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Drove by this building today [[small building across from the synagogue) and the facade has been removed. Rehab? Tear down? Vandals?
Updates added by Lowell... April 2, 2012
Progress continues on 30 Clifford.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2012...r-IMG_3192.jpg
I even got a peek inside.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2012...r-IMG_3194.jpg
View in October 2011
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...-Bar-70931.jpg
View in 2003
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2012...07498-2003.jpg
Turning it into a bar, that's according to one of the fellows working on it last week.
Progress to date...
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...-Bar-70931.jpg
The front of this building was "exploded" during the filming of a movie, Red Dawn, I think. So it's been sitting since it's movie experience. Glad that something positive is happening now!
What is the history of this building? Why does the west wall look so thick? Did it once have an additional floor?
Am I thinking about another spot... or did a Big Boy once exist in that building??
The facade on google maps seems like it used to be a club or bar prior to the Red Dawn use.
Btw, here the clip from the shooting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtde8GOCbtI
This place was also used as St Andrew's in the Movie 8 Mile.
There used to be a fire station there:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/dpa1ic/x...ll;q1=Clifford
Not sure if the remains are part of the new building.
Don't forget transformers 3, it was featured more than any other Detroit location in the movie, even featured in promotional material
Talked to one of the owners recently while walking by. Going to be Bar Louie.
Another stunning Romanesque fire station we no longer have. :[[ The lot is vacant as of 1929.
OMG, can you imagine the traffic congestion at closing hours at that intersection?!
In a few months, you will be able to find an image of the new facade.
In the dictionary, next to the term clusterfuck.
ugh. I know what I'd do if I had a club...
IIRC, an optometrist was located there in the 80s and 90s.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gistok
Would this be the same Bar Louie that is at Great Lakes Crossing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Planner3357
http://www.barlouieamerica.com/home/
Might as well be a Cheesecake Factory or House of Blues!Quote:
Originally Posted by Planner3357
The Big Boys was a block south. It later became a chinese place. It as well as a shoe store was torn down to expand the questionable bar.
It takes all kinds DP. I once even stumbled into a TGIFriday's in Chicago's Magnificent Mile for a drink. I say -- if this is indeed a chain place moving into this location -- that's one more good sign for the CBD. Even more so because it isn't in the usual hotspots: stadia, Greektown, Ren Cen, etc. I'm not familiar with Bar Louie, but I took a look at their website and it looks like a decent place. All of their Michgian locations appear to be in upscale suburban settings. They've got one at Laurel Park Place. If they brought a couple of neighbors such as chain stores Parisian and Von Maur along with them, would that be a bad thing, too? If indeed Bar Louie is locating here, I'm sure they won't get all the hype surrounding the coming of Whole Foods, but two or three joints like this will probably add more jobs than WF and take fewer tax credits.
Now, if only we could get Arby's down here again!
Attachment 10994
After it was a firehouse, it was the Cow Shed.
transformers 3
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_G96gxvrHqr...ComingSoon.jpg
I believe it was a dry cleaners at one point in the 80s.
I'm glad this was posted. Detroitbob and myself saw when the work first started and were wondering what the heck was going on.
Anyone know what the building on Clifford street between Washington Blvd. and Woodward is going to be? It's the building that was "blown up" for the Red Dawn movie..
Thanks,
Check out this thread "30 Clifford" from last month....
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...30-Clifford-St
Thanks Kathleen! I searched for "clifford" but didn't get anything.. A "Bar Louie" will be cool there I think. As long as too many of the patrons arn't from the nearby stripclub [[not a fan of 80% of the people/crap I see coming out of there)..
From 2002 or so:
Attachment 11454
Pic progress update:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3361452/20111211_183419.jpg
Was just watching Season 3 episode 1 of top gear, lots of Detroit shots including this building when it still had the Laundromat signage on it
Article and pictures from Curbed Detroit:
http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...atery.php#moreQuote:
If you don't recognize the building from our pictures above, it's because its last facade was literally BLOWN OFF over two years ago. In fact, our squat friend here has seen a lot of action over the past few years. Besides being firebombed, it's been the site of epic rap battles and intergalactic robot fights. And now the storefront on Clifford Street [[where Griswold Street T-bones) is going to see even more action.30 Clifford Street is set to become a Bar Louie.
I’m not convinced that this is going to be a Bar Louie. If you look at the Google street map there is a “For Lease” sign on the building with a telephone number. If you run a Yahoo search on that number the first hit is the Albanian-American Chamber of Commerce Members Directory. Scroll down the page and you’ll find a listing for Louie's Ham and Corned Beef Shop with the same contact telephone number. Too much of a coincidence? Could be a Bar Louie, or it could be a bar named Louie’s – we’ll see!
