USDA grants $250,000 to save Bates Township Hall in Iron County

A $250,000 USDA Rural Development commitment will help keep Bates Township Hall usable as Iron County’s township government center and election polling place, where residents still handle public business and cast ballots. The federal money, announced in June 2026 by Michigan State Director Dom Restuccia, covers half of a $500,000 project, with the Bates Hall Preservation Society matching it dollar for dollar.

USDA said the hall’s foundation has been deteriorating because of weathering, road traffic and runoff. The work will include a new concrete basement foundation, facility-layout improvements and a new porch, repairs intended to stabilize the building before further damage threatens its day-to-day use.

Bates Township Hall was built in 1907 and sits at the corner of U.S. 2 and Bates-Amasa Road. Township election information still lists the hall as the voting site at 3070 E. Hwy US 2 in Iron River, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. In a small township, that makes the building more than a landmark. It is part of the basic infrastructure that allows residents to meet with officials, attend township business and vote in person.

The preservation effort has been underway for years. The Bates Hall Preservation Society, a nonprofit formed in 2021, had already raised more than $200,000 by the end of 2023, reached $290,000 during a 2025 membership and donation drive, and later climbed to $321,500 after an Enbridge contribution. Local reporting described the hall as the last public building in town, with its future uncertain before the fundraising and federal grant came together.

The USDA award comes through the Community Facilities program, part of a broader push to direct rural development money into buildings and services that local governments depend on. Jason Allen, a senior adviser with the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement, said Opportunity Zones are meant to be community-based and community-driven rather than top-down. In Bates Township, that principle now shows up in a very practical place: the hall where the township’s public life still happens.