you: people are not happy with this."

Dearborn last year agreed to buy a building on Michigan Avenue near its main library and police department for $3.2 million to be its new city hall. Some city officials said that the old building was unfit for modern use, but residents who objected called the move a waste of money.

Dearborn resident Lee Jacobsen says city officials were secretive about the project and said the treasured building shouldn't be sold. "Government likes to do grandiose things" that can cost taxpayers, he said.

Mayor Jack O'Reilly Jr. called the plan a "long-term investment."

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