Posted April 15, 201114 yr I visited Detroit on April 2 to take in a weekend in the Motor City, and stayed at the Book-Cadillac Hotel for the first time, got shots of Cass Tech and Park, and southwest Detroit and Mexicantown! Without further ado, here's my tour... The Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel, built 1924, restored 2008 Inside... all modernized... My room, on the 23rd floor... Views from the 23rd floor, looking at the Book Tower... Back on ground... the Book Tower was built in 1916... Washington Blvd. Streetscape Rosa Parks Transit Center Michigan Building Grand Army of the Republic building, built in 1900. A chapel northwest of downtown... Closeup of Cass Tech, which was slated for demolition, but a deal could be in the works to save the historic structure... it was built in 1922 Current Cass Tech High School... Cass Park Base of the gorgeous Masonic Temple Theatre, built in 1922, it is the largest Masonic Temple in the world. Looking towards downtown from Grand River Avenue... MGM Grand Hotel Casino... MotorCity Casino/Hotel and I-75/M-10 junction... Entering Michigan Avenue, the main street of Corktown, Detroit's oldest neighborhood... Newly Constructed Lofts Nemo's, one of Detroit's best-known sports bars... Michigan Avenue architecture... Old Tiger Stadium site, was recently converted into a playable baseball field... Looking west on Michigan Avenue... Corktown Tavern Corktown Businesses Sam's Pawn shop, seen frequently in Sam Roberts' Detroit 67 music video... C.P.A. Building... The abandoned Michigan Central Station in Roosevelt Park... Built in 1913... ...but closed in 1988 and has fallen victim to massive disrepair and vandalization... ... but the building is slated to get a new roof and windows and is structurally sound to be rebuilt... Detroit's old southwest industrial area... sketchy, don't you think In this area, called Mexicantown, there's a lot of Spanish and Mexican restaurants, stores, and businesses... Michigan Welcome Center, near the Ambassador Bridge... Pedestrian bridge which takes pedestrians across I-75 to Mexicantown's main business district and over to Detroit's west side... Downtown from the bridge... Ambassador Bridge and I-75... Main Business area of Mexicantown, just off I-75... Mexicantown Restaurant, a popular Detroit eatery... Inside Mexicantown... cleaned my plate of nachos and salsa, burritos, tacos, and enchiladas... Residential area... The beautiful Ste. Anne Church, built in 1887... Ste. Anne Academy Building... Ste. Anne Church is located in the Hubbard-Richard neighborhood, just east of the Ambassador Bridge... Looking towards downtown from W Lafayette Street... The Ambassador Bridge Recent residential development... RenCen and Central Detroit... An old fire hall... Hubbard-Richard neighborhood, mainly Hispanic and Mexicans live here, but you will see some African American and White population here... The MCS once more... Ambassador Bridge and Ste. Anne Church. Michigan Central railway tunnel, that goes underneath the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario... Back in Corktown... Back on Michigan Avenue... The colours and styles of homes here are simple and diverse and this neighborhood is well kept... mainly Irish people live here as well as African American and white... Old Wood House in Corktown... Most Holy Trinity Church Pedestrian bridge going across the Lodge Freeway Former MGM Grand Casino, slated to become the city's police headquarters and public safety building... Back @ the Book-Cadillac... In time to watch the Tigers game! All right, what a treat! But they lost 10-6 to the Yankees... Hope you enjoyed the tour!
April 15, 201114 yr Well done! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 15, 201114 yr Nice! Did you do this all on foot? Yes, I did. It was a good tour. I also got a night tour of downtown from that weekend coming up!
April 15, 201114 yr Great pictures, Jay. Sadly demolition of the 1981 addition to Cass Tech is well under way :(
April 18, 201114 yr Great pictures, Jay. Sadly demolition of the 1981 addition to Cass Tech is well under way :( What about the rest? Any word on that potential saving of the historic building that came after its "funeral"?
April 18, 201114 yr The historic part of it will be demolished in June. I haven't heard any news on the guy that wanted to save it. I'm praying!
April 19, 201114 yr Corktown is somewhat like Ohio City. But from what I remember of my Detroit visits, Ohio City has comparitively narrower streets and more trees (and more mature trees). Actually, I think those are some of the main differences of Cleveland and Detroit.
April 22, 201114 yr There are signs of improvement every time I go back. I still think the buildings are decaying faster than they are being saved though. Some day, when Detroit turns around, there needs to be a Museum of Urban Decay. The world should NEVER let this happen again. Corktown, Mexicantown, Midtown, and Downtown are all promising though. Under Bing's leadership, I think the city can really make some good strides. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and took some great pics. I'd never seen inside the Westin before, it looks great.
April 22, 201114 yr I enjoyed the pics and thanks for posting. Did you go inside MCS? I actually went to the top of it. It's not something I recommend doing unless you have a well seasoned "urban explorer" with you; lots of vagrants, rats, shaky stairs, "weird" noises, etc. It's my favorite structure in Detroit nonetheless. I'm glad to hear it's slated to get a new roof. If I remember correctly, I think at one time there were talks of demolishing it because an agreement could not be made on what to use the building for.
April 22, 201114 yr ^at this point, the city is so broke they cannot even afford to demolish the building. The only way that place will ever get redeveloped is with massive subisidies. Even then, what would it be? It's surrounded by nothing. - when I was living in Detroit a few years ago, there was talk that Michigan Ave was going to be "narrowed" through the Corktown neighborhood to reduce the huge expanse of pavement and make it more pedestrian friendly. Not sure if those plans are still in the works or not. - one other little tidbit of trivia - if you look at the Book Tower closely, on the first 6 bays of windows to the south, you'll see the masonry has been cleaned of all the soot & stains. The contractor was originally hired to do the entire building, but never got paid for that work and pulled off without completing any more. Sad when you look at how amazing that building actually is.
April 22, 201114 yr Great variety, and as usual, exceptionally well documented. Thanks for all your work in sharing this.
April 23, 201114 yr I enjoyed the pics and thanks for posting. Did you go inside MCS? I actually went to the top of it. It's not something I recommend doing unless you have a well seasoned "urban explorer" with you; lots of vagrants, rats, shaky stairs, "weird" noises, etc. It's my favorite structure in Detroit nonetheless. I'm glad to hear it's slated to get a new roof. If I remember correctly, I think at one time there were talks of demolishing it because an agreement could not be made on what to use the building for. No, I didn't go inside, I didn't know how to get in, and like you said, it can be dangerous in there... They are going to put in new windows and a new roof to make the building sellable and take it off the hands of that mongrel Matty Moroun. Thanks for the comments, guys, it's a pleasure of mine to make Detroit look good and presenting it to you! Next time, I'm hoping to get to the Boston-Edison area and hopefully around the old Motor City Industrial Park (with an urban explorer there).
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