City of Hancock buys Houghton County Arena
Houghton County board sells for $1; MSU, fair board to get 10 years rent-free
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HOUGHTON -- The Houghton County Arena is in new hands.
The county board approved the sale of the arena for $1 to the city of Hancock at its meeting Tuesday night.
The arena serves as home ice for the Hancock High School Bulldogs and Finlandia Lions, and also hosts a number of events for the county.
Portage Lake Multi-Educational Services, which has run the facility for about 50 years, lans to disband this summer, said Hancock City Manager Mary Babcock.
Under the agreement, Hancock agrees to continue to give Michigan State University Extension and Houghton County Fair board office space in the building rent-free for the next 10 years.
With Houghton County paying off the $380,000 remaining bond on the building, City Manager Mary Babcock felt like it was a fair transaction.
"The arena, from the history I have found, was originally with Hancock schools, and then somehow it switched to the county," she said. "So we're just passing it back to the other side of the bridge, the ownership."
If Hancock decides to sell the arena in the future, the county would retain the right to purchase it back for $1.
The Hancock City Council voted in favor of the sale prior to it coming to the county. Multiple boards in Chairman Tom Tikkanen's district have also endorsed the effort, he said.
"Representing District 1, I'm hearing these folks, so obviously I'm going to carry their wishes forward," he said.