Apparently the largest construction project in WSU history...
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...3m-biotech-hub
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Apparently the largest construction project in WSU history...
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...3m-biotech-hub
Hmmm the building that someone commented on last week is right across from this place.... coincidence?
I think with WSU officially announcing this project and their work on the building across the street shows a commitment to this neighborhood and its continued revitalization. It's in their self interest to have Midtown be easily connected to New Center, without a rough neighborhood in between. Very excited for this project because it has the chance to make Detroit a much more competitive place for biotechnology jobs. Does anyone have a picture of this neighborhood from say 10 to 15 years ago? Within the last 10 years we've had: Techtown, NextEnergy, The Graphic Arts Lofts, The Lofts at New Amsterdam, Wayne State Police Headquarters, and a few more I believe. And this isn't hardly a large "neighborhood" at all. Very exciting developments.
15 years ago GM was still all over this neighborhood. Unisys had a major HQ there as well. Besides the GM building and argonaut, GM had several other buildings that worked on things like displays and marketing. WSU also had a lot of offices here that were consolidated once newer buildings were built like ASB and Cass and Palmer. Finally there were auto dealerships still around here.
Bummer they are demo'ing the Beauty Iron Building. I always thought that would make a great spot for lofts.
Overall, exciting news. I am slightly disappointed that the Beauty Iron Building will be torn down and replaced with a parking lot. If we have to destroy a building for our parking addiction, could we at least get a parking garage. At least they are reusing the Dalgleish Cadillac building.
DP is right. This neighborhood never really "bottomed" out, although I think Unisys might have been gone 15 years ago, but I'm pretty sure Henry Ford Health had moved in. And before we give WSU too many props for their interest in historic preservation, I have a recollection that they emptied the Cadillac sales and service building with plans to tear it down. Then as more people realized the historic significance of it, WSU pulled back. And then it sat empty for years.
All in all certainly good news. One vacant historic building being re-used and a vacant lot being built on, but another vacant historic building being lost. Too bad they did not see a means of using BOTH buildings instead. Now that would have been great.
Great news on new development but it seems pretty misguided and arrogant to demolish a building for a surface parking lot when WSU already owns many lots in the adjacent area.
Ooooh, a parking lot on Woodward! What a great urban vision WSU has!
I have to agree with DN... it will be a shame to lose this "diamond in the rough".... to a parking lot?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AmericanBeauty2.jpg
It's too bad they won't save at least the front third of the building... facing Woodward.
If they really own all those parking lots, I wonder why they have to bulldoze the last remaining building fronting on Woodward. I can only presume they want everything to be nice and new and shiny.
I just ran across this very interesting history of American Electric Heater Company ironically on, of all sites, WSU's TechTown.
Sadly, the author was perhaps a little too optimistic when she concludes the article with these words:
Someday the building, now owned by Wayne State University, will be converted into another TechTown business incubator. “It all started with electricity,” observes Robert W. Kuhn [grandson of Robert Kuhn, founder of the American Electrical Heater Company]. “Wouldn’t it be neat to make it an alternative energy incubator?”
http://techtownwsu.org/a-trip-back-t...it-was-motown/
The explanation I heard was that the interior of the American Beauty building is not salvagable or appropriate for re-use as a biomed research building. Unofrtunately WSU does not have a lot of extra money laying around for extremely expensive interior redesign on buildings that may be more aesthetically appealing. It's a hell of a lot cheaper to build from scratch and I'm happy that at least the Dalgliesh building is being used.
We're all kind of amazed this is even going forward given the financial woes of WSU in the past couple of years.
Not the American beauty building! That's a great building!
I think we are all to struck by the demolition of the building that we are ignoring the fact that WSU is constructing a 75,000 square foot addition. So its not like we're not gaining any new build here, we're actually gaining alot. I think this will be great for that area. Just another reason for people in the medical field to come to Detroit.
