DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Some metro Detroit projects and one local historian are being recognized by the Michigan Historic Preservation Network for their efforts to safeguard the state's heritage.
The MHPN is presenting awards this weekend to standout preservation efforts across Michigan. Among the honorees are the restoration of Henry and Clara Ford's bedroom at the Fair Lane Estate in Dearborn, Birmingham's city masterplan for historic preservation and Wyandotte historian and author Alana Paluszewski.
Watch Jeffrey Lindblom's video report below:
Henry Ford's Fair Lane Estate
Jack Tate, curator for the Dearborn Historical Museum, has dedicated much of his life to history — holding onto Henry Ford artifacts and remembering the original layout of Henry and Clara Ford's bedroom at the 111-year-old Fair Lane Estate, which featured two twin beds in the center.
Tate also has a personal connection to Ford himself, recalling a childhood encounter when he was around 5 years old, watching Ford — whom he described as a tall and slender man — speaking with his grandfather in the yard.
"When I first got there, I got a pat on the head and a how are you today, young man?" Tate said. "I feel I was very fortunate to have met Mr. Ford."
After Clara Ford's death in 1950, the three-level, 31,000-square-foot home served as a Ford archive, then a restaurant, cafe and event space for the University of Michigan. Restoration of the estate has been underway since 2013.
Devon O'Reilly, president and CEO of the Fair Lane Estate — now operating as a nonprofit planning to open to the public next year — said the team is honored to receive the MHPN's Hidden Gem Award for the restoration of the bedroom. The team tracked down some of the original furniture for the room.
"Including the beds they slept in and the bed Henry Ford died in, which is kind of a cool thing to have," O'Reilly said.
Birmingham's historic masterplan
Nick Dupuis, Birmingham's planning director, said the city has two-century-old roots, and the team was thrilled to receive an MHPN award for the city's masterplan. He said the plan is designed to create an educational environment focused on proactive planning for preservation — rather than reactive — for residents.
"We've got a significant amount of historic resource, but even more so a really cool story to tell in Birmingham," Dupuis said. "I think that our community now, and especially in the future, will look back and appreciate the work we did."
Wyandotte historian honored with citizen award
Paluszewski is being honored with the MHPN citizen award for her preservation work around Wyandotte, including at Theodore Roosevelt High School.
Paluszewski said her family has been in Wyandotte for more than a century. Roosevelt High School, built in the early 1920s, is where she attended school in the 1960s, and she spent decades there as a secretary. She calls it her home away from home. Her work to restore the school's theater and original murals earned her the MHPN citizen award.
"This is like a family legacy for me," Paluszewski said. "There are so few murals remaining in the United States, that these are truly national treasures."
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