History Detroit Again

Here's a few more from my archives. The first building in the last batch is the Guardian on Griswold also know as the "Cathedral of Finance" and it's one of the most beautiful buildings you'll ever see. Two weeks ago I was walking through the lobby and asked if they had an observation deck? One of the guys behind the desk says "You want to take some pictures ?c'mon" He took me up to the 32nd floor and let me walk around these three huge connected conference room with a panoramic view of the city. It was awesome.

The aerial pic in this batch is from the Coach Insignia restaurant at the top of the GM Renaissance Center. You'll see a building in front of an old cut coming in from the river. That's the Globe Trading Co. building, but it was originally the Detroit Drydock Co. That's the place both Henry Ford and Thomas Edison apprenticed and learned the machinist trade. The cars are on the main floor of the Ren Cen. The old factory pictured is the Ford Highland Park Model T factory (1911-1927) It was this factory that changed the world with it's continuous assembly line. By 1923 HP was pumping out one model T every minute!

The creepy fortress looking structure is the GAR or Grand Army of the Republic building opened in 1900 I believe. It was built to commemorate civil war veterans.

 

A good majority of the problems that are occuring in Detroit are directly related to the auto industry leaving. But, the majority of the blame should be placed on the elected officials of that town. Not just the moron they have as mayor right now....but for the last 30 or 40 years. The only thing they were concerned about were padding their pockets....and it shows. They could care less about history, they could care less about preservation, they could care less about anything other than their own bank accounts. Coleman A. Young could possibly have been the most crooked mayor in the history of the country....but instead of trying to forget that man was ever a part of Detroit.....they name buildings and roads after him in honor! This is the mentality of that city and the voters and citizens in it. The majority of people who actually live in Detroit could care less about anything. Granted, there's still several nice neighborhoods left in the actual city of Detroit...but I challenge you to find them....its hard...and they're rare. The majority of that population there has a "how much free shit will you give me" attitude.

The last mayor...Dennis Archer....was responsible for bringing the new stadiums, GM, Compuware and the casino's into Detroit. He did a HELL of a job, but he wouldn't cater to the criminals who sit on the city council. So, he never ran for re-election. Rumor is now he's charging millions as a political advisor.

There are tons of people trying to save historical sites in Detroit....trying to better that city. Most of these people don't even live in the actual city of Detroit, but in the suburbs. The problem is, the current administration they have in that city..and have had for the last 30 years are too worried about graft, bribes and keeping themselves out of prison to worry about little else.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I work in that town....and its a terrible place full of terrible people.

Oh, FYI...the reason that the Henry Ford Museum is so nice....is that its not located in Detroit. Its located in Dearborn...a neighboring city to Detroit. Detroit has nothing to do with it.....that's why they can keep it looking so good.

 

I was in Detroit for the first time in probably 24 years for the autorama this spring. When I was younger I had an uncle who retired from Ford, and every few years we would go down and by his old car and drive it back to the U.P. and wait for it to rust out. Anyway I was amazed at how far the city has deteriorated since my last trip down there. I guess I now know what "urban blight" is.

 

My family left Roseville, (13 mile and Grosbeck, for you movie buffs) for FL in '77.

I would have thought that people would have taken advantage of all the bargains on those beautiful old houses in Detroit and carved out nice neighborhoods from the decay, like they have done in lots of other major cities.

I have an idea, lets all buy $1000 houses on one block in Detroit, one that is adjacent to one of them big old factorys, buy it, and put up a big wall and start a car-mmune!

 

It all began with white flight as a result of crime not being controled

 

the city of cleveland has told all industry to leave it is not wanted by the mayor

 

Detroit is a filthy, dangerous shithole to be avoided at all costs- to think otherwise is just plain uninformed stupidity......

 

Thanks Lucky77 for such great pictures of Detroit. It shows that it is not all ghetto and burned buildings.

Love Detroit. It has such great history. Don't ignore it and loose it for ever.

 

Man, you don't know shit.

Idiotic, uninformed blanket statements like that just show your ignorance. There are very dangerous parts, it's the most violent city in America. However stay out of those areas and you'll be fine. Downtown is completely safe, there's practically a cop on every corner. Did you see all those crazy people risking their lives enjoying Jazz Fest at Campus Martius in the first set of pics? Or those foolish parents letting their children play in the fountains on the riverwalk? My God, this is Detroit we're talking about here, someone should take those kids away before they get shot.

