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New Durand Credit Union modeled after train depots
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Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:50 AM EDT
DURAND - The city of Durand is known as Railroad City. It is this part of the area's history that is serving as the inspiration for the SageLink Credit Union's new headquarters.
“We were intrigued with sticking with the theme of Durand,” SageLink President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Day said.
Sagelink will be holding itsgroundbreaking ceremony for its new corporate headquarters on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The building will be at the corner of Saginaw and Washtenaw in downtown Durand.
The construction is planned to begin on Aug. 1 for the 21,131-square-foot building that will be SageLink's sixth office location. The construction will cost about $3 million and is slated to be completed by May 2009.
The other five locations are in Flint Township, Swartz Creek, Corunna and Owosso.
SageLink Credit Union, which was organized in 1936, is community chartered and offers membership to anyone who lives or works in Shiawassee or Genesee Counties.
“We had a merger between the Shiawassee Community Credit Union and Genesee First Credit Union two years ago. In preparation for that merger we decided we would build a new headquarters,” Day said. “We looked for a location that we thought was central and the city of Durand looked like a good site for us.”
Day said the new facility will house SageLink's administrative staff, of about 35 employees. Their Flint Township office served as their previous headquarters.
When the railroad industry was at its peak, 42 passenger trains, 22 mail trains and 78 freight trains passed through Durand on a daily basis.
However, the decline of rail traffic came to a culmination in 1974 and the Durand Union Station was abandoned. However, in 1979 the city purchased the depot. Since then, it has been the State Railroad History Museum.
Jed Dingens, the owner of Dingens Architects in Corunna, said the Durand Union Station served as a major inspiration for the design of the building.
“When you deposit money it goes into like a depot for money,” Dingens said. “They asked me even before they hired me if I could make it look like a depot and I said, ‘Absolutely.' We've got a great example right in town.”
In addition to the Durand Union Station, Dingens said he looked at about 3,000 images of depots online to determine the look of the new headquarters.
“Depots are almost always charming buildings,” Dingens said. “A lot of times, when you design buildings, you have to go through a lot of versions before the owners are happy. But after the first version they were like, ‘Oh, that's it. We're building it.'”
Day said he is looking forward to the move into Durand.
“We think it will be mutually beneficial for the credit union as well as downtown Durand,” Day said. “We are excited in getting started and we will be kicking it off Wednesday.”
- Contact Michael Peterson at 725-5136 extension 223 or mpetersonarguspress@gmail.com.
