Sean Work|MLive.comUAW Local 599 building at 812 Leith Street in Flint will not be auctioned Saturday. A purchase agreement reached today means Local 599 will stay in the building.
FLINT, Michigan -- The 26,000-square-foot union hall that sits at 812 Leith Street will remain the home of UAW Local 599. It will not be sold in an auction, says to Local 599 president Bill Jordan.
A purchase agreement for the building was signed today, less than 24 hours before the planned Saturday auction,Jordan said. The agreement involves Local 599 staying in the building as a tenant.
"The hall will be utilized as a union hall and as a facility for the community," said Jordan. "It will become a showcase facility, something that people are going to come to. It's going to be something for the betterment of the community, for people to come and see things."
As an example, Jordan said, people may come to see an antique Buick parked in the building one day. He denied, however, that the building would be turned into an automotive museum. He referred to it, instead, as a "community attraction."
Jordan identified the purchaser only as "a corporation with interest in the community." He said plans for the building and details on the corporation would be released in the next few weeks, after paperwork on the sale is processed.
He denied reports by the auctioneer that the auction was stopped by the international union. Jordan did say the deal was brokered with the assistance of the UAW regional office, "and there might have been an international representative at the regional office."
The building had been for sale for over a year before the union decided to move ahead with an auction to sell it. Jordan said he can only speculate why the corporation waited until the 11th hour to move ahead with a purchase offer.
"Over the last year, we had a number of people interested in purchasing the building, but those deals fell through," Jordan said. "I'm guessing when the deals didn't come through, they said, 'Let's step up to the plate and see what we can do to keep this building for the community.'"
Jordan says he believes the corporation may have some of its employees work out of the Leith Street building. Those details have yet to be worked out.
Sean Work|MLive.comThousands of items had been prepared for auction at UAW Local 599 hall in Flint. Friday morning, UAW officials called off the auction of the contents and building at 812 Leith Street.
As for what will happen with the thousands of items and memorabilia prepared for auction that are sitting in the building's auditorium -- some things will be tossed and most will be put back in place, according to Jordan.
"There are a number of things that are unsalvagable, so we'll have to sort things out and get rid of the trash," said Jordan. "The furniture will go back in place, we'll have to decide what to do with some of the computers. The historical memorabilia will still be there."
Jordan says he understand the confusion that might result from canceling the auction at the last minute. He plans to be outside of the building Saturday morning, apologizing and explaining the situation to those who might show up.
