Mich. resort off market Fate is unclear for facility criticized as luxury spot amid auto industry downsizingResortBy Louis Aguilar The Detroit News The United Auto Workers has put a hold on trying to sell its $33 million Black Lake retreat in northern Michigan. The Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center was taken off the market at the request of UAW President Bob King and the union's new executive board, said John Karver, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis, the real estate firm handling the listing. The request to take the property, located on 1,000 heavily forested acres near Onaway, off the market came around the time of the mid-June election of King and the new board, Karver said. 'I understand it's simply a matter of the new board reviewing previous policy decisions,' Karver said. There has been interest by more than one potential buyer, he said. The property had no listing price, Karver said. It's not clear when or what the new UAW leaders may decide about the property, Karver said. UAW officials did not return calls and e-mails for this report . Several UAW local presidents and other leaders say the national board has not made an official statement about the property's fate. 'For a while there, we were hearing it was really going to go,' said Stan Marshall, a former UAW national vice president who now oversees retiree issues for Region 1A in Michigan. 'But that seems to be downplayed. Now there continue to be scheduled events up there' for UAW members. Marshall said he is aware of a UAW retiree meeting scheduled for late September. In January, the UAW cited the recession and shrinking membership as reasons it was seeking a buyer. The resort has long been a symbol of the union's success. But it lost an estimated $23 million in the past five years, and the UAW was forced to borrow to keep it afloat, according to filings with the U.S. Department of Labor. The center, named for the union's iconic leader, is a jewel in which many UAW members take pride. The property, bought in 1967, includes the top-notch Black Lake Golf Club and the ashes of former union President Walter Reuther and his wife, who died along with four others when their small plane crashed en route to the property in 1970. In addition to golf and leisure, the center offers week long conferences on political action, civil rights and leadership. The center, renovated in the 1990s, has a gym with two full-size basketball courts, an Olympic-size indoor pool, exercise facilities, table tennis and pool tables, a sauna, beaches, hiking and biking trails, sports fields, a boat launch ramp and rooms and condominiums. In 2000, a $6.7 million golf course was added -- the vision of the late UAW President Stephen Yokich. Golf Digest that year ranked it as North America's second-best 'New Upscale Public Course.' It now ranks 34th on Golf Digest's list of America's 100 Greatest Public Courses. But the Reuther center has become a target of critics who grumble the UAW shouldn't keep such a luxury while hundreds of thousands of its members have lost their jobs or taken buyouts or early retirement as the domestic auto industry has restructured. UAW membership fell last year to a post-World War II low, amid heavy losses in the auto industry. The number of UAW members in 2009 dropped nearly 76,000, to 355,191, according to the union's annual report. The UAW's assets fell slightly last year, to $1.13 billion from $1.2 billion in 2008. As a result, the union cut costs. It spent $9.7 million on lobbying and political activities in 2009, compared with $10.6 million in 2008. And it reduced union administration costs from $32.4 million to $26.9 million. laguilardetnews.com (313) 222-2760 Resort 