By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Goodrich — Restoration to a century and half year old village landmark could begin this spring.
The historic Goodrich Ladies Library Museum, 10219 Hegel Road is showing its age and is in need of significant repairs. Earlier this year the Goodrich Village Council authorized H2A Architects to conduct a feasibility study of the historic landmark. The structure is the responsibility of the Village of Goodrich.
“We seek to repair the foundation of the Ladies museum first which is crumbling,” said Sheri Wilkerson, village administrator/clerk. “The walls are caving in also, there are major issues. We decided on a feasibility study because we did not want to throw good money at something that was not able to be fixed. This will be an ongoing project over the next few years.”
Earlier this year the evaluation was completed with an estimated cost of $249,600.
A series of Community Development Block Grants have been committed to stabilize the aging structure. The Village of Goodrich approved two $10,000 grants toward the project. Atlas Township added $50,000 in grant dollars toward the project.
Early in 2025 bids will be sought to firm up the crumbling foundation, said Wilkerson. Then, as funding becomes available wall and windows will be updated.
While the repairs are ongoing all the artifacts have been removed and on display at the Atlas Township Offices.
Jackie Hoist, a Historic Qualified Architect, completed the assessment. She has worked on numerous other historic properties throughout Genesee County and Michigan.
Thirty years ago, Hoist was involved in developing the Restoration Master Plan for the Ladies Library. The overall scope of the project will be to rehabilitate the building and include running water and a restroom. In addition, the restoration will address the deterioration of the exterior facades, soffits, foundation, windows, roofs, and other critical components. Also, ADA access is necessary.
In Hoist’s report, she emphasized the restoration of the historic built environments such as the Goodrich Ladies Library is essential in order to safeguard vital cultural assets that contribute to the identity and pride of a community.
“If we do not put resources toward maintaining and preserving these buildings, we will continue to build cheaper, disposable buildings of little character that will not serve 100 years or more as our historic buildings do, but rather they will be short lived,  depleting our resources and adding to our landfills,” she said. “It’s not just sentimental, it’s environmental.”
The history of the Ladies Library dates back to 1877, with the purchase of two lots along with the old village home. In 1902, a fire destroyed the west wing of the house, but the books were all safely removed and preserved. Then in 1903, part of the land was sold and money was used to restore their building, and remembering their near loss by fire, a steel roof on the house was added in 1922. The village and township operations have since moved.
The old library building sat empty for about 10 years and the Goodrich/Atlas Historical Society was established in June of 1991 with the purpose of saving the structure.
The museum building was opened to the public in 1998 and has provided a facility to keep the community history with a variety of documents, artifacts and historical photos.