Wolverine Arts Guild will be established by Dr. Ingersoll in this former Do-All facility, once Wolverine Knitting Mills, at 120 N. Jackson St.

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Dr. Ingersoll Moves Ahead with Odd Fellows Hall, Charter School, Arts Guild

Entrepreneur Expects Variety of Projects in Synergy to Spark Renewal

February 6, 2011
By: Dave Rogers

The list of Steve Ingersoll (Pictured at Right) projects is growing more impressive by the day, with potential to spark a renewal of several city neighborhoods. City commission approval will be sought Monday night for establishment of a Odd Fellows Valley Lodge No. 189 Local Historic District.


The building at 1900 Broadway will be renovated for use as an event hall, with apartments located on the second story, said Dr. Ingersoll.

The optometrist, who has operated a charter high school in Traverse City for the past decade, now has 1,200 students there and expects to have about 275 K-6 students in the Bay City Academy.

The charter school here has launched a website that explains the project and how parents can enroll students and can be accessed at www.baycityacademy.com.

Principal Ryan Schrock will be using 11 classrooms in the Madison Arts Building and several more in the former Salvation Army chapel, a building slated to be moved to the corner of Madison and Seventh in a few weeks, said Dr. Ingersoll.

The new school is chartered through Lake Superior State University. Board members are Craig Johnston, president; Mike Wooley, vice-president; Dennis Griffith, secretary; Arlene Bush, treasurer; and Claire Gregory, trustee.

Meanwhile, work progresses on the Wolverine Arts Guild at 120 N. Jackson at 11th St. that will become headquarters for a unique crafts manufacturing and residential project.

Dr. Ingersoll, who has an estimated $10 million in projects on the drawing boards or in various phases of planning and/or construction, says he is "self-financed" from profits from several ventures.

"I think we're going to do well in Bay City; I'm betting on that," he exclaimed. The various projects will work in concert to create a culture of revitalization and energy and help to repopulate rundown areas of the city, he said.

The Norrington Block on Linn Street from Midland to John is another project for apartments and business rentals that is underway, he said.

He has also has acquired the former Perry mansion on Center Avenue that will be renovated for an undisclosed use.

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