An abandoned house on county park property will have to go – and the question is not only how, but how much will it cost? The old farmhouse sits on the Maple Bay Park property in Grand Traverse County’s Acme Township. County Commissioner and Parks Commissioner Rob Hentschel says they’ve been working towards a middle ground. “It was a compromise. I wasn’t completely happy with how we went about it. I’d like to know who is paying for what.”
The farmhouse has been there for generations, but the parkland is supposed to be green space. The county acquired the parkland, and essentially inherited the farmhouse, which sits on 450 acres of the Maple Bay Natural Area. Grand Traverse County Parks Commissioners decided in 2018 to find a way to get rid of the old farmhouse. They ultimately opted to let fire crews use it for training.