Feb 9th update.
Attachment 11997
Certainly did a number on that place! Looks good though.Quote:
Originally Posted by animatedmartian
Bumped with new pictures inserted in the first post.
With the dual gables and little half-round details, it seems they may have been making a conscious reference to the old firehouse. Kudos to the designers if they were. It's looking good, though the first floor windows or the entrance could have been a little larger.
It looks nice, much nicer than it did before the 'blow up'. Louie's is a great place, so also good news about the future tenant.
Now possibly someday the grotesque apartment building next to 30 Clifford will get some type of improvements. That place always seemed to be the ugliest building on Washington Blvd. Isn't it the Claridge Apts.?
Yep... Dan Gilbert put a bid in on that building.... see his latest thread...Quote:
Originally Posted by kryptonite
This was 'stolen' from the other 30 Clifford thread, from a few years ago. User '48202' posted this image of 30 Clifford transformed for the film 8 Mile into a stylized version of Detroit's infamous Shelter night club.
If I was the owner I would have pics on the wall of this building in every film it has been in over the years. What a cool way to get people to come to your bar, I mean the place has been used more for films than it ever has in real life.
I wish they would've kept THIS facade up, it's gorgeous! Too bad the recent improvements have made it look more like a CVS than a unique urban building.
Attachment 13028
Is that what it actually looked like or was it just for the movie?
Movie magic, my friend.Quote:
Originally Posted by ismoakrack
I agree, really looks like a cvs coming, the brick color is out of place. I love the 2003 picture, mash-up, organic, no-self conscious, and how the optometrist letters got all scrambled like a crossword puzzle.
That facade would not have lasted very long since it was mad out of wood with a foam covering.Quote:
Originally Posted by mpow
Attachment 13036
Looks like they were filming the new Transformers in DC.
I was walking by tonight and the front door was open. A single construction worker appeared to be locking up. He let me take a look inside and as you can see from the photo, nothing much has changed since Lowell posted a photo two weeks ago. However, the outside now has windows which you can see in the second photo. I think they really add more warmth to the facade. I asked the worker if they would be open soon and he kinda laughed as he said they still had a lot to do. His estimate: December.
Attachment 13082
Attachment 13081
Does it bother anyone else that the gables in the parapet wall aren't quite centered over the windows below?
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew.w
I believe they are actually, the picture is just a little deceiving. You realize the building doesn't have a flat front right? It kind of curves around a little.
Attachment 13090
Attachment 13091
I walked by 30 Clifford again today, and decided I would try to settle the gable debate. Frankly, to the naked eye, it is hard to tell. But I snapped a couple of photos and overlaid a couple of lines to show the relationship of the gables to the windows. From that, it appears the left gable is definitely off-kilter, and the right possibly also, but only a little. Sorry for the truck parked in front, but I think you get the "picture" from the pictures.
You are correct, and the left one is much worse. To add to the visual impact, the fact that the first floor facade includes the 1-2 foot 'jut' out to the right side makes you feel like the whole bottom got shifted off center from the gables. I would have made that extra first floor piece visually separte from the rest of the first floor facade...Quote:
Originally Posted by downtownguy
I'm just glad its a bar. When i first saw it in its recent state I throught for sure it would be a strip club, what with the smaller first floor windows and small door opening.
A bigger problem is that the kitschy gables are a completely unnecessary embellishment of an already poorly conceived facade by a builder [[or an owner) pretending to be an architect. Whoever decided upon the final design really squandered a great opportunity to improve a rare intact Detroit streetscape with a new storefront. Too bad there wasn't some kind of design oversight by the HDC or DEGC. Can't complain about the new investment though. If it's any good, I'll patronize the place.Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew.w
Has anybody heard any more definitive news on the occupants? The construction worker I talked to seemed clueless, but when I mentioned Louie's he perked up. But he didn't know the difference between a Bar Louie or a Louie's Ham and Corned Beef. He did, however, point out where the bar was going. That doesn't seem consistent with a deli.Quote:
Originally Posted by AGinthe313
Hmm guess they are off, crappy. And yeah if it was a strip club I'd protest or something... the other one near by is bad enough. And on another note... I was disappointed to see the sides of the new 30 clifford facade has been spray painted "tagged" already! :mad::mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by cramerro
Way back in the 50's, there were 3 pizza places to go to after being at a movie downtown, there was Famous, across from the Fox, LaLanterna's, on Griswold
and there was Luigi's and if I'm remembering right, I believe it was in this very building. Is anyone out there old enough to remember where Luigi's was
located?