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December 20, 2005

Local group may be able to buy Fishtown

Preserving area is top concern

By
Record-Eagle business editor

photo Record-Eagle/Keith King
An icicle hangs from one of the eaves in Leland's Fishtown. A local group, the Fishtown Preservation Society, is looking to buy the authentic Michigan fishing village in order to preserve the unique tourist draw to the area.
      LELAND - A local group is close to reeling in a deal to maintain historic Fishtown as an authentic Lake Michigan fishing village - and one of region's unique tourist draws.
      Representatives of the Fishtown Preservation Society met with the Carlson family - Fishtown's owners - this month to discuss sale of the property to the nonprofit group that wants to secure the property as a historic and commercial attraction.
      "We have a framework, I think, we can work with effectively and move forward," said Craig Miller, chairman of the preservation group's board.
      "We're making progress," Miller said. "We've still got a fair amount of work to do."
      Fishtown owner Bill Carlson wouldn't confirm the preservation society as the front-runner for the property, but said he's negotiating with an "interested party" that wants to "maintain (Fishtown) as it has been for all these years."
      "If it does go through, I think it would be for the benefit of everyone," Carlson said. "I think that's been our goal all along."
      Fishtown - it's century-old shanty town appearance draws tens of thousands of visitors a year to northern Leelanau County- almost went on the real estate market this year. Carlson decided to list the property for $3.5 million and advertise it nationally, but it didn't happen.
      "We never got that far," said Carlson, who credited media publicity over the possible sale for generating "quite a bit of interest" in the property.
      Carlson, who's pieced together the Fishtown district since the late 1970s, said it's a complicated sale because he owns some of the parcels while others are in joint ownership with his brothers Mark and Leon. The family owns five parcels on the north side of the Leland River, dotted with a dozen different shops in weather-worn buildings.
      Both Miller and Carlson said it could take several weeks or more to hammer out a deal.
      "We're not in a big rush," Carlson said. "Even a year or two isn't going to matter to us."
      Miller said his group hopes to secure a purchase option that would give it a specific period to raise money to buy the property and develop a long-range plan for its use.
      "It's very difficult to raise funds ... without a specific plan that's well-thought-out," he said, adding the group will be "working closely" with the Leelanau Historical Society on the planning effort.
      Carlson said he wants to maintain Fishtown both for its historic significance and to provide continuity for the shop owners who've done business there for years.
      "They've been loyal to us," he said.
      When Leland's tourist season awakens next spring, Carlson said visitors can expect to find a familiar Fishtown with the same collection of shops and stores - including his family's generations-old fishing operation.
      "Without a doubt," Carlson said. "We won't do anything different next year."
     

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