Once Fingerle Lumber Co.
closes its doors Saturday, Arbor
Bar, an entity of Union Joints,
will move forward with plans to
open a restaurant on Fingerle’s
former
45,000-square-foot
site at South Main Street. They
presented a restaurant proposal
to the Ann Arbor Design Review
Board on Feb. 13. Curt Catallo,
co-owner
of
Union
Joints
restaurant group, feels confident
about their plan to repurpose the
old storage sheds of the Fingerle
Millworks building by turning it
into a two-story restaurant.
After 88 years of business,
Fingerle will close on Saturday.
Fingerle
is
a
family-owned
business that has been operating
in downtown Ann Arbor since
1931.
The
third-generation
owners, brothers John and Mark
Fingerle, will retire once they
close their business. Fingerle
did not respond to requests for
comment.
Catallo noted that all of the
lumber came from Fingerle
when their first restaurant,
the Clarkston Union, was built
in 1995. Additionally, Union
Joints co-owner Ann Stevenson,
Catallo’s wife, lived in Ann Arbor
for several years and has always
appreciated the site. Catallo said
Union Joints is honored to have
this opportunity.
“This
Fingerle
Millworks
building just checked all the
boxes,” Catallo said. “It’s a
building and a site that we
fell in love with years ago and
we’re very proud to be able to
repurpose it and create a little
something down by the railroad
tracks.”
Catallo felt that this project
naturally unfolded due to his
team’s
familiarity
with
the
company, land and the city of
Ann Arbor.
“In a way, we obviously knew
the mill building and then it
kind of came to us organically
in that we knew it was there and
we felt that it was a good fit,”
Catallo said. “Friends told us
about it and then we really
worked with the Fingerles
to try to make it so you could
repurpose
that
structure
not knowing what they were
doing with the larger parcels
that they sold to U of M.”
On Dec. 6, the University of
Michigan’s Board of Regents
authorized the $24 million
purchase of 6.54 acres of
another piece of Fingerle’s
property located along Fifth
Avenue and south of East
Madison
Street,
but
the
University’s plan for this land
remains up in the air.
Catallo said the restaurant’s
working
title
is
“Fort
Fingerle,” and the goal is to
bring to life the expansive
concrete on the lawn by
making a commons area, as
well as to include a bar area
on the second floor that leads
out to a “groovy, charming”
rooftop.
“We’ll have a little portion
of it dedicated to carry-out
and dedicated to grab-and-
go,” Catallo said. “Between
that element, the rooftop, the
restaurant, and then the way we
activate the sheds, it’s just going
to be something that you don’t
find anywhere else because you
can only do it if you have a little
micro-campus
like
Fingerle
has.”
Catallo also shut down recent
rumors about the proposal also
being for a brewpub.
“We’ve always been able to
buy better beer than we could
make and we’ve stuck to that,”
Catallo said. “It has allowed us
to focus on scratch-producing all
of our food and then partnering
with different brewers that are
proud of practicing their craft.
We’ve always been happy to
support micro-breweries and
craft breweries and focus on the
kind of comfort food that we’re
proud to create. That’s the same
with what we’ll do at this space.”
All of Union Joints’ projects
thus far have involved taking an
old building and repurposing it,
while still respecting its original
purpose and structure.
“We’re familiar with Ann
Arbor, but I don’t know if Ann
Arbor is necessarily familiar
with
Union
Joints,”
said
Catallo. “We’ve been proudly
repurposing
buildings
since
1995
and
practicing
place-
making in these buildings that
always served one purpose and
were destined to serve another.
And we think that this Fingerle
Millworks building just checked
all the boxes.”
Catallo emphasized they are
not going to change Fingerle’s
footprint or original purpose
through
their
development.
Rather, he feels this is an
opportunity to have something
old become new again.
Jack
Ferber,
a
Business
freshman at the University, said
he appreciates Union Joints’
intentions in honoring the lot’s
VIRTUAL RE ALIT Y: INSIDE A SL AUGHTE RHOUSE
ON THE DAILY: U-M DENTAL TO PROVIDE FREE DENTAL CARE TO CHILDREN
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: U DEVELOPS ANTI -RACISM
WORKSHOPS
On March 30, the University of
Michigan School of Dentistry will
provide free dental care to children
aged 4 to 18. The annual event,
Give Kids a Smile Day, seeks to help
communities that may have trouble
accessing dental care, such as those
in low-income communities, those
without health insurance and those
with accessibility issues. The event will
take place at the University’s Dentistry
School on North University Avenue
and aims to serve 80 families.
