The Joseph T. A. Lee papers include administrative and financial materials on the early development of Kerrytown (1966-1981) and clippings and other materials on his involvement in the Geddes-Fuller corridor debates. His papers also include architectural drawings of the Kerrytown Townhouse and Kerrytown Market Complexes as well as some photographs of early Kerrytown development.
The Lee papers have been divided into three series: Kerrytown Projects, Other Ann Arbor Projects, and Ann Arbor Area Goals Conference.
Joseph T. A. Lee was an Ann Arbor architect and Professor in the University of Michigan School of Architecture. He was one of the original owners of Kerrytown Market as well as its chief architect. Lee was also involved in several Ann Arbor development issues, including the debate over the Geddes-Fuller corridor.
In 1966, Joseph T. A. Lee along with Arthur E. Carpenter, Ann Arbor lawyer, and John E. Swisher, Ann Arbor realtor, proposed redeveloping lots on South First between Jefferson and Madison. The Kerrytown project, as it was named, aimed to replace existing structures and build new townhouses and low and high rise apartments. While the Kerrytown Townhouse Complex was never built, this proposed residential development was catalytic in the founding of the city's historic preservation movement, as citizens created the Old West Side Historic District in order to protect the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century buildings, which the Kerry town Townhouses would have replaced.
In 1967, Lee, Carpenter, and Swisher formed Arbor-A, Inc. a corporation dedicated to redeveloping city areas. Arbor-A was involved in several projects, including the development of the Kerrytown Market Complex, an adaptive re-use development, which has become one of the important hubs of Ann Arbor's retail community, while preserving the historic character of this old neighborhood.
Lee was also involved in several Ann Arbor development issues and discussions. He was chair of the steering committee for the Ann Arbor Area Goals Conference, held January 25, 1966. The conference met to discuss and establish goals for the rapidly changing physical environment of Ann Arbor and surrounding area. Lee was also involved in the debates concerning the Geddes-Fuller corridor. In the 1960s and 1970s, the city became increasingly concerned with the ability of the Geddes-Fuller corridor to handle future traffic. The University of Michigan wanted to widen the Geddes-Fuller corridor to four lanes and extend the corridor to US-23 to allow better access to the new Hospital. Citizen's groups (of which Lee was a part) argued that the widening would negatively affect the surrounding environment.
The debate over the Fuller-Geddes corridor surfaced again in 1994 when the City of Ann Arbor, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, the University of Michigan, and Ann Arbor Township led a study on the Fuller-Geddes-Conrail corridor to examine the potential future traffic problems in this area.
