Posted January 17, 201114 yr I went to Motor City this past September 25th for a Tigers game and dinner, and a downtown tour, which I have not done for a few years... too bad the weather wasn't the greatest, but at least it was dry. Without further, downtown MOTOWN... They were filming "Transformers" here, and I caught a few scenes of devastation/destruction here... Took a tour down Washington Blvd. THANK GOD they took that pedestrian mall out. Detail of one of the most amazing churches in the city, St. Aloysius, built in 1930 Looking up at the now-vacant David Stott Tower, built in 1929. Comerica Tower and First National Building, built in 1930 Millender Center and Renaissance Center Front Entrance to RenCen on Jefferson GM Wintergarden, looking south to Windsor, Ontario Looking through the glass at the top of the Ren Cen, it rises 221 meters (725 ft), making it the tallest all-hotel building in the Western Hemisphere, the tallest building in Michigan and the tallest between Chicago and Cleveland. GM Wintergarden again Looking up at the Marriott Hotel and Office Towers, through the glass... GM World's Car Exhibit Inside the Andiamo, very nice restaurant Andiamo Riverfront Italian Restaurant, in the RenCen Wintergarden Looking south to Windsor with a glass of wine to show... Views of Windsor from the Andiamo Restaurant, wouldn't you just love a view like this, while eating your dinner here? Looking up at the RenCen from outside... Windsor, Ontario skyline Andiamo Riverfront from Outside Looking east along the Riverwalk, btw, there were a lot of weddings held downtown this day, saw same by the Fox Theatre and here near the RenCen RenCen again and Windsor-Detroit Tunnel traffic The Historic Mariners' Church greets Tunnel Traffic coming into downtown Detroit, built in 1849, moved to this location in 1955. Millender Center Financial District, 150 Jefferson and One Woodward with the Joe Louis fist statue in the foreground Coleman A. Young Municipal Center Spirit of Detroit and social religious gathering... Looking up at Comerica Tower, built in 1991, second tallest building in Detroit The Guardian Building, the crown jewel of downtown Detroit... built in 1929. Inside the Guardian Building... one of the most beautifully historic building interiors you will EVER SEE!!! Penobscot Building Annex, built in 1913 Buhl Building, built in 1925 First National Building and Vinton Building built in 1916. Ford Building, built in 1909. Base of the Penobscot Building... Looking up @ the Penobscot Building, once the 8th tallest building in the world when constructed in 1928 and the tallest overall in the U.S. outside of Chicago and New York City. Looking up @ the Penobscot 151 West Fort Street 211 West Fort Street, once home to the famed Detroit Bank and Trust, during the city's "richer" days. Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel, built in 1924, restored in 2008... Not quite sure what this building is... Woodward Avenue, Merchant's Row Woodward Avenue Detail, in the last almost 10 years, this part of downtown has been cleaned up very nicely... in many of these buildings, there is tremendous potential for residential lofts Looking up at the Broderick Tower, built in 1928, has been rumoured to be remodeled into lofts, but no construction has started yet Grand Circus Park, Detroit's famous beautiful urban park... David Whitney Building, built in 1915 Fountain in Grand Circus Park Broderick Tower and David Whitney from Grand Circus Park... Comerica Park, btw, went to the Twins/Tigers game that night... Brush Park, from Comerica Park Best views of the skyline and ball park you will get from the upper deck! Tigers coming out to the field... After a disastrous 1st inning with Jeremy Bonderman giving up a run, then a grand slam, the Tigers clawing their way to the lead, 5-2 after 3. First of three homeruns by the Tigers by Alex Avila, with a solo shot. Then a three-run blast by Don Kelly... The appreciative crowd of 34,129 went nuts after that, because it tied the game, 5-5! After being down 5-0! Then Miguel Cabrera hit another two-run home run! Making it 7-5! Cabrera touching home plate, being congratulated by Johnny Damon. But then in the top of the fifth, the Tigers' lead was short lived as Bonderman's struggles continued... gave up two consecutive lead-off home runs to tie the game at 7, then Bonine gave up three more to make it 10-7. But the Tigers clawed their way back, making it 10-9! Then in the bottom of the sixth... another RBI making it 10-10! The Tigers won the game in EXTRA INNINGS, 11-10, in the bottom of the 13th, had to listen to it on the radio as it was getting late. Ernie Harwell statue, long-time announcer for the Tigers, God Bless you! R.I.P. Ernie! Hope you all enjoyed my downtown Detroit phototour!
