Quick Facts

The main entrance is flanked by two historic, carved limestone panels that honor the twin pillars of Mt. Pleasant's 1950 identity: the local oil industry and the university. 

Now functioning as a mixed-use retail and apartment space, the building's interior acts as a time capsule, still preserving a subterranean police firing range and original city jail cells. 

The west wing of the complex features a soaring brick hose-drying tower and a recessed front parking pad, where the original engine bay doors have been converted into modern glass storefronts. 

Built in 1950 to centralize the town's government services, the city vacated the property in 1987, handing it over to private tenants led by the Basin Oil and Gas Company. 

NPS Description

120 South University Street. City Hall/The Basin Building, 1950. 

Contributing 

Description

Facing east on South University and south on East Michigan streets, the former Mt. Pleasant City Hall is a mid-century modern, roughly L-shaped building with a flat roof. Characteristic of some buildings of this era, the form and materials attempt to express the interior building functions. On the west end of the building is a rectangular two-story section which originally housed the fire hall. It is clad with beige brick on the south and east elevations and concrete block on the north and west elevations, and has a brick hose-drying tower rising above the second floor level at the northeast corner. It is set back from East Michigan Street to create a small parking area in front of what were originally the fire engine garage doors. At the east half, a one-story section extending to the lot lines on South University and East Michigan Streets wraps in an L shape around a two-story rectangular block in the center of the lot. This half formerly housed the City Hall functions. The building’s east half is faced with beige brick with the exception of two partial second-floor elevations which are faced with limestone panels. The second-story elevations on the south side of the fire hall and the brick faced walls on the north and east elevations of the city hall are accented with limestone stringcourses at the lintels and sills. 

The main (city hall) entry is centered on South University Street and consists of double glass and aluminum entry doors with glass sidelights and transom. To either side of the entry are carved limestone panels representing the oil industry (south side) and university (north side) which were instrumental to the city’s identity during the building’s period of construction (the artist has not been identified). The former garage doors on the south elevation of the fire hall have been infilled with glass and aluminum storefront units. The windows in general are replacement units with aluminum infill panels and are in a variety of configurations–double-hung, sliding, casement, and fixed with awning windows below. 

History 

This block was the site of Mt. Pleasant’s first firehouse, a large Greek Revival frame building, from the 1880s to the mid 1920s, when it moved to the 200 block of South Main Street. Following the removal of the fire department, the site held an automotive parking lot, although the 1931 Sanborn map notes there was a fire siren on a steel tower at the west end of the lot. In 1949-50 the city’s new Municipal Building, including City Hall and the Fire Department, was constructed here. The city occupied the building until 1987, when it was turned over to private tenants. These included the Basin Oil and Gas Company, who gave the building its present name, Emerald Physical Therapy, Data Service Corporation, Franklin Exploration, the American Heart Association, and Catholic Family Services, among others. It is currently a mixed use building with retail on the first floor and apartments on the second. 

Integrity Analysis 

Constructed in 1950, this mid-century modern building is generally intact. The only significant changes have been to the windows, where the original side-by-side aluminum units have been replaced. A number of original features remain in the building, including the firing range in the basement, jail cells, hose-drying tower, and finishes in some of the public areas, like the front entry hall. 

Sources 

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (Mt. Pleasant: 1884, 1890, 1895, 1900, 1910, 1924, 1931, 1950); Mt. Pleasant City Directories, 1925-1998; Past and Present of Isabella County, 1911; City of Mt. Pleasant Building Permits; historic photographs.