Resident Hakim Fakhoury says 'dream' of developing downtown Dearborn is over.

If you’ve driven along Michigan Avenue this week you probably have seen signs hanging in the windows of some of the properties owned by developer Hakim Fakhoury with the following words: “The Dream is Over. For Sale.” Many of you have even written here asking what the signs meant.

Well, we sent a note straight to the source, Mr. Fakhoury, asking if he would pen a note explaining the meaning of the signs. He provided us this article, which begins below.

My name is Hakim Fakhoury, and I had a dream…

I had a dream… that Dearborn could become one of the most vibrant downtowns in Michigan.

I had a dream… that the city I have lived in nearly my whole life would be the place where I could invest the fruits of all my hard work.

I had a dream… that Dearborn’s leader would open their arms to a developer that is home-grown and seeks to make a better future for our city for generations to come.

I had a dream… that our mayor and city council could put aside personal and political differences, that petty political infighting would not cause the development of our city to come to a standstill. The inability of our leaders to have a vision has caused us to lag behind other cities, and make us unable to fully transition into the 21st century.

I had a dream… that our leaders would be smart to know what they don’t know, that they would hire professionals to develop master plans, that they would end corruption, the “old boys” network, an breathe new life into our community.

I had a dream… that we could redevelop our downtown into something that would appeal to everyone, attracting fresh young minds to make our city vibrant, livable, fun, and modern.

I had a dream… that I could buy buildings and then, in agreement with city officials, transform our city.

I had a dream… that the mayor and city council members would not lie, that they would be honest, that they would not manipulate each other, or play petty games, or include me in their internal feuds, and just be mature, with the city’s interests, and only the city’s interests, at the core of their decision-making.

I had a dream… but now the DREAM IS OVER for me… My hope is that another developer with come along, buy all my properties, pick up on my hard work, and move to develop the district…

(Below is a press release from the Dearborn Heights Montessori Center)

Dearborn Heights Montessori Center will host the third annual “Taste of the Town” fundraiser event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, 2010.

Local restaurants will be offering a wide variety of delicious food items to sample, and area businesses have donated special prizes for a large gift basket raffle. Rain or shine, the community is welcome to attend this indoor school event which is located at 466 N. John Daly in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.

According to Shelley Boatright, communications coordinator for Dearborn Heights Montessori Center, “Taste of the Town” is expected to sell out. Providing food for this year’s event is Antonio’s Cucina Italiana, Applebee’s, BD’s Mongolian Barbeque, Dearborn Italian Bakery, Dearborn Sausage, Del Taco, La Pita, Papa Romano’s, Panera, Pizzapapalis, Rio Wraps, Subway and others.

Businesses contributing prizes for the gift basket drawings include Barnes and Noble, Creatopia Pottery, Dearborn Racquet and Health Club, English Gardens, Om Spa and many more. Baskets will include a variety of items from toys to event tickets to electronics. There will also be a special raffle for a cruise and a $500 tuition voucher.

Proceeds raised at this year’s event will be used to help fund Dearborn Heights Montessori’s upper elementary educational trips and to support the needs of the school’s classroom teachers.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students. Children under three years of age are free. Because of the anticipated large turnout, the public is encouraged to purchase tickets In advance. Ample parking is available.

For more details and to request tickets for “Taste of the Town,” call 313-359-3000 or email tasteofthetown@wowway.com

About Dearborn Heights Montessori Center

Dearborn Heights Montessori Center (DHMC) is a non-profit educational community founded in 1972. Now in its fourth decade, DHMC is the largest and longest-established Montessori school in western Wayne County. Programs include preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school as well as summer programs and academic tutoring. Day care and latchkey are also available for enrolled children. In September 2010, DHMC will introduce a Montessori toddler program for ages 18 months through three years.

DHMC has received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and is affiliated with the American Montessori Society, Michigan Montessori Society, and the Association of Independent Michigan Schools (AIMS). DHMC preschool and latchkey programs, along with its satellites Livonia Montessori Center and Plymouth-Canton Montessori School, are licensed by the Michigan Division of Child Care Licensing. More information is available at www.dhmontessori.org

Construction work on the CSO project near Cherry Hill and Brady has been temporarily halted to protect the roads during the spring thaw.

The City of Dearborn sent a note out yesterday to local media explaining why the work had been halted. Residents apparently raised questions on why the work had been stopped.

