Beloved Farmington Hills arcade, museum could be demolished
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A piece of nostalgia could be going away in Farmington Hills. Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum could be torn down and replaced with a grocery store.
"You really would've had to have met Marvin to understand how it all came to be," says Andrew Rosenfeld, whose sister is Marvin Yagoda's daughter-in-law.
Yagoda is the founder of the arcade and museum. Rosenfeld is the longtime general manager.
Yagoda died nearly six and a half years ago, but Rosenfeld recalls his passion for the museum like it was yesterday.
"He would call me on the phone and say 'Get ready, I'm coming in with this poster, this machine.' And he and I would be up all night crawling up on ladders, and I'd have a hammer in this hand, nails over here and we just made it work because he had a deep passion," Rosenfeld said.
While reminiscing on those stories, Rosenfeld reluctantly says the nearly 40-year relic of a business is in danger.
"There's a potential demolition of this entire shopping mall, which would not only affect us, but all of the other tenants in the mall as well," Rosenfeld says.
The possible demolition will be addressed on Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Farmington Hills Planning Commission meeting.
Farmington Hills City Manager Gary Mekjian issued the following statement:
"RPT Realty, L.P., the owner and developer of 30825 and 31361 Orchard Lake Road, is currently working through a standard process for any planned unit development in the City of Farmington Hills. This process began on July 18, 2023, when the property owner submitted an application to the City for qualification of a planned unit development.
"Following the standard meeting approval process and scheduling, the City's Planning Commission set a public hearing for Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. Before making a recommendation to City Council on whether the project should be allowed to proceed, the Commission will consider:
- The extent to which the developer's plans meet City regulations
- The City's current Master Plan for Land Use
- The community benefit of the project
- And the community's feedback
"Occupation of the property is not determined by any City process; it is a legal agreement between the landlord and tenants of the property."