January 17, 201114 yr Man does that city have some gorgeous buildings. I really enjoyed this. Agreed. I need to visit Detroit sometime, I just need to find someone who will be willing to go with me.
January 17, 201114 yr ^You sound like me. I love visiting Detroit, but my friends always want to stay in the 'tourist' areas. I need to find someone who has an interest in urban exploring. I foolishly 'explored' Michigan Central Station by myself among some of the other abandoned auto factories. I'm not a scary person, but MCS was a little unsettling: random urine puddles, shaky stairs, drug addicts and homeless people passed out on the floor, rats, and meeting other "explorers." After growing a little older and wiser, I wouldn't do that again. I could have been easily robbed or killed. Great pics btw. I really enjoyed.
January 17, 201114 yr ^You sound like me. I love visiting Detroit, but my friends always want to stay in the 'tourist' areas. I need to find someone who has an interest in urban exploring. I foolishly 'explored' Michigan Central Station by myself among some of the other abandoned auto factories. I'm not a scary person, but MCS was a little unsettling: random urine puddles, shaky stairs, drug addicts and homeless people passed out on the floor, rats, and meeting other "explorers." After growing a little older and wiser, I wouldn't do that again. I could have been easily robbed or killed. Great pics btw. I really enjoyed. I'm exactly the same way, I also visited Brush Park, Indian Village, Belle Isle, and Joseph Barry last year. I'd like to go westward towards the Ambassador Bridge and get to Mexicantown and get some shots of MCS, but not go in it, unless I have a true and tested urban explorer with me. Detroit has A LOT of explore for the urban enthusiast. I'll post pics later on. Andrew0816, if you need someone to be with you when visiting Detroit, let me know, I may be able to help you, even though I'm Canadian. ;)
January 17, 201114 yr This mystery building is the Industrial Apartments Looking up at the Broderick Tower, built in 1928, has been rumoured to be remodeled into lofts, but no construction has started yet Good news! Construction work began last week. Finally FINALLY! After all the talk for nearly 6 years something is being done! The views from one of those top floor apartments would be incredible image source: me
January 17, 201114 yr What is up with Detroit. Why are the vacant buildings always trashed inside and out? Isn't there some way to secure them from the vandals which now overrun the city?
January 17, 201114 yr Detroit does have some amazing architecture. I did a walking tour of many of those buildings a few years ago. Had the opportunity to go all the way to the top balcony of the Guardian building (take elevator all the way up, get out, walk up 2 flights then go outside). Ditto on the Book Cadillac. Broderick Tower rehab has been a rumor for a long time. It's a great building but the smallish layout would make residential a challenge. No parking there either. If anyone has plans to go to Detroit in the summer, try to get in on the home tour of the homes of Indian Village. If you like homes, history, & architecture, it's a real treat. Palmer Woods is a must see also.
January 17, 201114 yr ^You sound like me. I love visiting Detroit, but my friends always want to stay in the 'tourist' areas. I need to find someone who has an interest in urban exploring. I foolishly 'explored' Michigan Central Station by myself among some of the other abandoned auto factories. I'm not a scary person, but MCS was a little unsettling: random urine puddles, shaky stairs, drug addicts and homeless people passed out on the floor, rats, and meeting other "explorers." After growing a little older and wiser, I wouldn't do that again. I could have been easily robbed or killed. Great pics btw. I really enjoyed. I urban explore once or twice a week in Detroit with my buddy. Hit me up if you want to join us, we've been in some amazing places.
January 18, 201114 yr One thing Broderick Tower offers: free live viewings of Detroit Tigers games from the top floors!
January 18, 201114 yr What is up with Detroit. Why are the vacant buildings always trashed inside and out? Isn't there some way to secure them from the vandals which now overrun the city? Well the photo I showed where you see visible signs of vandalism can easily be explained. One of the tenants let in huge crowds, and by huge I mean, by the hundreds into the building. He could have really cared less. There would be raves, which were then followed by the tower getting trashed. Later, the bar manager on the ground floor (the only operating business) would let people in under much more discretion. That continued until the bar eventually went out business and was replaced by a different one. But between 2004-2007, it was pretty easy to get in, just by asking. You'd fill out a couple forms, and that gained you access. For all the other buildings, doors just stand wide open, and trespassing isn't really enforced like it should be.
