Detroit’s historic Ford Piquette Avenue Plant and the Indian Village neighborhood will undergo renovations thanks to a grant from the state of Michigan. The Piquette Plant will receive exterior masonry rehabilitation, while 57 historic city of Detroit streetlights will be installed in Indian Village.
“Creating vibrant, sustainable, and unique places where talent, entrepreneurs, and businesses want to locate, invest, and grow is a critical building block in a strong economic foundation,” says Steve Arwood, director of the Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development.
Model T Automotive Complex Inc. will receive $60,000 to renovate the Piquette Plant, one of 35 National Historic Landmarks in Michigan. The three-story plant, located at Piquette and Beaubien, was the second production facility for Ford Motor Co. The Model T was designed at the plant, and following early production, Henry Ford built a much larger plant in Highland Park.
The Piquette Plant is open for public tours, weddings, events, and private parties. Many of the earlier vehicles built by Ford Motor Co. are on display at the plant.
Indian Village Historical Collections will receive about $102,000 to install the streetlights in Indian Village, one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods, with many of the homes built by renowned architects like Albert Kahn and Louis Kamper. The neighborhood is located about four miles east of downtown Detroit, near Belle Isle.
The rest of the $600,000 grant will go to for exterior work on Gordon Hall in Dexter, the rehabilitation of the stone foundation of the Broughton House in Franklin, among other renovations across the state.
The Michigan Heritage Restoration Program was created by the state as a competitive grant program to help fund restoration and preservation projects in historic neighborhoods. Winning organizations must contribute 40 percent of the project cost.