Intelligent urban design means building up to the streetwall. Some of us had thought WSU had come a long way in understanding that you can't just demolish everything in sight and build as if you're building in, say, Troy or Clinton Township. If they absolutely cannot re-use the building [[Were engineers consulted? Was a feasibility study done? What consulting firm was used? Local architects have a lousy record when it comes to using or renovating existing buildings.) why the hell can't the building be on the MAIN STREET IN TOWN? WHY CAN'T THE PARKING BE ADJACENT OR BEHIND?
Chances are the development team has no idea how to use Woodward, much like the mistake they made with University Towers, they intend to set their impressive building back so that all can behold it across the shimmering air over the baking blacktop. And nobody seriously looked at the American Beauty building except a walk-through with muted cries of, "Ewww."
Actually WSU [[regardless of whether they had money or not) has always had a rather slipshod reputation when it came to historic preservation. It was because of them that Detroit's largest preservation organization was founded.... Preservation Wayne... now known officially as "PRESERVATION DETROIT".
Back in 1975 they were going to tear down the beautiful Queen Anne style house of Wayne's first president David MacKenzie. They were going to replace it with.... a drain!!
WSU later went on to destroy The Gleaners Building... a beautiful Beaux Arts building along Woodward... for.... [[drum roll) more parking!!
And lets not forget one of the greatest losses in all of Midtown... MacKensie Hall [[Cass at Warren). WSU mentioned that it would be too costly to find a new use for it [[starting to sound familiar?)... so they razed one of the most beautiful Arts & Crafts style buildings in Midtown... for... more parking!!!
I'm sorry but I just don't buy the "it's too expensive to fix up for the use we had in mind" crap.... it just makes you sound like the reasons the "Macedonian Parking Cartel" gives for building demolition...
MacKensie Hall [[with a Pewabic Tile lined lobby)... R.I.P.
Yes, Gistok. Thanks for the backstory. I had begun to think that WSU was getting a little bit savvier when it came to development. [[The old president, Adamany, was quoted as wanting to turn the neighborhood north of I-94 into a "sea of asphalt.") I guess I was wrong.
Who says it won't be built to the streeet? The article says "Wayne State also plans to build a 75,000-square-foot addition on the north side of the building, on the site of Dalgleish's former used car lot". I'm no construction expert, but that lot is not that big that addition will probably be built up to the street on the Woodward side.
Well, because the focal point will be the former Dalgleish Cadillac, which is on Cass, not Woodward. The addition will go on Cass. The American Beauty building, the last remaining piece of Woodward's original streetwall, will become the parking lot. I don't see how this new facility has any Woodward frontage.
WSU is not exactly a whiz at streetwall architecture... look at the University Towers near The Whitney Restaurant.... no streetwall for any street with that tower...
Dalgleish's old used car lot is at Woodward/Amsterdam. IF the article is correct about the addition is going I don't see how they can built without some Woodward frontage
http://g.co/maps/zp3up
An even worse "streetwall" building that WSU built was the "abomination" of an addition to Old Main [[see image). Not only does it look like a bunker... but it isn't even oriented to any street?? [[Maybe Grand River... but that's 2 miles away). What were they thinking when they built this building? And what purpose does it have, besides trying to ruin the historic neighborhood? :confused:
Well, the lot is on Woodward. The building, which the article says is the focal point, is on Cass. Will they build to Woodward? Short of a promise to build on the lot, don't kid yourself. Gilmour is even being cagey, dangling to possibility of something better being built on the American Beauty site. But if the facility they are building right now is a success, where will the people park?
Again, I am not alone in being very doubtful about WSU's savvy in working within the boundaries of tasteful urban planning. And there is good reason, given the past bulldozer-happy behavior of the university.
Anyway, I hope you're right. But I wouldn't trust anything I didn't see in writing.
Oh, god, that cube they built on the back of Old Main. Don't get me started, man ...
I've seen people who hope for the best with WSU. They don't do as well as the people who file a FOIA...
Sure, she's a little beat up, but I don't think many of us who live in the neighborhood would rather see it removed. Buildings have potential, parking lots do not.
