VBT holds special meeting to hire firm to set up museum displays

High-bidder Niche Design of Saginaw was awarded the $224,000 contract for the Belleville Area Museum Exhibit Project by the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees’ at a special meeting Oct. 10.
The other bidder was Spaces to Experiences of Midland with a bid of $212,000.
Director of Community Services Elizabeth Renaud said the bids were opened Oct. 5 and both firms were vetted by the township’s museum consultant, Good Design Group of Midland. Renaud said the team recommended Niche Design.
“We’re on an aggressive timeline, which is why we’re here tonight,” Renaud said. Her memo to the board said the project will get started immediately upon approval and they hope to have most of the work completed by the scheduled opening in December.
At the meeting she said the museum reopens for the holiday tree exhibit in December and then the exhibits will be put into place at the end of December and beginning of January.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara said there will be an exhibit about the lake, but during the time the museum is open for the tree exhibit they will only have a sign up that says “Lake” where that exhibit will go.
“The Historical Commission or whatever forms up will work with this,” McNamara said of the displays.
In other business at the 23-minute meeting, the board:
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointments of Jackson Pahle and Medina Atchinson to the planning commission with terms to expire Oct. 1, 2026; and
• Viewed a new State of the Township video created by Communications Specialist Michael Japowicz and first shown at the State of the Community event put on by the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 5.