When people visit Detroit they usually stick to downtown. They don't head down and check out the tunnels under the Packard plant or the abandoned Thorne Apple Valley slaughterhouse or any other place some would deem unsafe.

Statements like Bertruger made and I was stupid enough to bite on are usually step one in getting otherwise interesting and informative threads locked. I hope we can keep this one open.

 

In the first picture the historic L.B. King building is in the background with the steel pilings of the former Hudson's building in the foreground. Pre 1998 it would have filled up the right side of the second picture looking north on Woodward towards the abandoned Broderick Tower. Hard to believe it's been gone for ten years now and all the City has done with that prime piece of realestate is use it for underground parking.

 

I've spent many hours looking at the old pictures on the DetroitYES website in the past. I usually come away sad and depressed. what once was. having a deep love affair with old American cars makes me feel that Detroit is MY city, although, i've never stepped foot in the state of Michigan.

Detroit was the ultimate city for the guys brave enough to dare to dream big. fortunes were made and fortunes were lost. if you would have told them in 1955 that Detroit would be this way now, they would have laughed at you. why? they couldn't conceive that America would abandoned them.

the problem isn't mayors, unions, race riots, or any of the other excuses. it's Americans buying foreign cars.

 

After over 7 years of living there..near where the fisher building was. I had enough..
Its too bad that city has been on the bad rap sheet since the Riots, or maybe even before that..I will not claim to know a ton about that citys history, or all there is to know about it.
I guess its just like any Big City ..you can find the bad, and you can find the good. It just depends on why your there, and what your goals are.
One thing is for sure Im glad to not be living there now.
It is a shame the loss of historical Buildings and the corruption in its Management. But if the people want good for their city, they cant put up with any shit. Not even for one day.
It can be a great place to visit, there are many time frames of our indutrial age. Great place to show visitors, The Henry Ford Museum, The Ford Plant, DownTown, GreekTown, Mexican Town, Cool places and safe to go at night, Very Festive and grreat food.

you just gotta know where to go , and where not to go. Im thinking thats just like any big city.

 

These old buildings fascinate me. Think of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who spent their working lives in them. If those old walls could talk, what stories they would tell. So many of them have observation decks and top floor conference rooms with magnificent views that are off limits to the public. Face it, buildings and corprations have life cycles just like humans. Buildings, especially seem to become obsolete in no time these days.

 

I'd never been to Detroit till last year's Autorama. I was really taken by the town. I liked it. The sense of history just takes you over as you move around. Its long past its heyday, but cool as hell. I've always lived in the Northwest, and we have a fairly shallow history. It was fun to see a huge industrial center. I'm sure its not what it used to be, but it was still a real treat.

 

Detroit is like a scabby, old, whore with some nice jewelry.

If she keeps making stupid decisions and gives up the whoring, she may not end up dead.

 

Wow, Excellent thread. I am a 29 year old fire fighter for the city of Detroit. I've been on the job for 10 years. It's always fascinating to hear peoples' perspectives on the downfall of the Motor City. Because of my job, I get a front row seat to the decay on a daily basis. I'm not talking about a car ride through the old neighborhood or an "urban exploration" outing, but interaction with the citizens that live and work in this city.

You can read Crain's and the WSJ all day. Blaming the struggling Domestic auto market for Detroit's demise is way too easy. The cancer began to manifest itself long before slumping auto sales. Unfortunately, The 2010 production of the Chevy Volt is not the answer to Detroit's problems.

For the past 6 decades, Detroit has been plagued by racism, corruption, hatred, laziness, crime, and greed. It all started with "White Flight". As black families from across the nation moved to Detroit for sought after manufacturing jobs in the 1950's, the for sale signs went up. This hasn't stopped since then. This led to a "Us Vs. Them" mentality that eventually led to a mayor that propsed a wall along 8 mile to keep suburbanites out of the city. Thus creating racial and political separation between the city and burbs. This deep seeded mentality still exist today. This attitude from the City Council and the Mayor's office bleeds into the community. They would rather have their children starve before letting the thriving surrounding suburbs help them rebuild the City.

As a child, I never imagined I would encounter black on white racism every day I come to work. This all sounds pretty bleek, but the city is full of good people. There is an underlying spirit of togetherness and "Never Give Up" attitude among all of us. Detroit will not mount a comeback until it is safe for young families to move in and send their children to public schools. No sports venue, casino, theatre, or museum will accomplish this.

The lack of preservation of our history astounds me. So many of our buildings have been burned, raped, and neglected beyond repair. They sit vacant for 80+ years. Yet the city is in such a hurry to tear down Tiger stadium to create yet another vacant lot. A group of suburbanite investors offered to buy it, but the city refused.