I think residents are too often left out of these discussions that affect OUR quality of life.
The Woodward frontage is cool, but the Burroughs frontage is fantastic. If you've ever walked that block, you know what I mean.
Attachment 13083
I bet the new traffic generated by the renovation of Dalglish can share with the GIANT TechTown lot across Amsterdam.
Sounds great but is there any meaningful biotech development existing now in Detroit? I live in Portland [[originally from Detroit Metro) and Portland has been chasing biotech for ten years with largely unsuccessful results. This is in spite of proximity to CA [[a large if not the largest hub) and lower business costs. I'd like to think biotech is something that could bolster Detroit but frankly this seems like a long shot. There are just too many other cities that are much further down that road. What exactly is Detroit's competitive advantage?
If you think thats bad you obviously don't remember what it replaced. That part of Old Main had a bunch of substandard additions previously. When I went to school there in the 1980's the whole wing was shut down. The older addition clashed awfully with original Central High, only it was much older and decrepit. Unlike the old wing, at least the replacement matches the building's color and does not compete with it in a clashing style. Sometimes its best just to have something bland to allow the magnificience of the original structure to shine.
Wayne State is 1) forcing a suburban landscape upon Midtown, and 2) not being upfront about the American Beauty Building.
"They need parking" is [[for lack of a better word) bullshit. Within a 1,500 foot radius [[less than 1/4 mile or a 5 minute walk), I'm sure there is plenty of existing surface parking. They do not need to tear down the American Beauty Building for parking.
This building was built by the American Electrical Heater Company, and later renamed after the firm's most successful product, the American Beauty iron. I own a copy of Albert Kahn, Inc.'s self-published photo book and listingof their projects [[copyright 1936). The list of projects includes, under Heating & Lighting Devices, the "American Electrical Heater Co., Detroit, Mich."
The building's facade has obvious AK characteristics. I believe the American Beauty Building is an Albert Kahn building. How can Wayne State get away with not admitting this, and worse, tearing it down - for surface parking?
Clearly, it won't be quite the travesty that the Lafayette Building or the Hudson's demos were, but small[[ish) scale buildings in this neighborhood have a real possibility of reuse.
I can't count how many times buildings were demolished with the promise of something to replace it, and of course, never did. This building, and most others around town, will NEVER be replicated. If the architecture of the new apartments across from Old Main are what we have to look forward to in this town, we're screwed.
To get the scope of just how large and majestic this building is, look at the bird's eye view on bing maps. If you zoom out, you can also see how the Dalglish building has no shortage of surface parking surrounding it.
http://binged.it/HFMlUt
Thanks Downtownguy... I never really noticed that that section between Midtown and New Center is sort of an island unto itself... between I-94 and the railroad tracks.... hence the TechTown title. That building is pretty massive. What a pity to lose such a beauty to another sea of parking...
There is a petition up at Change.org to stop the demo of the ABEI building. Get on it!
http://www.change.org/petitions/wayn...-a-parking-lot
Attachment 13101
For what it's worth, Preservation Detroit said on their FB wall that they have contacted Wayne State about the demo of the ABEI building. Also, sign the petition!
http://www.change.org/petitions/wayn...-a-parking-lot
Great idea. I will sign this.
The more I think about it, the more this is really, really bugging me. It'd be so stupid to knock down such a gem with so many other empty lots around.
If anybody is in the know and knows of perhaps a public hearing/meeting where this will be discussed at WSU please let me know.
I put the petition up on my FB page, and one of my friends commented how the ABEI building would make a great garage -- if they really think they need parking so bad, which I still doubt as I look at the sea of surface lots surrounding the Dalgleish building.
My thinking is that they are going to do what are are going to do and already have the new building plans drawn up,worse case scenario would be to push to incorporate the existing facade into the new building,meet them halfway,it is not uncommon for cities to issue demolition permits for historic buildings but requiring that the street front remains. But that would require a bit of creativity.
