City Council accepts $110,000 bid for the old police station

The Chelsea City Council unanimously approved a $110,000 bid for the old police station Tuesday night, which includes three parking spaces in the parking lot behind the building.

The bid came from Willem A.S. Van Reesema and Joseph E. Ziolkowski, who plan to convert the building into a business and creative incubator space called Invention-Studios.

According to a mission statement from Van Reesema, the new vision for building is “a place where talent and ideas flourish; where a seed of an idea grows into the business of tomorrow.”

The statement reads: “By utilizing the diverse skill-set of members of the Chelsea community, surrounding area, and University in a mentoring role and offering Angel/Venture Capital seed money to promising potential businesses we can begin creating tomorrow’s ideas and businesses, today, right here in Chelsea.”

Van Reesema said in the statement, “We will grow our local economy all while keeping the young, talented, creative, and educated citizens excited to stay here because we will now offer the same opportunities as the rest of the country.

We will develop entrepreneurs in a range of sectors, including any “next big thing” new business ideas, inventions, products and services, and just “everyday” great local businesses.”

Plans include the revitalization of the 104 E. Middle St. property into “a space where ideas, creativity, and collaboration flourish and are supported through the incubator process and create an atmosphere where entrepreneur and mentor intersect – where investment meets ideas.”