600 East Lakeshore Drive
This building was abandoned in the 1980s - a transition period between warehouse and office building.
This three-story building was built in 1909 as a produce warehouse owned by Peninsular Wholesale Grocery. In 1928, it became home to the Cahodas-Paoli Company for several decades. Fruits and vegetables could be easily received, stored, and distributed from this location -- wedged between the railroad tracks and the company-owned dock along the Portage Canal. During World War II, a branch of clothing manufacturer Ely Walker employed area women in a dressmaker’s shop on the third floor. By the 1980s, the building was largely abandoned.
The building was built to be symmetric and blocky with brick walls supported by concrete columns. The floor and roof were both also made of concrete and the building was said to have been fireproof. In 1928, Cahodas-Paoli expanded the building with an addition on the east end that was made of steel trusses. The building contained steam heat and electric lighting at this time. The building proved its fireproof structure in 1935 when an internal fire broke out on January 7 and the building remained in tact with no structural damage.
The Upper Peninsula Power company (UPPCO) acquired the building in 1988 and in 1991 renovated it for their headquarters. Major renovations took place to convert this warehouse into functional office space. Textured stucco, a cornice around the building, and tinted were added as exterior details. In 2009, Michigan Tech purchased it and converted it to their Lakeshore Center. Today, it is home to several Michigan Tech offices and a Michigan Tech Enterprise Center SmartZone business incubator and anchors the east end of the downtown Houghton’s new pier. (138 words)
Sources: Michigan State Tax Commission (1938 & 1947); University History & Record. (2009, December 18). New Michigan Tech Building has Century of History. Michigan Tech Archives Blog.; Helminski, B. & Boldrey, M. (2000, May 12) SS422 - Term Project. Report prepared for SS 422 History of American Architecture at Michigan Technological University; Image: University Image and Historical Collections No. MS051-016-001-006