Restoration work begins on historic Tasty Nut Shop building in White Pigeon
WHITE PIGEON — A group committed to preserving White Pigeon’s most historic building celebrated a major accomplishment this week.
Representatives from the board that oversees Union Hall Block Building Inc. celebrated Monday morning, Jan. 23, as they watched heavy-equipment operators begin the first phase of correcting flaws of the 168-year-old building that most recently housed the Tasty Nut Shop.
Board president David Howard said he enjoyed viewing the five-man team from Kalamazoo-based Building Restoration Inc. begin the process of securing the southwest corner of the three-story building. The crew used a net-like protector — stretching down the exterior of the building from the roof to the ground floor — to contain loose bricks in the most vulnerable quadrant of the building.
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The building is at 100 and 102 E. Chicago Road.
“It’s really an exciting day that has been a long time coming,” Howard said.
Howard said after BRI workers secured the building’s southwest corner by midweek, their next step was to stabilize the foundation. That measure — a methodic and critical step — was to take place late in the week and crew members are expected to complete their portion of BRI’s work by Feb. 1.
Howard said board members will then decide what needs to occur next, how much that task will cost and who is available to conduct the work. He said BRI’s work cost nearly $50,000.
“Stabilizing the building will allow us to take it to the next step and, quite honestly, the total cost of the next step we don’t know yet,” Howard said. “We’ll be going through a project-management focus on this going forward because there are a lot of elements to come.”
He said the priority for now is to improve the state of the building, bringing it up to a place where it is no longer deemed unsafe by the village and its building inspectors, Doug Kuhlman and Joe Wickey.
Howard said a walk through the basement of the building felt like taking a step back in time. He explained the dirt floor and low ceiling reminded him of being in the depths of a mine.
“You go down a set of wooden steps into this basement, there’s a dirt floor, it’s a low ceiling supported by wooden cross beams, just all the elements of being in a mine,” he said. “Eventually, you come upon the doors that lead to each of the five tunnels.”
Board member Patricia Ort speculated the tunnels probably came in handy to aid those involved in the Underground Railroad, though the tunnels were not built for that sole purpose, she noted. Ort said the tunnels most likely provided a conduit to points on the other side of Kalamazoo Street to the west and U.S. 12 to the north, keeping people from having to cross what would have been, at the time, muddy roadways.
Howard said Union Hall Block Building Inc. had no problem securing appropriate permits from the village.
He speculated it would take between $3 million to $5 million, and at least 18 months under ideal circumstances, to fully complete the work. Ort said steps are being taken to secure a “Historic Building” designation from the state. If that pans out, Ort said the coveted status would open new doors for potential grants.
Union Hall board members plan to meet with state officials in late February to learn more about how to secure grants for historical preservation and restoration projects.
Howard said, ultimately, a refurbished building presents a variety of opportunities, including niche or boutique retail in the first floor. The second floor is an open area and includes a stage for what was once an opera house. The third floor also has a number of intriguing possibilities, including residential opportunities.
“There’s a community of developers out there looking for opportunities to repurpose historic buildings,” he said. “You could consider a restaurant, a bakery, really any of a number of things.”
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The building, which also features the former Silver Spoons Catering on its east side, was condemned in November 2021 due to danger posed by potentially falling bricks on the west side of the building and a clearly compromised foundation at its southwest corner.
Former owner Marjorie Hamminga defied the condemnation order issued by Kuhlman and continued Tasty Nut Shop operations through the 2021 holiday season until finally closing in February last year. The 87-year-old Hamminga died in July.
Through quick-claim deed, Tasty Nut Shop was put under the control of Union Hall Block Building Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Restoration work begins on historic Tasty Nut Shop building in White Pigeon