In a prepared statement, the city said that in order to protect the integrity of the roads during the spring thaw, work on the CSO project in the area bounded by Brady, Cherry Hill, Golf Crest and Cherry Hill Court will be temporarily halted starting March 8 until water under the roadway has evaporated, which should be approximately the first week of April.

City officials say this is necessary because as frost below the road’s surface melts, the road’s base is weakened by the water. Continuing to drive heavy trucks on roads during this time can seriously affect the road’s integrity.

State, county and local governments all mandate that during the thaw, heavy trucks reduce their loads by 35 percent.

Some contractors continue their operation with reduced truck loads in order to comply and some contractors postpone their operation until frost laws are no longer in effect.

The City’s contractor Angelo Iafrat has chosen to postpone their operation since most of it involves heavy transportation of earth and sand, Dearborn officials say.

Developer Burton-Katzman and the City of Dearborn are again at odds. This time over two crumbling concrete foundations slated for demolition, according to an article in the Dearborn Times-Herald

Burton-Katzman is already facing a court order to break ground on 12 condos and two midrise buildings between the city’s two underutilized parking decks. Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Sapala said the company had to break ground no later than April 3.

Sapala’s order stems from Dearborn’s ongoing lawsuit against Burton-Katzman and several of the company’s executives for failing to complete its agreed-upon project on a city-owned parcel.

Now the City of Dearborn and a subsidiary of Burton-Katzman are in dispute over concrete foundation slabs.

The lawyers representing Burton-Katzman now tell the Times-Herald that if the city moves forward with demolition of the concrete slabs it would be “purposely interfering” with its ability to begin construction on April 3 as part of its court order.

The concrete slabs are to be the foundation for two six-unit condo buildings for the still unfinished West Village Commons project. The concrete pads, according to the Times-Herald, were poured more than two years ago.

Dearborn officials say the concrete foundations have now become a public safety hazard and need to be removed. If Burton-Katzman wants to stop the demolition, they need to provide an engineering report to the city to prove the concrete pads are suitable for holding the two six-unit condo buildings, the paper reports.

Trouble is the subsidiary of Burton-Katzman, on the hook to complete the engineering report and the construction, says it doesn’t have enough money to finance the necessary engineering reports, the Times-Herald says. You can read the full story by clicking HERE

Crafters, scrapbooking fans and card makers should plan to make their way to the First Presbyterian Church of Dearborn on Saturday, March 13 for a day of creativity that also will help a local homeless shelter.

The day of project-making begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 9 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Dearborn, 600 North Brady St. Registration is $40, which includes personal table space, a continental breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Demonstrators from scrapbook consultant companies — Stampin’ Up, Creative Memories, and Close To My Heart — will be performing demonstrations throughout the day and offering scrapbook supplies for sale.

All proceeds from the event will benefit www.christ-net.orga local rotating night shelter and permanent daytime shelter for the homeless, located in the downriver communities. As this is a fundraiser, registration is tax deductible for 2010. Receipts will be provided at the event.

To register or for more information, please contact Jeni Cole at 313-792-8224 or jlcole71@att.net

The late John W. Tanner, a Dearborn resident for 45 years and a lawyer who worked in the city of Dearborn’s legal department, gave to our community in numerous ways. From his work serving on the board of directors of the Dearborn Goodfellows and Smoke on the Grill charity organization to Scouting and being active in Dearborn Lions football, Tanner was passionate about giving back to the city he called home.

Thanks to his daughter, Alison Anhut, his giving ways will continue.

She and her family are on the committee for The John Tanner Dearborn Youth Football Association (DYFA) Scholarship and are turning to friends, family and residents for support to expand the scholarship opportunity to all Dearborn high school students. Tanner, an Edsel Ford graduate, was one of the founding members of the DYFA. After his death at just 54 on Oct. 7, 2008, the DYFA awarded a scholarship to one DYFA athlete in his name.

The DYFA now wants to make the $1,000 scholarship an annual tradition and expand it to one graduating senior from each of Dearborn’s three high schools (Dearborn, Edsel Ford and Fordson) who have continued to play football throughout high school, completed two years of the DYFA program (in either football or cheerleading) and are pursuing a college education.

The idea to expand the scholarship to three was School Board member Hussein Berry’s (president of the DYFA board) and Jamal Al’s, who approached Tanner’s wife, Beverly, and asked if the Tanner family would like to be involved. Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., and Councilman Robert Abraham, among many others in our city, also are on the committee helping to raise funds to support the scholarship.

