BENTON HARBOR
Wooden
manager
er The commi ion oded the
ppointment of Fire Chief D ve
Lincoln, who the i tant to
former City M n ger Steve
n
- Nil /Buch n Senior Center, 16 South Third Street,
The y from 9 .m- 12 noon. Phone 1- w.672-6971.
- Rivervalley Senior Center, Red Arro Highw y, Ha
Thursd y,9 .m.-12 noon. Phone 1..tKX)-672-6971.
vailabl
bo rd
SER ICE BROWN
The Benton Harbor aty Comm' ion, Marcb 30,
authorized the ubminal of a grant pplicatJon by the
Cornerston Alliance to the State Department of
Natural Re ources for fund in the amount of
$750.000 and th Sta Department of Commerce for
a grant in the amount of $450,000 for the redevelop­
ment of the Old Ship Canal.
An additional $340,000 will be given by th
Cornerstone Alliance.
At a presentation of the Old Ship Canal plars to
the city commi ion on March 23, Sue Lackey, Direc­
tor of Planning nd Development for the Cornerstone
Alliance said their consultants for the project told
them that, "lfwe don't do something in the downtown
to encourage inve tmen ,the area in their opinion
would continue to deteriorate Curtbcr."
"They thought the first project ought to be a com­
o mitment to the first phase of the Ship Canal, tying the
• Main Street Project and the Ship Canal Project
• together," Lackey said.
She aid th two projects would have to be tied
• together because, it wouldn't do any good to develop
a ship canal if pavement on Main Street is crumbling,
and it wouldn't do any good to improve Main Street,
when there w nothing along Main Street giving the
people a reason to stop.
At the January meeting of the City's Downtown
· Development Authority, Kevin Clements, Chairman
of the Boards Project Committee stated that they were
aware that Cornerstone Alliance's intention was to tie
· the Main Street Project and the Ship Canal Project
together.
"WE DON'T WANT to see that happen," Cle­
ments said. "We have no problem with Main and
. Ninth Streets being tied together because Ninth i as
· much more vital project than the Ship Canal Proj ect, "
Clements went on to say, "Tying Main Street to �
MIP want potential
home buyers'
. If you thought that owning a
ome was beyond your dreams,
'think again! If your family income is
under $46,345 per year, you may
qualify for a home mortgage under
the Michigan Initiative Program,
which began in October, 1990.
The Berrien County Cooperative
Extension Service, in cooperation
with the North Berrien Adult and
Community Education Program, .
: ponsoring a three-part workshop
, series that will help you qualify for a
.: Michigan Initiative mortgage, as
o well as provide basic information
you need to effectively shop for and
finance a home. The workshops arc
c open to all potential homeowners.
• The goal of the workshops i to
; provide potential homeowners with
: information on 11 aspec of home
: ownership and to help them decide if
home ownership is feasible at thi
time.
THE WORKSHOPS will be
held on Monday, April 6; Wednes­
. day, April 8; and Monday, April 13,
. 1992 from 7-9 p.m. at the Coloma
High School library. Participan
should plan to attend all three es­
sions.
Topic to be covered include:
house hunting - evaluating a house
and the neighborhood; qualifying for
a home loan - understanding the
criteria lenders use when deciding
whether to make a loan; financing a
home - understanding the financial
aspects of purchasing a home, in­
cluding monthly costs and mortgage
options; and the closing - under­
standing the closing co ts involved
in &>urc ing a bom .
The MiChigan Initiative l»rogram
helps pro pective horne buyers by
providing education about purchas­
ing a home, cutting the normal down
. payment requirement to 5 percent,
and offering more flexible qualify­
ing criteria th n conventional
mortgages.
Two four-year terms on the Benton Harbor Area School Board of
Education will be av ilable in aMUlI school election June 8.
Candi kin the office currently held by Lynn Hay and
Kenneth oltman must me by April 6, at 4:00 p.m.
Nominatin petitio and filing forms are available at the BUI
ce in the Administrative Building, 711 East Britain Avenue. Each
petition m t co . n I total of 20 valid ignatures, according to Benton
rbor Schoo Superintendent, J me N. Rutter.
Township precinct el ctors m y apply for and receive an absent
orb Hot t the B ines Office. City precinct electors may apply
for AV ballot at the City Clerk' Office, 200 Wall Street. Absentee
ballot will be available by May 19, but applications are being accepted
now.
Poten ial buyer for Liberty
Ship Canal Proje may del y
cUi . n Street. done, be
project"
DDA committ d $140 000 to
Street Project.
From the Canal project, Lackey id bout 256-
304 job would be created and 273 construction jo
will be available.
She said the $12.6 million Canal project i divided
into eight p . Six of the public and two
private, which will be done over a pe od 0 10 ycall.