Dental student Mary Claire Kiernan
said the event is part of the American
Dental
Association
Foundation’s
“Give Kids a Smile” initiative. Forty
people attended the event last year
and just over 60 children are currently
registered for this year’s event.
Kiernan said dental decay is
widespread among children, worsened
by obstacles to dental care access.
“Today, dental decay is the most
common childhood disease in the US,”
Kiernan wrote in an email interview
with The Daily. “To further complicate
this, there are many barriers to access
to oral health care. Give Kids a Smile
Day serves to provide our community
with the services they need as well
as offer education and preventative
care in order to promote lifelong oral
health.”
According to the Michigan State
Oral Health Plan, Michigan has a
percentage of children with excellent
or very good health higher than the
national average (76 percent compared
to 71 percent). Still, the National Survey
of Children’s Health said 12 percent
of young children and 11 percent of
adolescents did not go to the dentist’s
office for a preventative visit during the
past year.
March 26, 1987
A plan to add workshops on
racism, sexism, and bigotry to the
freshman summer orientation
is in the developmental stages,
according
to
Robin
Jacoby,
administrative assistant to Vice
President and Provost James.
“People have been thinking
about this proposal for a while,but
a mandate has come in the last few
weeks,” Jacoby said. “The BAM
III it and UCAR demands gave a
further impetus to the proposal.”
The University’s offices of
housing
and
orientation
are
responsible for developing the
programs,
which
include
a
workshop to be conducted during
the fall in all residence halls.
Housing officials could not be
reached for comment last night.
The workshops may fulllfill one
of the United Coalition Against
Racism’s proposals that demanded
the establishment of a mandatory
workshop
on
racism.
UCAR
members were not involved in
planning the program.
According to Marty Ellington,
a UCAR member and LSA senior,
“UCAR will go over the programs
and make recommendations to
the administration.”
UCAR member James McGee,
a first year medical student, said
he was unaware of the plan and
speculated that other UCAR
members are also unfamiliar with
it. McGee would not comment on
this particular plan, but said, “Any
program that opens students’
minds to diversity and encourages
open discussion is good.”
2A — Wednesday, March 27, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
DARBY STIPE/Daily
During Veg Week 2019, students and attendees used virtual reality to witness conditions in a slaughterhouse after listening to lawyer and activist
Bee Friedlander and watching the documentary “Peaceable Kingdom” in the Dana Building Tuesday. Veg Week events are happening all week,
hosted by the Michigan Animal Respect Society.
TUESDAY:
By Design
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Behind the Story
WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History
MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers
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New restaurant planned to open on
former Fingerle lot in Ann Arbor
After 88 years of operation, family-owned lumber company will be replaced by eatery
ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporter
KENDELL LEWIS
For The Daily
original use while adapting the
space.
“I’m a huge fan of keeping
integrity of buildings and I think
that’s what this project seems
to be trying to do,” Ferber said.
“They’re trying to bring in a new
age to an old building.”
Catallo said they intend to play
a part in all of the action in the
college town.
“Just with the way you can
come in off of Main Street or
Madison and whether it’s on
a Wednesday or your way to a
game at the Big House, we just
think that people will use this
building and this restaurant as
they see fit,” Catallo said.
Ferber said he believes the
new restaurant will do well by
getting involved in student life.
“I think it’s a very, very cool
idea that they’re keeping the
building intact and they’re trying
to get involved more with the
University and the student body
by making it a part of game day
or a part of student life at night,”
Ferber said. “I think it’s going to
be financially successful because
it seems to be in a good spot,
and kids are always looking for
meals outside of things they cook
themselves or dining hall food.”
Business freshman Maggie
Dahlmann said she believes
this establishment will enhance
the city and the University’s
popularity and culture.
“I think it will have a really
positive impact on the city, as
restaurant culture is ingrained
in Ann Arbor,” Dahlmann said.
“Unique
brands
encourage
tourism, which would make U
of M an even more attractive
university.”
Catallo said he is excited to
share updates as his project
progresses, such as what they’ve
“got cooking menu-wise” and
with the space.
“It’s been a while since the
saws in there were milling trim,”
Catallo said. “And now we’ll be
milling food for people to enjoy,
hopefully.”
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