I am The Towner House
Who shall speak for me?
Shall no one rise and say
That I am -- yes -- four walls,
A roof, a weak foundation,
But - also -- more than this?
Have I not been a part of all that's past,
A presence that still defines a street
Of elegance and pride;
A past not so remote
That not all has been fo
rgot
Where people pause and see
A time of grace and unity,
Where people lived and made
A town -- and understood --
Community?
The wealth was there
Across the street;
I knew them friend
And never felt denied;
Yet near neighbor now would put me down.
Is this the sum and measure
We have become?
Are we so poor
There is no place for me -- for history?
I am The Towner House:
Shall no one speak for me?
Over a span of about 7 years in the 1990s, Jack Harris wrote to the HDC at least three times debating why the Towner House should not be demolished. In the letter below, I have expanded the "1999" version by adding the interesting personal information found in the 1996 version (1999 is my best guesstimate of the date of that letter).
Ypsilanti Historic District Commission
Ypsilanti City Hall
1 South Huron
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
From: Arthur John Harris (Jack)
To: Ypsilanti Historic District Commission
Topic: Demolition of the Towner House
Date: 1996 and 1999
Dear Members of the Historic District Commission:
It has been brought to my attention that the Commission has come under fire in recent weeks and I feel obliged to respond, as a long-time resident of Ypsilanti and a strong advocate for preservation.
For those of you who don’t know me, perhaps a few words of introduction might help. Now retired, I was for twenty-seven years on the faculty as Professor of English Language and Literature. My speciality was Shakespeare and poetry. I often took students to Stratford, Ontario, to see plays at the Festival Theatre and on three occasions led parties of students on a study course at The Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon, where I had taken both my M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. I have published in Shakespeare Quarterly (The Folger Library, Washington, D. C.), Theatre Notebook, etc.
While many people see Shakespeare as “poetry” divorced from life, to me he was a man who “said everything worth saying better than anybody else ever said it.” That is what I told my students. In short, my point is that Shakespeare tells us about life, better perhaps than anyone else has done. At the same time, I have not spent my life only in the study. For example, as soon as I moved to Ypsilanti in 1974, I became involved with the work of the Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation and became active in preservation work here, combining active community service with a career in education, My major air was to help people become more aware of the rich legacy of architecture that still survives the ravages of time, abuse, and outright perversity. (Shakespeare teaches that “perversity” is Knowing what’s right and doing what’s wrong.)
Eventually, I was elected President of the Heritage Foundation. I also for many years edited Heritage News, the Foundation’s bi-monthly preservation advocacy paper. I was also a founding member of the H.D.C. I am proud to have been there in that little room behind the furnace in the basement of Old City Hall, where the commission first met in January, 1978. I was elected Vice-chair and served in that capacity until my resignation in 1986. Fortunately, it was the rarest of occasions when I would have to lead the meeting, as Jane [Bird] was almost invariably there and presiding (keeping the rest of us alert and responsive throughout those long and wearing meetings—often until 11:00 p.m. during the construction season).
Now, I am retired. I have resigned from all commission, committee, and foundation work; however, it has come to my attention that the H.D.C. has received yet another application for demolition of the Towner House, and I would like to urge denial of any such permit. The Towner House has stood the test of time. It has survived the vicissitudes of time, since approximately the same date that Michigan became a state. The house is important to the community and to the street on which it has always sat.
On a personal basis, I can say that the Towner House is the first building to attract my attention when I began to search for a home in Ypsilanti. I wrote to Reverend Woodruff of the Presbyterian Church, informing him of my interest. At the time, I believe some students were renting it from the church and it looked pretty bad; however, I saw its possibilities. My interest, unfortunately, met with rejection.
When I did find a house in Ypsilanti, it was the spring of 1974 and a new group of concerned citizens had formed to save the Towner House. This new group, headed by Nathalie Edmunds and Jane Bird, became the Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation. They obtained an annual lease from the Presbyterian Church to rent the building. Work began immediately to renovate the house and I was enlisted to help. I vividly remember those first days of community service: washing windows, painting, and general cleaning up. Soon the house had a good tenant, Gary Decker, then at EMU, now at U-M, who, with much volunteer help from Foundation members, made the house look like Little Williamsburg. This relationship between the Foundation and the church continued until it was clear that the church would not commit themselves to more than an annual lease, making major investments in the building out of the question.
However, another group soon came forward, a group associated with the museum and the public schools-citizens interested in the Towner House on that historic street and, at the same time, interested in expanding the active program of local history studies already established in the schools. Hence, the Towner House was again leased to a community organization, this one known as Friends of the Towner House Children's Museum, and thus began a period that is memorable to many of us as one of the most vital moments in our city's proud history, when the Towner House was involved in an educational program that has been so important to the community-teaching children about American life as it was lived a hundred years ago. A lively schedule of activities took place on site at the Towner House, including a complete and very active program during Heritage Festival.
Hence, the Towner House is not just another old building in need of care. Its history is long: it has survived since almost the time that Michigan gained its statehood. It stands on the most historic street in town, at the climax of that street, directly across from the former City Hall (the Quirk Mansion) as well as the city's superb House Museum (and, not so incidentally, diagonally across from the present mayor's house).
The Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation was formed to save the Towner House from demolition. A lease agreement was created in 1975 between the church and the foundation. After continuing to be a private residence, it became a Children's Museum in 1982. The museum ceased to exist in 1990, and the house fell into disrepair. By 1999, a consent agreement was reached between the City and the Church, calling for removal of all the additions in the back to the original structure and installation of a new roof. The Towner House LLC was formed as a nonprofit entity to maintain and repair the building.
The Towner House was itself the home of another of Ypsilanti's distinguished mayors, Mayor Tracy Towner. He and his family gave the house its now long-established name. Tracy's sister, Carrie, was a member of the Conservatory of Music attached to the Normal School in the last century. She had studied in Europe and she gave private lessons at her studio in downtown Ypsilanti. During the house's life as a children's museum, a talented group of high school students presented an educational program entitled "Christmas at the Mayor's House," funded by EMU and The Michigan Council for the Humanities, in which the students played the roles of the Towner House family members. The house has thus not only lived history but has also been the site of a living history program. The world famous Ypsilanti Chamber Singers also performed for the guests.
No, this is not just another old house. It has a story to tell that gives meaning to all of our lives. It tells us who we are and where we came from. It has survived many years of neglect, but it has also seen through its windows the whole sweep of Ypsilanti's history.
The street itself, our grandest, most historic avenue, has risen, fallen into severe decay, and risen again. Now the variety and splendor of its architectural heritage is appreciated far and wide. It stands almost completely restored as a proud symbol of our city's determination to recover its heritage and move forward into the next century.
The Towner House is important to that street. No, it doesn't have grandeur, but it has history wrapped around it. Even in its forlorn state at the moment, it remains a significant, tangible representation of our past. To approve demolition or moving at this point would be "perverse," as Shakespeare defines the term: KNOWING WHAT'S RIGHT, AND DOING WHAT'S WRONG. That was Macbeth's problem; let it not be ours.
The Towner House could easily be sold and become a viable asset to the community. The church need only relinquish a small piece of land, while gaining so much more; and the place itself could become what our mayor has made of her house across the street: a charming domestic site, a symbol of our respect for those who have gone before us, as well as a strong statement of our living community. I urge the commission to deny this new request to demolish the building.
Sincerely,
Arthur John Harris (Jack)