Clocktower Complex (Glazier Stove Works) and Welfare Building

In 1891 Frank P. Glazier (1862–1922) founded the Glazier Stove Works at the intersection of a road linking Flint and Jackson with the Michigan Central Railroad connecting Detroit and Chicago. The firm manufactured oil-burning heaters and cooking stoves under the brand name B&B, for “Brightest and Best.” After fire destroyed the company's first buildings on the east side of Main Street, Glazier purchased the present site, cleared it of houses and buildings, and eventually began construction on a new factory. The complex included the prominent local landmark, the corner octagonal brick four-sided clock and water tower integrated into the three-story pentagonal building, along with numerous simple brick structures and a recreational building for the employees. The Welfare Building originally held a swimming pool, a billiard hall, a basketball court, and a theater. The Flemish curvilinear gables, the two-story bay windows, and the ornamental brick chimneys illustrate the Jacobethan Revival style. After the stove works went bankrupt in 1907, the buildings were occupied by the Lewis Spring and Axle Company, manufacturer of the Hollier Eight automobile, and then the Chelsea Standard. In 2009 McKinley Associates of Ann Arbor initiated a massive renovation on the former stove works to redevelop it for new retail shops, offices, residential units, and a planned town center.