Thanks to Ryan for a great post. Sorry my reply isn't more auto-related.
-Brendan

 

Welcome to the Hamb Brendan!
I can back up your story on the racism and the us vs. them remarks also, My wife used to be a social worker at Barat, one of the non-profits for Detroit. Yeah she got to go to the Autoshow charity dinner, with a kid from the program, but she was also a complete outsider and left out of a lot, and she was the manager. That said, She and I have met some Wonderful life long friends from there that worked for her.
But man the stories she told about having to go check on kids at run down homes...I made her quit....

 

I fully agree with Brendan, in my neighborhood in Hamtramck which is a mix of polish, black, and bengali, every body pretty much hates each other for no good reason. The only time any of my neighbors talk to me is when my garage is open into the alley and they see me working on my 53 or a motorcycle. Even the little kids already have deeply rooted racist views when they will come in and talk to me and its obvious. There are problems with crime but if everybody would come to their senses a lot of it could be prevented.

Everybody talks about all the new stuff downtown being built but in the areas that are the worst there is nothing. The schools are being closed from lack of funding while better roads are being built to bring suburbanites downtown to see a game and then promptly leave. The real Detroit stays out of sight out of mind.

I'm graduating college this year and can't wait to move out of here.

 

Now THAT's a SAD statement

 

Well, from what I've seen firsthand, houses are selling at fire sale prices in "Murder City". A well informed guy like you shouldn't have a problem finding work there- or a nice neighborhood to live in. I'm curious why you and your family still live in Bay City? -On second thought, never mind, I really couldn't care less...

 

If you are a car guy(and anyone here is..)Detroit has some amazing history.I do some work with the detroit historical socity,they have been trying to get that facade forever.It would have been nice to see it stay in the detroit.touring the ruins sites,you know it is also a great city for urban exploring.I've been going to the packard building for a long time,and it's sad to see the current state.Fisher body,the packard,continental engine,the model t plant,so many HUGE pieces of history.The typical Detroit catch is most of the are total ruins.Really,really Sad.Dave

 

Bertruger,

How do you go about making a bonehead statement that claims anyone who disagrees with your opinion is suffering from "uninformed stupidity" Then get pissy and sarcastic when someone calls you out on it? Wow, you really suffer from an ill placed sense of superiority.

This is probably strike two on the thread locking count and I really don't feel like arguing about non hot rod stuff on the forum. If you care to share anymore pearls of wisdom feel free to PM me and you can explain to me the incredible depths of my stupidity.

 

Lucky,Next time your down this way,pm me.It sounds like you know your way around,but anytime I can spend a day looking at history...Dave P.S.You should know better than to let the haters get you spun up!

 

I found a picture of the Rotunda that was in Dearborn that Ford had to show concept cars and their new cars as well as giving rides on a test track for visitors this was back in the 50 and 60's before a fire destroyed it.

 

Well said.

 

I may be mistaken, but isn't the old Hudson's location where Dan Gilbert is planning to build Cadillac Plaza and relocate his Quicken Loans/Rock Financial HQ? I seem to remember that being in the paper last year but I don't see any recent development there neither so who knows?

 

Thanks to Ryan for thinking about Detroit....I could write, blog and chat about my experiences here for hours...I grew up in a small farming town on the east coast, went to school on the west coast and now I live here on the middle coast... Detroit is a beguiling place to live and work, especially if you are in the car industry but it can definitely be a love-hate relationship sometimes.
Sadly, I am always surprised to find just how few people who work in the car industry are 'car people'...I meet so many people who only do the job because it's simply the dominant industry in this area-and it pays well too in general...I meet so few people who moved here to work in the car industry...many of my colleagues look at me like I'm the weird one because I actually pursued working in this industry...Again while it's frustrating at times I derive immense satisfaction from seeing something go down the road I know that I was a small part of...that's why I love it so-because HERE is where a lot of cars are still designed and engineered and if that's your thing-if you love to help create cars-this IS the place to be in the U.S.A....

 

I could be wrong but I thought this building (AAA of Michigan 1916) was the holdup to the Quicken Loan complex. It's located on Bagley just off of Grand Circus Park. It was damaged when the historic Statler Hotel was demolished and the owner hasn't been compensated so he's holding up the project or something like that. The view from GCP sure did change when the Statler came down, also the Hotel Tuller across the street met the same fate. It was the first hotel in Detroit to have air conditioning in all the rooms.