By By ANDY HAMILTON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Niles may never have become the city it is today if Frances J. Plym hadn't made a stop at the Michigan Inn.
A historic piece of that once popular hotel, and of the City of Niles, would be lost forever if not for Patricia Benson-Bachman. The 91-year-old saved from the landfill four load-bearing columns that were once part of the Michigan Inn. They are now permanently a part of the new Chemical Bank in downtown Niles.
"People thought my mother was nuts. [The columns] weighed 1,800 pounds each," said Jeanne Watson, Benson-Bachman's daughter.
The tail of the columns has been documented and will permanently be on view in the front foyer of Chemical Bank. Photos of their journey and a written history have been matted and framed in one piece and hang on the entryway's east wall.
There is a historic black and white photo of the front of the Michigan Inn; a photo of Benson-Bachman; a picture of the columns covered in weeds at Benson-Bachman's house, on the ground at the construction site and installed at the bank; and a photo of the bank. Watson spearheaded the project, and called on new downtown business owner Helen Moorman of Frame of Mind to matte and frame the piece.
The Michigan Inn housed guests to Niles in the mid to late 1800s and also served as the meeting place to discuss business. Donna Ochenryder, Niles resident and local historian, said the original businessman association, the precursor to the Four Flags Area Chamber of Commerce, gathered at the hotel.
The Michigan Inn was also the site in 1905 where Niles resident and business owner Carmi Smith met Kawneer founder Frances J. Plym, Ochenryder said. Smith apparently heard Plym talking about his plan to purchase land in Benton Harbor and rounded up a group of businessmen in Niles who eventually convinced Plym to buy land in town, Ochenryder said.
Benson-Bachman noticed the columns during the demolition of the Michigan Inn, and when a construction worker told her of their fate she had them moved to her house on North Fifth Street. Watson said she remembers the strap on the crane snapping the first attempt at lifting the pillars.
The columns sat in Benson-Bachman's yard for about 20 years before the Niles Main Street board of directors was told of them and asked for suggestions for their use. Niles Community Development Director said board member Amy DeVos proposed adding the columns to the new Chemical Bank.
The columns were taken to Toefco Engineered Coating Systems in Niles, where they were power coated, which is a process where paint is chemically adhered to the desired surface. They then were coated with green paint to match Chemical Bank.
One pair of the historic columns rests at the entrance facing north Fifth Street. The other set welcomes guests at the entrance on Main Street.
It was not always known which part of the Michigan Inn the columns came from, but it has since been discovered they were supporting the basement of the hotel. Benson-Bachman said she remembers the barbershops and other stores in the basement for travelers.
"The basement of the hotel, I was breath-taken when I went down there because it was beautiful tile and the workmanship was just wonderful," Benson-Bachman said.