Phase I of the project incltld the co truction 0
the proposed water featured from the East ide of
Riverview Drive to Tenth Street (Hannon Gl ),
which includes sidewal ,landscaping and public
amenities such ,bene , lighting and decorative
art, tree pe improvemen along BL-94, where
t�re 1 be w ide a with 1 ping
decorative pavers, fo parking are a a public plaza
at Riverview Drive.
Commi ioner George Wysinger asked,"1 thi
Ship Canal going to be omething where th residents
of the city wit} be priced out 011"
BERNICE BROWN
The City of Benton Harbor might
have potential buyer for the Liberty
Theat r, according to Chri top her
Brook Ch irrnan of the City'
Downtown Development Authority.
The Liberty, a hi torieal buildin
in the downtown area, i owned by
the City, but ilea ed to the City's
DDA for 1 per year.
Brooks told the board members at
their March 17, meeting th t he
received a call from a Mr. W.illie
Duncan, stating that he was inter­
ested in purchasing the historical
"I GOTTO LOOKout forth citizens in Benton
Harbor, because a lot of the citizens don't have a boat,
and the few that do, I can where they might in
some point and time get priced out of thi ," Wy Inger
aid. "I don't ee where the citizens will benefit."
"I don't see anything that would price residents
out, because it would be public," Lackey said. "There
is nothing in this project at this point could lead to
that," Lackey said. "The only reason I said at thi point
is that within the Ship Canal plan there is a for
privately financed marina, there will be no public
dollars in."
The land on the west side of Riverview Drive
where the canal runs is privately owned.
The ToughLove Parent Support
Group will meet Tuesday, April 7, at
7:30 p.m. in the nursery of .the
Stevensville United Methodist
Church, 5506 Ridge Road,
Stevensville.
At The Llbr ry
National Library Week is
celebrated on April 5-11, with the
theme being, "Do The Right Thing."
Thi will be the kick-off for the Ben­
ton Harbor Public Ubrary Junior
Department �nd Boo mobile'
"Name the Croco4ile""��,IU5i"''' IU.
hich children in ID'..:��. "'--"-­
COme to t library
uggestions for tbe name 0 our um ..
mer reading program mascot.
The winner will be announced
after the May 22 deadline, and
receive a ummer reading cont t t­
hirt, featuring OUf ne ly-named
crocodile m cot.
Pre-School StoryTime will be
held on Wednesday, April 8th, from
10-10:45 a.m. the film, "Bring Th
Rain to Kapita Plain" will be shown
along with other stories about spring
weather for youn children, 3-
5. The Friday ion of torytime
ended for tile r.
Movies for children are hown on
Saturday at 1 p.m. Showing on
April 11 will be, "TIl . Velveteen
Rabbit" and "Lyle Lyle Crocoaile. "
The Junior U ofMl He
Zion Baptist Church will ve a
Candle Light Lenten Service on
Friday, April 10, t 7 p.m. Rev.
David McIn hit P or.
Men Saturday Bible Conference
of Evanston Avenue Bapti t Church
will be held Saturday, April 11, from
9 a.m. to 12 noon. Theme will be,
"Abiding in Chri t and Bearing
Fruit." For lunch reservations, call
773-6588.
building for entertainment purposes.
He said he informed Duncan that
DDA was only leasing the building,
but w owned by the City.
"I told him that I felt that we
would want to get at least the money
we put into it, out of the sale, should
the city decide to ell it," Brooks
said. DDA have put approximately
$40,000 into the Liberty Theater on
roofing and other face-lift of the
building, according to Brooks.
Kevin Clements, Chairman of
DDA' Project Committee wa
given permi ion to let Mr. Duncan
The Usher Board of Walker
Temple Church of God will have
their Annual Day program on Sun­
day, April 5, at 3:30 p.m. Usbers of
the city have been invited. Rev. V J.
Walker is the host r.
take a look at the building when he
get authorization from a city official.
In a phone conversation with Mr.
Duncan, he stated that he w inter­
ested in purchasing the Liberty, but
didn't want to "comment on the mat­
terat thi time."
Dave Daniels _' Security Guard at HPCC reads
the Michigan Citizen.
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TO E ROLL FOR the pro­
gram, call the North Berrien Adult·
and Community Education Program
at 849-2355 or the Cooperative Ex­
tension Service at 429-2425. From
the Niles/Buchanan area, call 695-
3887, Ext. 8561; from the Three
Oa /New Buffalo area, call 756-
9571, Ext. 8561; from the Bridgman
area, call 465-5373, Ext. 8561.'
Patricipants must preregister. No
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Mai to: Michigan Citizen, PO Box 03560, Highland Park, MI 48�03
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