Headlands Beach House Could Come Down

<p><em><a href="mailto:stephanlj@interlochen.org">By Linda Stephan</a></em></p> <p>After years of discussion, leaders in Emmet County say they'll probably decide this year to tear down a two-story beach house in the Headlands Park near Mackinaw City. Its 40-foot windows face Cecil Bay on Lake Michigan.</p> <p>The former pool house has an interesting design, architecturally, but it's expensive to maintain. Estimates for repairs range from $1.1 million to $1.2 million dollars, officials say.</p> <p>"I think the board is strongly inclined to take it down and put something up that's insulated, that has handicap-access bathrooms for the public and go that route. But there's no joy in that decision," says Commission Chair Jim Tamlyn.</p> <p>He says he is not in a rush to make the final call, but a vote is likely sometime this year.</p> <p>The beach house sleeps up to 20. It's a seasonal rental and the county's not taking reservations for 2013.</p> <p>It has an unusual design, built originally for the owner of a tractor store. That background may tell us something about the building's design.</p> <p>Tamlyn spoke with an architect, "And she felt that the building was actually built in the design of International Harvester. And when you look at it from a distance you can see what she's talking about. It's a neat building."</p>