This was posted on Tuesday. The best way to wade through the muck of Facebook's new design is to click the Highlight button, right in the center of the page, then click "Posts by Others". See photo.
Attachment 13113
It is a Kahn. From City of Detroit Proposed New Amsterdam Historic District document:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...Lt9rhA&cad=rja
"6100 Cass Avenue, American Electrical Heater Company [[1908), Albert Kahn architect
This building, known as today the American Beauty Iron Works, was described as the most completely equipped plant for the manufacturing of electrical heating devices in the world. Albert Kahn use of reinforced concrete was ideal in that it provided a fireproof, strong, and inexpensive factory for this use.
The American Electric Heater Company was founded in 1894 and was one of the most important interests of Detroit, due to the demand for electrical devices for household conveniences. Prominent Detroit entrepreneur, Frank Kuhn, established the business with his brother, Robert. They produced quality heating devices, which were sent out under the trademark of American Beauty. According to the Book of Detroiters, the plant stood as a monument to the progressiveness, business spirit, and powers of organization of the Kuhn Brothers.
This two-story structure extends the entire length of Burroughs Avenue between Woodward and Cass Avenues, although originally the building had a Woodward Avenue address, and did not extend to Cass. Two major changes altered the footprint of the building. According to City of Detroit building permits, the front forty -six feet was demolished for the widening of Woodward Avenue. Then in 1934, an addition was completed to the west of the building, extending to Cass Avenue.
Today, the main facade fronts Cass Avenue, and is comprised of five bays of double-hung, sash ribbon windows on the second floor. The first floor contains coupled multi-paned sash windows, and the pedestrian entrance is centered between two bays. Bands of concrete are exposed on all elevations of the building. The eastern and southern elevations contain decorative brickwork. The Woodward elevation is comprised of nine bays of multi-paned, steel sash windows. The windows contain keystones centered in the arches. The southern elevation at Woodward Avenue has a canopy overhang that shelters two doorways. Original metal signs spelling American Beauty are attached to the roof of the building on Woodward and Cass elevations."
Yea, it's a tragedy. I never search FB for pages, it always turns up a bunch of crap. If you search Google or whatever you use for " Preservation Detroit Facebook", the first result is the official PW/PD Facebook.
Curbed Detroit has a writeup today of a super cool loft in the Graphic Arts lofts, next door to the American Beauty building. There's a couple of shots with the AB outside the window.
I bet if you asked the dweller of this apartment [[formerly Architect Marc Couillais, the space is for rent now) if he'd prefer a parking lot outside his window, I'm sure he'd say no.
Also, sign the petition to save the American Beauty building:
http://www.change.org/petitions/wayn...urface-parking
Wayne State looks to bridge research and entrepreneurs with new bio-tech building
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Once planned to be the TechTwo small business incubator, the old Dalgleish Cadillac building in New Center is now set to become the future home of Wayne State University's Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building.
The university plans to begin renovating the former Cadillac dealership's 196,500 gross square feet in size into a research center shared by researchers from both the university and Henry Ford Health System this year. The new $93 million facility will also be a hot spot for entrepreneurs from the TechTown business accelerator across the street looking to commercialize new bio-technologies developed there.
"This is the most exciting thing I have been involved with in a while," says Allan Gilmour, president of Wayne State University. This is the biggest development project Wayne State has taken on in its existence. It is about 50 percent more expensive than the $66.6 million College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences building, which held the record until this project.
The Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building will house Wayne State University programs in cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, systems biology, bioinformatics and computational biology, behavioral translational science and biomedical engineering. Henry Ford Health System will move its bone and joint center and motion analysis lab into the building.
The building will provide enough laboratory space for Wayne State University to support 48 principal investigators and their teams. It will house approximately 425 workers when it become fully operational.
The project scope will renovate and re-purpose the 127,700 gross square feet of existing space in the Albert Kahn-designed building. It will also build an additional 75,000 gross square feet of a new companion building fronting Woodward Avenue and raze the adjacent American Beauty and Iron Works building. The demolition is set to begin in July and construction will start in November. The university expects to complete the project by 2015.
