A Former Grand Haven Bank Building Left Behind More Than Debris

For most people, a tear-down is about what comes down.

For Doug Melching, it has also long been about what can still be saved.

As the owner of Melching, Doug has spent decades in demolition, environmental work, and site cleanup. Along the way, he developed an eye for materials and architectural pieces that still have value after a building is gone. Not because they are perfect, but because they still have character, history, and enough substance left to be worth keeping.

Doug has reused materials from past job sites in buildings, structures, and one-of-a-kind features built over time from pieces other people would have thrown away. For him, reuse is not about polished restoration. It is about recognizing potential and giving solid old materials a chance to stick around.

That same mindset is what led Melching to save several pieces from the front of this Grand Haven building.

This was not a delicate salvage operation, and some of the pieces were damaged during the tear-down. The photos make that plain. But they also show something else: Melching’s crew taking the time to recover major architectural elements that easily could have been lost altogether.

From this site, Melching salvaged 10 column sections, 2 scrolls, 2 bases, a Michigan logo plaque, and matching sandstone that can be used for repairs. That sandstone matters because it is the same color and vintage as the original material, which means it can help patch damaged areas without looking out of place.

Some pieces are chipped. Some edges are broken. But the form is still there. The fluting is still there. The scrollwork is still there. And enough was recovered to hold onto the identity of what once stood at the front of the building.

One of the most interesting details came after the salvage: three pennies embedded in the grout of one column, all dated 1909. That gives these pieces a clear point in time and confirms the columns had been there for at least 117 years.

These are real building materials with a real connection to the site, saved because they were too interesting to lose.

From this site, the salvaged materials included:

10 column sections
2 scrolls
2 bases
1 Michigan logo plaque
Matching sandstone for repairs