County could seek bids for former Art Van building

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St. Clair County Commissioners will be discussing what to do with the vacant Art Van building in Downtown Port Huron that has been owned by the county for the past five years. On the agenda tonight for the Ways and Means Committee is an item to allow a request for proposal – or essentially a bid – for the property at 318 Grand River Avenue. Commission Chairman Jeff Bohm says opening it up for proposals means the county will be able to gauge how much interest there is in the site from private developers. When asked about a concept by the City of Port Huron to purchase the property and turn it in to a marketplace and events space, Bohm tells WPHM that idea hasn’t been taken off the table. “The city and county (are) looking to work with a private developer at this time,” said Bohm, saying some sort of private-public partnership between the city and a developer could still be in the works. The building, which most recently served as an indoor used car dealership, was purchased by the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners in 2014. Since then, numerous artist renderings have been presented by both St. Clair County and the City of Port Huron regarding it’s future use. None of those plans have yet to come to fruition. The St. Clair County Ways and Means Committee meets at 5pm tonight at the County Administration Building.