Source: Allan Gilmour, president of Wayne State University
Writer: Jon Zemke
http://www.modeldmedia.com/devnews/w...ing042412.aspx
http://www.change.org/petitions/wayn...urface-parking
We're approaching the 150 signature mark on the petition to stop the demolition of the American Beauty building. Thanks for your support, and pass it along!
Until really looking at a map today, I had no idea how much parking there was around this building. There is already a huge lot across the street and another one kiddie-corner to it. It is obscene that they could even think that they need more parking.
Why not just build a structure on one of those other lots to at least concentrate the parking if there is some how a real need for more capacity.
Rendering of the additon on the Woodward side.
http://www.harleyellisdevereaux.com/projects/wayne_state_university_school_of_medicine
Oooh, a little glass box with a parking structure attached! Neat!
I also love how they put trees in front to screen the parking lot where the building is to be demolished. Whenever you see anything parklike in these renderings, rest assured it's parking, not a park.
So according to this map....
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=detroi...95.47,,0,-2.34
the only empty part of that entire block... about 20% will get the new building... and the 50% of the block that "was" the American Beauty building... will now become parking... making the block go from 80% filled down to 50% filled... that's not progress... especially since 1/2 of the Woodward frontage will still be without a building. :[[
Just read this in a Detroit Free Press article posted on the "new business friendly Detroit" thread.....
And Michael Duggan, president and CEO of Detroit Medical Center, said efforts by Midtown anchors like DMC to source more of their supplies locally would lead to a new warehouse being built in the Midtown area soon. But he gave no details of the plans.Wouldn't the American Beauty building make a nice warehouse for Midtown? Rather than build from scratch, adaptive reuse of this building as a warehouse would save some of the remaining density along Woodward, and serve a need in Midtown.
The American Beauty Building [[aka the American Electrical Heating Co. building) is definitely by Albert Kahn. A photo of it was published on page 265 of the June 19, 1912 issue of the American Architect. The credit line is "Mr. Albert Kahn, Architect - Mr. Ernest Wilby, Associate." [[I cannot seem to produce a .jpg file small enough to successfully attach).
The Detroit City Directories list the American Electrical Heating Co. at a State Street address through 1908, and the 1909 City Directory is the first to list the Company at the corner of Woodward and Burroughs.
Ernest Wilby is the mystery-man in the Albert Kahn saga. He was with Kahn for a while, then he wasn't; but the firm's architectural work in the time he was there is surely some of the finest that Albert Kahn [[the firm) ever did, including the American Electrical Heating Co. building.
It would be a crime to tear this building down to join the sea of surface parking that presently exists.
Front page news...and a shout out to DetroitYes!
http://www.freep.com/article/2012050...text|FRONTPAGE
Ah, now the truth comes out: They need to demolish the building for a "staging area." From that I presume the contractor doing the job probably has no experience building anything in a dense urban area. What a measly reason for losing a Kahn...
"To me it just does not make any sense to leave that building in place when you're going to be investing $93 million in a state-of-the-art research building immediately adjacent."
You have got to be kidding me. They can't still be that shortsighted can they?
It seems that 38 years after the fight to save the Queen Anne style home of WSU's first president David MacKensie, that WSU still doesn't seem to "get it"... they wanted to tear that house down for a "drain" of all things. That fight [[which WSU didn't win) begat Preservation Wayne, now Preservation Detroit.
WSU's excuse reminds me of the lame excuse for the near destruction of the Women's Exchange Building on GCP.... for a decorative sidewalk for Comerica Park! :mad:
As a Wayne State University alumni, I'm inclined to withhold my annual pledge of monetary support if this is how they treat the historical heritage of the area!!
