Came across this thread tonight while doing some Detroit history research. I’d like to suggest that the Owen Building was demolished in 1939 for the widening of Gratiot. Here’s a picture grabbed from a Detroit Historical Museum Youtube video.
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Came across this thread tonight while doing some Detroit history research. I’d like to suggest that the Owen Building was demolished in 1939 for the widening of Gratiot. Here’s a picture grabbed from a Detroit Historical Museum Youtube video.
^ Gratiot was actually 'widened' at some point? It still seems narrow to me - most notably south of East Grand Blvd.
Nice find. Looks like the building was being disassembled. Not sure what happened to the Owen & Co Furniture business...no mention of them after 1929, but a Washington Furniture Co occupied the location by the late 1930s. They advertised a "moving sale" through most of 1939 until December, then in 1940 their ads showed they had relocated farther up Gratiot.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1953
Now, there was a building called the Owen Building at 250 Lafayette that coincidentally was demolished for the widening of Wayne St [[Washington) in 1957:Attachment 42925
The widening of Gratiot downtown in the 1930s was a decade long battle around funding, width, condemnation, alternate routes, etc. involving the state, the courts, the WPA, land owners, mayor, city council...Quote:
Originally Posted by Zacha341
One building that actually stuck to the rendering.Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeg19
Interesting side note. The "Budapest?" likely referred to the Hungarian Revolution that happened a few months prior where Russian tanks entered Budapest to suppress the uprising and devastated a great many buildings. It became earliest world affairs memory.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
This is what I was looking for in my thread from a few months back "The hole in Downtown No One Talks about". Massive parking lots to this day on this site, as well as the Shubert-Lafayette Theatre site next door, and the buildings seen in this picture west of Washington.
Imagine demolishing a large building like this to widen an existing street by one lane. Must have been all the leaded gasoline emissions that lead people back then to such insane decisions.
Also lost for the Wayne Street widening, just north of the Owen building:
Attachment 42926
Speaking of demolishing urban structure for parking, here is the view in the same video of Brush looking south over Gratiot to 400 Monroe in Greektown. Most of what is seen here is now parking. It took me quite a while to even figure out where this shot was taken from, since the area is so diminished.
1953
Attachment 42927
Whatever you do, don't disclose the top secret URL.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1953
Someone might try to <gasp> watch it. ;)
Don't worry. I won't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimaz
1953
Just kidding.
Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWIW1oybR_I