Letters in support of Huyser House have 'taken on a life of their own'

Evan Sasiela, The Holland Sentinel
·3 min read

LAKETOWN TWP. — The Laketown Township Parks and Recreation Commission is still considering the future of a historic home.

More:Laketown Township wants more options before demolishing Huyser House

Huyser Farm House — 4188 64th St. — was built in 1939 by Manuel and Lilah Huyser. Lilah died in 1996 at age 85, and Manuel died in 1999 at age 90. Laketown Township acquired the property in 2001 for a 102-acre park that included the unoccupied, two-story, 1,559-square-foot home.

The Huyser Farm House, 4188 64th St. in Laketown Township.
The Huyser Farm House, 4188 64th St. in Laketown Township.

A special committee of volunteers was formed to look for potential uses for the house. In December, that committee met and recommended the house be demolished. Safety, cost and a lack of purpose were key factors in the recommendation.

Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Tom Shuff provided an update to the Laketown Township Board of Trustees on Feb. 8. Shuff thanked Parks Commissioner Jeremy Van Hoven, who led the special committee, but said the Parks and Recreation Commission wanted to consider other options before demolition.

“We’ve gotten quite a bit of incoming mail (from) not only the township, not only the county, but other states that have read about the potential demolition — I don’t know where the potential demolition came from,” Shuff told the board. “I made it very clear at our last meeting I was against destroying that and wanted to pursue other uses.”

The Parks Commission will further discuss Huyser House at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Laketown Township Hall.

Laketown Township Trustee Jim Delaney questioned why a special committee was assembled if the Parks Commission wasn’t going to honor its recommendation. Shuff said the committee was instructed to come up with potential uses for the Huyser House.

“I’ve been chair for five years now and I’ve come to the conclusion that public interest matters,” Shuff said.

Laketown Township Manager Al Meshkin said the committee was formed to come up with ideas and potential uses for the house. He said demolishing the house is the “last resort.” Meshkin said the number of letters and emails supporting preservation of the house has been impressive and “taken (on) a life of its own.”

“The number of people supporting some kind of use for Huyser House far outnumbers the number of people who are saying tear it down,” Meshkin said.

Meshkin has estimated restoration at $100,000-$150,000 including electrical, plumbing, heating, cooling and insulation.

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Aaron Rund, a member of the special committee, spoke during public comment Wednesday, expressing disappointment with the way the board has handled the issue.

“(The board) requested volunteers to come forward, volunteers did a pretty good job of exploring all the options possible for the Huyser House and came to the conclusion there's no financially viable solution for the house and that it wasn’t really in the interest of the Huysers for their physical structure to be preserved — that their interest was in the natural property be preserved for all,” Rund said.

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Letters in support of Huyser House have 'taken on a life of their own'