Carol McClellan of McClellan Realty, LLC has put out a $500 reward for anyone with information pertaining to the vandalism of The Mac building on Friday night.
Son-in-law John Medrick was at the building with construction crews Wednesday morning.
“They broke three of our brand new windows,” said Medrick. “Nothing was stolen. We’re not sure if it was a random act of kids being kids.”
McClellen has filed a police report with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Department. The department is investigating and monitoring the building more closely.
In the meantime, construction is in progress around the structure on Portage Ave. It is expected to be completed by the end of the work day.
“We were in between getting the floor ready for concrete, so we had already moved everything out of there,” Joe LaFave of Clark Construction said, highlighting the building’s unique history in the Sault. "When you talk to anyone about this building they say they know someone who used to work here or worked here themselves.”
According to Medrick, The Mac Building operated from the start of the 20th century into the late 70’s.
“It’s about a 120-year-old building,” Medrick said. “Some of the brick was taken out of the locks when it was built. Its primary focus was on the shipping industry, and ships going through the locks. They would take in laundry from the ships. It employed a lot of people. They also did industrial commercial type washes from downstate. Kincheloe was a big client when the air base was there. There are a lot of unique elements in the building that are associated with the business that went on.”
However, it hasn’t been used for much of anything over the past few decades.
“It started to fall into a state of disrepair,” said Medrick. “We came in and did some work on the exterior just to preserve the shell. Carol decided to go in and develop the interior and finish it up.”
The MAC Building is located in downtown district at 411 W. Portage Ave, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
Anyone with information contact the Sault Ste. Marie City Police Department at 906-632-5744.