Anyone want to respond to Rick Nork, here's his contact info:
Wayne State University
Rick J. Nork, Vice President for Finance and Business Operations
5700 Cass Avenue - Suite 4900
Detroit, MI 48202
TEL: [[313) 577-5580
FAX: [[313) 577-2338
rick.nork@wayne.edu
Preservation Detroit's statement:
"We are not in favor of this demolition. Like many others, Preservation Detroit affirms that there is not only ample parking in the area for the Biomed hub, but also that there are opportunities for Wayne State University to utilize the American Beauty Iron Building in several ways that would benefit the University and the Detroit community. ..."
http://preservationdetroit.org/2012/...lition-by-wsu/
Thanks Kathleen... I doubt anyone here could have said it any better....
This demolition doesn't bother me much, but we may be viewing Detroit as a whole entirely different. Either it's in trouble or it's not. Personally, I can't justify telling other people how to spend their money. Tearing down one abandoned building in order to renovate another sounds like a small price to pay for an overall positive, which the city needs a lot more of.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the perfect utopia where all of our dreams come true. In that, I support these efforts. I just won't lose any sleep over it, myself.
^ I have to agree Downtownguy... WSU has never been that keen on preserving the historic fabric nor the density of its' campus area. The loss of the beautiful and historic Gleaners Building along Woodward... was for parking.
The loss of the American Beauty Building along Woodward... is again for parking. Just how much parking along our major thoroughfare in the city is acceptable?? The answer should be obvious... none!!
But [[and I've mentioned this earlier)... the biggest loss to the density that makes Midtown so unique in our otherwise spread out metropolis... was the loss of WSU's [[at Cass & Putnam) Arts & Crafts styled MacKenzie Hall [[with its' Pewabic lined lobby)... and guess what replaced it... a parking lot and parking structure... most people on this forum are surprised that this leviathan ever existed... disappearing without a trace in the 1980s...
My quote calling WSU's decision arrogant and misguided was directed precisely at this mode of thinking:
"To me it just does not make any sense to leave that building in place when you're going to be investing $93 million in a state-of-the-art research building immediately adjacent."
There is no reason we can't have both! Find another ****ING lot for your damn staging area!! I can't even count the number of vacant lots in the immediate area with two hands.
To me it seems like many in this thread are off-base. I like WSU's initiative on improving the quality of life, whether it look urban or not. Much better than the polar opposite.
I think the response is a little too much for the event.
They have plans [[solid enough plans to hire an architect) to build on the site so it's not about "parking lots".
It's not an issue of historic preservation because the building isn't architecturally or historically significant.
It's not an issue of urbanism because the building isn't especially urban as it is. It's not anti-urban either, it just sort of in between.
So if I were to pressure anyone I would pressure WSU to build the best new building possible on the site. The street wall on Cass could be completed. The sidewalk on burrough street could be made a few feet wider to accommodate some trees and seating [[or at least enough for two people to walk past each other). You could add a few stories and get more activity on the site. And there's other stuff that a new building could do that could really improve that area.
So yeah I'm less concerned that the building is being demolished and more concerned that the new building won't be to a high standard.
If we're off base... then let me ask you this question....
Does a parking lot look better than this Woodward fronting building?....
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/712...N00/631739647/
WSU thought so... and put up a parking lot...
Does a drain look better than this Cass Ave. Building?....
WSU thought so... but luckily wiser heads ruled... and it's still with us.
So now WSU wants to add another parking lot fronting the main street of Detroit... and yet you still like WSU's initiatives?
Has the term "Historic Preservation" even been in your vocabulary?? :eek:
WSU's initiatives are for something meant to improve human life through research. That means a lot more than a building.
Nice try... but that is a "Red Herring" debating fallacy.... :eek:
'A Red Herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue. The basic idea is to "win" an argument by leading attention away from the argument and to another topic.'
I should point out that providing parking doesn't improve quality of life for your employees. They should be encouraging people to walk or take public transit. Heck, they don't need to take transit really. Just park in one of their existing lots and walk a block or two.
If people walked a few blocks in each direction everyday...whether its from their office to home, or office to the parking lot it would have measurable positive effects on their health.
