Copper thieves strip Water Street buildings

(September 4, 2008) Tens of thousands of dollars of copper and other scrap metal have been stripped out of the buildings at Water Street in Downtown Ypsilanti. Unfortunately, the taxpayers of Ypsilanti did not get a single penny for the scrap metal.

City officials admitted in a May report to City Council that scrap thieves had stripped the buildings of copper and other valuable metals making all of the buildings uninhabitable.

In a letter sent to City Council, City Manager Ed Koryzno said, “Persons seeking scrap metal removed all of the copper from every building including electrical panels, heating and air conditioning, alarm panels, and in some cases the conduit. All of the roofs leak and/or are failing and the sprinkler system in the Flea Market did not receive winterization allowing the water to freeze breaking the pipes. The former Wireless Toys/Seafood Market has enough growth on the walls and floor that it resembles sod.”

Source: Ypsilanti City Council Information Letter, May 22, 2008