Whenever any township, incorporated village, city, or county, in which a veterans' memorial or monumental building or structure is proposed to be erected, desires to erect or to unite with another township or townships, village or villages, city or cities and county or counties in the erection of such veterans' memorial building or structure, each such county, township, village or city shall have the right to aid and assist in the construction and building of the same to the same extent as though such building or structure was to be used solely for such township, village and city or county purposes, and each such township, village, city or county shall have power, and they are hereby authorized to contract with each other and thereby determine the proportions that each said township, village, city or county shall pay towards the construction of said building or structure, the architecture and arrangement of the same, and the separate portions respectively, which shall be occupied or used by the respective parties to such contract. The erection of a veterans' memorial or monumental building or structure is hereby declared to be a township, village, city or county purpose.

     For the purpose of carrying the same into effect, each said township, village, city or county is authorized to appoint by its township board, village trustees or common council of any such city, or board of supervisors of any such county, a board of 3 trustees, who shall constitute the building committee in behalf of said township, village, city or county, under the supervision of the township board, village trustees, common council or board of supervisors appointing them, and who shall have power under such supervision to make the contracts hereinbefore specified, and oversee, on the part of such township, village, city or county, the work of constructing such building or structure, and who shall audit and sign all vouchers on the account of the same. Until such time as such board is appointed, the governing body of each municipal corporation may perform such functions. All board members shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing governing body.

     Each township, village, city or county so erecting or so uniting in the erection of any such building or structure may raise the funds necessary for the same in the same manner and to the same extent as is now provided by law for the building of municipal buildings.

     Such buildings and structures shall be and remain the property of the municipal corporations in undivided interests proportionate to the contributions made by each in the original construction cost of such building or structure. Such monumental buildings as were erected jointly by any township, village, city or county and any post or posts or the department of Michigan, of the order known as the grand army of the republic shall be forever dedicated as memorial buildings to the memory of the union soldiers of the war of the rebellion, and all relics, documents, books, papers and library belonging to any such grand army post, or which may be deposited afterwards for such purpose, shall be cared for therein by proper supervision, by the public authorities, in a proper room or rooms kept for that purpose, and which shall at all reasonable times be kept open and free to the public. In case any surviving organization of the descendants of such union soldiers become and remain an incorporated body, such incorporated organization may, at its option, and said municipal corporation is hereby authorized and required, if so desired, to permit the said incorporated organization to maintain, so far as possible, the same relations to the municipal corporation in said buildings, as the posts or department of the grand army of the republic might or could do. The amount of money contribution by any post or department of the grand army of the republic to the construction of said building, shall be and remain so long as may be necessary a perpetual fund devoted to the maintenance of such building as a memorial building.