The public remains largely ignorant of the benefits of not driving, or at least reduced driving to work. You feel better getting a short walk in before work. It's a great way to unwind the work day. And by either consolidating parking, or reducing it you provide more land for more intensive uses like shops and restaurants.
I signed the petition and I hope more people do.
This is called land banking. And it's one of the worst possible forms master planning. Just because they hire an architect doesn't mean anything. They could have 100% design done and the thing may never get built. It's "about parking lots" if they are building a parking lot. I'll bet WSU will tell you any one of their future lots is up for development.
According to President Gilmour yesterday:
1) He is well aware that some people are upset about tearing down the American Beauty building. It is happening anyway.
2) The plans for that site are that a building fronting Woodward will be built after the research building is completed. It will not be a parking lot.
Irrelevant? Increasing their research scope and relevance as a university is irrelevant? WTF is wrong with you?
This is the topic. How they design buildings and use the surrounding area is the byproduct. Sure, it's not optimal in terms of dense-looking urbanity, but if it's a necessary consequence in my hometown university's hope to improve, I'll take it.
You are Naive.
What are the actual plans for this so called new building? What is the timing?
Who are the tenants?
What does it look like?
These are all what if's.
There will be an empty lot in place of the American Beaity Building for 15+ years in what is the worst looking part of this "All American Road."
Why is Detroit in a bubble where history repeats mistakes over and over again? Everyother large city in America gets it, UDM Law School gets it.
http://www.modeldmedia.com/devnews/u...use050812.aspx
Nothing is wrong with me... you are interjecting an argument [[improve human life thru research) that is not relevant to the discussion of historic preservation. You could say they are building a hospital to save lives... and it would still not be relevant to historic preservation.
The reasons that they are turning this into a parking lot has less to do with its' intended use, and more to do with the fact that they want to house their construction equipment on that site.... and not some noble cause to science and humanity... ;)
I don't believe Gilmour for a second. Know why?
Once they knock down American Beauty and create a staging lot to build out the rest of the block ...
... what will they use for a staging area to build on the staging area? :P
And if they can find another staging area to build on the initial staging area, why didn't they USE THAT LOT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Just a reminder, the petition can be viewed/signed/hated/loved here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/wayn...urface-parking
Also, we tipped the 600 signature mark today.
I don't think that anyone is less than thrilled with the WSU's investment of $93 million and the re-use of the Cadillac dealership, since its a beautiful and historic structure. But like many, I just have a hard time thinking that the other building couldn't be saved as well with a bit of creative thinking. Its really difficult to imagine they need that land for "staging". Block the damn street off and use that!
At first I was not that upset over losing the American Beauty building since there will be new construction on the old used car lot. But then when I saw how large that building is, I became more disappointed. Like one of the other posters said, if parking is needed that much [[which seems unlikely) convert the building into a garage. And then perhaps re-use it for something else in the future. WSU needs to think a bit more out of the box.
How attractive would it be to attend Wayne State and live in a historic Kahn building with concrete floors, high ceilings, huge windows, open floor plans with industrial design in an area that has a very high occupancy?
Or is it more attractive to live in the Union apartments or Auburn apartments where the floors and walls are made of cardboard where you hear your neighbors and you feel like you are living in tickey tackey surburbia?
Re: Wayne State reusing American Beauty as a parking garage: The University seems totally opposed to that idea. In 2002, they knocked down a parking garage from 1924 at Cass and York so they could build ... nothing ... a gravel parking lot. Yup, they spent $100,000 to tear down a four-story parking structure.
Given this kind of history, I really don't see them adapting a non-parking structure for reuse as a parking structure.
Curbed says demo has started on the American Beauty building:
http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...s-the-dust.php
New rendering that showed up in my inbox this AM.
Attachment 18131
kinda boring
That building has all the charm of the Purdy library on the WSU campus... ugliest building around...
You can't be serious... This building is a beauty. A total manifestation of the modern movement. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mishpo/6176131352/
Wayne's ugliest has to be either the brutalist Science Library or the Undergraduate [[poor adaptation of post modern).