UNION CITY, MI (WTVB) – A building which has stood in Union City since 1851 was formally dedicated on September 24 as the Union City Senior Center.
It has taken four years and cost $210,000 to flip the former Putnam Funeral Home building. A video was posted on the village’s Facebook page which show the history of the building as well as its transformation.
Henry Hurd built the Greek Revival home in 1851 for his wife Ellen Hammond who was Union City’s first school teacher. The structure eventually became a hospital before it was a funeral home.
By 2012, the building was no longer being used. It then fell into disrepair over the next several years before the Senior Center Project Committee approached the Union City Village County about turning the historic building into a senior center.
A fundraiser campaign led to numerous donations. The project took longer than expected to finish because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senior Center committee decided in 2019 that signage for the building would honor the memory of Jack Bronson of Sherwood Township. Bronson was known as “The Sweetcorn Man” as he grew sweetcorn that was popular in the region for three decades. He also made a number of generous donations to the community.
Comments