$20,000 is raised so far to rescue historic residence

By MIKE JONES
BLADE STAFF WRITER

The Friends of the Lathrop House, a group working to save an 1800s house in the 5300 block of South Main Street in Sylvania, has raised more than $20,000 in cash and pledges toward that goal, according to a report given at the organization’s most recent meeting.

The cost to move the structure, however, may exceed $100,000.

Sue McHugh said she is pleased with the amount collected, but noted that raising funds "is not just for the bottom line, but for the enthusiasm" that it shows for the community’s interest in saving the house.

She said the group has $13,159 in hand and is counting on receiving an additional $6,850 that has been pledged.

Gaye Gindy, a Sylvania historian, said that the more she researches the history of the building, the more evidence there is that it was once a stop on the underground railroad that harbored fugitive slaves on their way to Canada.

She said there are reports which indicate that the basement once had two large ovens - one of which was used for cooking and the other as a secret passage to rooms built off the basement or as ways in and out of the house.

The house and its four acres were purchased earlier this year by the Toledo Catholic Diocese with the intention of using the property to expand St. Joseph Church, which is directly across Main Street.

The church said it intended to raze the house to give it better access to an abutting eight acres east of the property.

The demolition would allow St. Joseph a total of 12 acres for what church officials have said will be a site for a multi-purpose building, athletic fields, and other uses.

The church has about 10,000 members and is one of the largest parishes in the diocese. Its leaders have said they need room to expand.

Last month an agreement was reached between church officials and those seeking to save the house, that St. Joseph would delay demolition to give the group time to raise funds.

Dr. Ted Ligibel, a preservationist professor at Eastern Michigan University, said that the ideal would be for the house to stay on its current site, but that if it is moved it will still be along the ravine along which fugitive slaves presumably moved to avoid detection.

He has been hired by the city to survey properties in Sylvania to determine which may have historic significance.

Dr. Ligibel added that although the possible razing of the Lathrop House had come as a surprise to many, it did alert city officials that they had no control over what could happen to historical structures in Sylvania and they are acting, at least for now, to compile an inventory.

Boyd Montgomery, a co-chairman of the preservationist group, said the agreement has no specific deadline to raise sufficient funds to move the house other than, "sometime in the spring."

He told the group that he has a bid of $115,000 from Graham’s Building Movers, of Grand Rapids, Ohio, to move the structure including its basement. He said the company has experience in moving historic structures.

The most likely place to move it is about 200 yards north to a portion of a parking lot owned in part by both the church and the city.

Mr. Montgomery acknowledged that the recently-formed group has yet to determine a use for the building if it is moved, or how it will be maintained.