I've actually been to Black Lake...
It's main purpose, near as I can tell, is to serve as a sort of shrine. During the 1950's and 1960's, the UAW and other labor groups around the world saw unions having a much _larger_ socio/political role in the future, a la Europe, not a smaller one as actually happened. Black Lake is full of labor-movement treasures, such as memorial groves of trees, busts of past leaders, and even a Japanese-style meditative bridge given as a gift by labor-movement people in Japan. In the minds of the people who bought and built Black Lake, as near as I can tell, the intent was to create the same sort of "sacred ground" effect as the Mall in Washington, D.C., but for trade unionists only. Very conscious of their (imagined) role in history, they wanted to make sure that future generations remembered them and had a place to record their own triumphs. The golf course is symbolic as well; at the time that it was dreamed up, golf was strictly a game for the rich. By setting up a course that _workers_ could play on, the UAW was doing a lot more than creating recreational opportunities-- they were making a powerful social statement, whose impact has today faded almost to nothing with the new popularity of the sport. At the time, however, it was lost on no one.
That said...
While Black Lake might've looked like a good deal to an ever-growing labor movement, I think it's long past time to fold up the tent and put the plaques and statues and Japanese bridge in storage until times turn better-- which I frankly doubt they ever will. The problem is that because of all the memorials, selling it is like selling, say, the Lincoln Memorial in order to reduce the deficit. Or, because people _do_ play golf there, perhaps the comparison ought to be the Lincoln Memorial _and_ Yellowstone National Park together. It makes perfect sense to sell Black Lake in pure financial terms-- it's sole real purpose, outside of golf, is to hold training seminars and other large meetings. (I was there to learn how to write for the union paper more effectively.) This training could've been done perfectly well at a rented school or somesuch, I imagine. However...
...imagine that you belong to a church or fraternity or military unit that's grown a grove of trees to memorialize its fallen leaders. Then imagine a bulldozer roaring through said grove, ripping out the beloved trees to build a subdivision. Then you will _begin_ to understand why the union will do almost _anything_ rather than sell Black Lake.
Me, I think it oughta be donated to the State of Michigan as a park, with special privileges for current UAW members until we all die off and with an agreement that the memorials be preserved in perpetuity in exchange for the gift of the land. But what do I know? I'm just a line ape...