“My family and I are honored and are looking forward to carrying on my father’s name within this organization,” Anhut said. “My dad was one of the founding fathers of the DYFA and dedicated to its success. He was very passionate about charity work in general. My family and I cannot think of a better way to honor him and his vision than to continue working hard to serve and support the DYFA and our community.”

Here is where friends, family and residents can help.

To help raise funds for the scholarship, a dinner is going to be held on March 25th at 6 p.m. at Park Place in Dearborn. Tickets are $30 per person. There also will be a raffle at the dinner where a $5 ticket purchase could win you a first prize payout of $2,500, $1,500 for second and $1,000 for third. The plan is to sell just 3,000 tickets but if a minimum of 2,000 are not sold the raffle will revert to a 50/50. Monies raised also will be distributed to the DYFA to keep registration fees nominal and to continue to encourage youth participation.

In addition, plans are in place to hold a silent auction (donations for auction items are still being accepted) and there is the opportunity for those wanting to advertise in the March 25 dinner program, as well.

With everyone’s schedule pretty packed these days, attending an evening dinner may not be so easy to do. If that is the case, you can simply purchase a raffle ticket to help the cause or do both. All you have to do is contact Alison Anhut at azd18@yahoo.com or her mother, Beverly Tanner at tanner@ameritech.net

It’s all for a good cause and helps support the DYFA, an organization that continues to improve and help develop kids ages 8 to 13 with the ideas of teamwork, hard work and positive influence.

The City of Dearborn is getting ready to test the real estate market, deciding to put the Dearborn Towers in Florida on the sales block, according to a recent story in the Dearborn Press & Guide.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., tells the paper that he would like to get the 88-unit apartment building in Clearwater, Florida on the market “within the next month.”

Many of you will recall that in 2007 voters approved a measure that gave permission to the city to sell the towers. Well, it appears that time is now.

As most homeowners in Dearborn know, this isn’t the best time to be selling real estate. The same holds true of the Dearborn Towers. But with tightening city budgets this is one way for the city to generate some revenue and perhaps erase from the books a 50-year-old building that could soon need some major updates and repairs. In 2007, the Florida property was valued at between $8 million and $8.3 million, stated one informal appraisal, according to the paper. Another appraisal in March 2008 put the value of property at about $5.6 million.

The property’s value has since dropped to $2.8 million, according to the most recent appraisal, the Press & Guide reports. The value could climb to $5.8 million if rents in the building were raised to levels of surrounding buildings, the paper says.

The task of actually selling the property could take between six and 18 months, the paper reports.

“The good news is we’re not in a hurry to sell,” O’Reilly tells the paper. “We’re not going to jump at the first offer that comes along.”

For the full Press & Guide story and to watch a video interview with Mayor O’Reilly about the sale, click HERE.

When: Sunday, March 7, 2010, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where: Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave., Dearborn MI 48126

Admission: $3.00 – Children 12 and under FREE and parking is free.

Proceeds Benefit Children’s Leukemia Foundation of Michigan

Special Events on Stage include:

11:30 a.m. – MetLife speaker: “Financial Independence and Security, for Every Stage of a Woman’s Life”

12:30 p.m. – Zumba Fitness by Elements of Exercise

1:30 p.m. – Bridal and Prom show by One Stop Wedding Shop, hair and makeup by Hair Designs North

2:30 p.m. – Fashion Show by Shining Diamond Accessories

For more information and a discount admission coupon, click HERE.

The Henry Ford Centennial Library and the Dearborn Police will be taking the mystery out of lie detector tests at a free program set for 7 p.m., March 10.

Lt. Neil S. Myres from the Investigative Division of the Dearborn Police Department will present current issues and technological advances in the field of Forensic Psychophysiology.

We’ve all heard about lie detector tests in police investigations and, in some instances, it is used for job interviews.

This special presentation is part of the Everyone’s Reading program, which is a communitywide reading initiative sponsored by the libraries in Oakland and Wayne counties. The reading program promotes community dialogue through the shared experience of reading and discussing the same book.

“Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow is the current book selection. Copies are available for check out at any Dearborn Public Library.

Information is listed in the Everyone’s Reading Programs and Special Events brochure available at all the libraries and online at www.everyonesreading.info. Events take place through April 15, 2010.

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. will deliver his annual State of the City Address at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Ave.

Mayor O’Reilly will review the City’s major accomplishments in 2009, and discuss initiatives that will move Dearborn forward in 2010 and beyond.

The public is invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served after the address.