Inn May Become House For Victims Of Violence

NEWS PHOTO • JACK STUBBS

The former Michigan Inn on Jackson Road in Ann Arbor could become the new home for the Domestic Violence Project/SAFE House.

Inn may become house for victims of violence

By LIZ COBBS JUL 17 1991

NEWS STAFF REPORTER

The Domestic Violence Project/SAFE House hopes to turn the former Michigan Inn on Jackson Road in Ann Arbor into a shelter for battered women and children.

Buying and renovating the motel into 30 apartments would cost about $2 million, says Susan McGee, executive director of the Domestic Violence Project/SAFE House.

“It’s still a long shot, but we’re hopeful,” McGee says.

Domestic Violence Project/SAFE House is a private, non-profit corporation with a $575,000 annual budget made up of funds from the Washtenaw United Way, local governments and private contributors. The agency serves women, children and men who have been victimized in intimate relationships. They are provided shelter for up to 30 days.

If the agency can move into the motel, McGee says, it would mean expanding the number of beds available from 30 to 45; moving the shelter and administrative offices, now in different locations, to the motel; and improving access since the motel is on an Ann Arbor Transit Authority bus line.

Moving has been discussed for the past two to three years, but the organization could not find a site nor did it have the money to move, McGee says.

To pay for the building and renovation, the agency hopes to secure an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as receive grants and loans from local governments and private donations. Shelter officials say they already have received some pledges for the project, but they couldn’t provide a dollar amount

The 129-room Michigan Inn operated for seven years until it closed in the fall of 1989 because of decreasing business. The property is owned by McCullagh Investment Company and Arbor Valley Associates, a limited partnership based in Farmington.