January 18, 201114 yr The Guardian is insanely stunning. I love what appears to be the little coffee stop in the lobby.
January 18, 201114 yr Detroit probably has the best Midwest downtown outside of Chicago. Too bad its so empy, huh?
January 18, 201114 yr Was in Downtown Detroit a few years ago. Very attractive downtown. Weeknight, so it was a little quiet. As Jeffrey mentioned it seemed too empty. My guess is that there isn't much residential inventory.
January 18, 201114 yr There are some really gorgeous buildings in Detroit, but I don't care for its overall appearance. The streets are so wide, and the lack of businesses, pedestrians, or even cars/busses really makes it look desolate, IMO. Big, wide streets such as Michigan Ave in Chicago, any of the Avenues (particularly 5th) in NYC, Whilshire in LA, etc. only 'work' when they are at or near their capacity with pedestrians and cars, and occupied on the ground level. Detroit, sadly, doesn't have either.
January 19, 201114 yr What is up with Detroit. Why are the vacant buildings always trashed inside and out? Isn't there some way to secure them from the vandals which now overrun the city? Well the photo I showed where you see visible signs of vandalism can easily be explained. One of the tenants let in huge crowds, and by huge I mean, by the hundreds into the building. He could have really cared less. There would be raves, which were then followed by the tower getting trashed. Later, the bar manager on the ground floor (the only operating business) would let people in under much more discretion. That continued until the bar eventually went out business and was replaced by a different one. But between 2004-2007, it was pretty easy to get in, just by asking. You'd fill out a couple forms, and that gained you access. For all the other buildings, doors just stand wide open, and trespassing isn't really enforced like it should be. That's totally crazy. What is wrong with the city to allow mayhem like that??? It makes me feel less bad for Detroit if its own citizens care so little. I hope it turns around.
January 19, 201114 yr The streets are so wide, and the lack of businesses, pedestrians, or even cars/busses really makes it look desolate, IMO. The wide streets don't read that way since the downtown is so tall and the street angles block the vistas. You do get that "lost in space" feeling around the edges, though, where parking lot land starts up, and on certain exceptionally wide (even for Detroit) streets like the one thats also sort of a parkway, by their symphony hall.
January 20, 201114 yr Some streets were deliberately widened long after the city was built out. For example, all the buildings on Woodward were truncated to widen the street. They would cut out several structural bays in the middle of the buildings, and push the facades back into place. It's cool to look historical photos and them compare them to modern photos. It looks like someone used the cut and paste command. Imagine doing that today! It would cost billions.
January 20, 201114 yr Woodward reminds me of a wannabe Michigan Avenue, with those grass islands and street trees in the sidewalk closer to the street. Rather nice. It's wide but it "works" due to the buildng heights, as I mentioned. The cool thing about Detroit are those little parklets that sometimes appear at intersections, like Harmonie Park and that one on the west side of downtown that used to be a transit hub, I think. They are unexpected...you "discover" them as you wander around downtown.
January 20, 201114 yr love having the annotations of all the buildings on this great thread -- i'll be a good one to refer to (and maybe add to?). The Guardian Building looks very "eastern". I can hear a sitar playing. definately -- also, i always thought of it as a cathedral of making money! :laugh:
January 20, 201114 yr I predict that a lot of those photos will be great "before" shots soon For some reason after looking at the transformers pics, I want to drink a Stella
January 21, 201114 yr Woodward reminds me of a wannabe Michigan Avenue, with those grass islands and street trees in the sidewalk closer to the street. Rather nice. It's wide but it "works" due to the buildng heights, as I mentioned. The cool thing about Detroit are those little parklets that sometimes appear at intersections, like Harmonie Park and that one on the west side of downtown that used to be a transit hub, I think. They are unexpected...you "discover" them as you wander around downtown. The one on the west side of downtown you refer to is Captiol Park. The changes they made to it recently are great. The buildings around it have so much potential.
January 21, 201114 yr Woodward Avenue Detail, in the last almost 10 years, this part of downtown has been cleaned up very nicely... in many of these buildings, there is tremendous potential for residential lofts The light-rail project may ignite that. For more, see.... http://detnews.com/article/20110121/METRO05/101210386/Feds-grant-$25M-for-downtown-light-rail#ixzz1BgDuqf5W "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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