Vanity Ballroom 2010

[DetroitZack]

papillonaquatique, check your private messages.

[EastSider]

I am checking out both ballrooms and several other buildings as possibilities. The Grande and The Vanity are my first picks due to their history and design but I am also looking at other buildings incase neither of these buildings can be saved. I am looking around now so I can map out where I need to visit once I get to Detroit and so I can have appointments to view these buildings made ect. Time investigating is time well spent.

Trying to find the plans for either of these two buildings is like pulling teeth I swear.

Can I suggest that you simply wander the neighborhood of the Vanity in the evening before you decide to buy it and renovate it into this magical food bank/bakery/dance hall concoction?

Perhaps ask the people passing by their opinions of your plans.

[Leo B]

papillonaquatique: "Leo told me that if I were to do something with either building that it would have to be a non-profit." Is a complete misquote of information I shared with you off forum.
You are still welcome to contact me at the telephone # supplied for clarification[[s). Your reluctance to speak on the telephone to date re: these properties I consider cause for concern.

Leo

[Whitehouse]

Lots of pictures on Flickr. Shocking to see how the stage was butchered....

[papillonaquatique]

papillonaquatique: "Leo told me that if I were to do something with either building that it would have to be a non-profit." Is a complete misquote of information I shared with you off forum.
You are still welcome to contact me at the telephone # supplied for clarification[[s). Your reluctance to speak on the telephone to date re: these properties I consider cause for concern.

Leo

"I will say this, if the bulding is still savageable, any business will have to include a component that will "serve the neighborhood." "

Perhaps I misunderstood your message? I don't mean to be sharing private conversations outside of our chats but I assumed that was what you meant. My appologizes for misquoting you.

I refuse to give my phone number out to someone that I hardly know over the internet. Nothing personal. I am only asking for the contact info of the current owners of The Grande and a set of prints for The Grande so I can get a feel for the building and figure out the square footage which will allow me to create a much better estimate of renovation costs. Neither of those require me to give contact info that will allow someone to trace my home address. I understand that you can not provide the prints due to those being part of your book and I understand your reluctance to give out the info of the owners. I will just have to find another way I suppose but I do appreciate your help and expertise. Thank you.

[papillonaquatique]

Can I suggest that you simply wander the neighborhood of the Vanity in the evening before you decide to buy it and renovate it into this magical food bank/bakery/dance hall concoction?

Perhaps ask the people passing by their opinions of your plans.

I don't care what city you live in walking outside after dark is NEVER a good idea and you won't catch me out after hours that is for sure!

[pkbroch]

I don't care what city you live in walking outside after dark is NEVER a good idea and you won't catch me out after hours that is for sure!

Silly me, I walk around downtown NYC, Chicago, Houston, Detroit by the Stadiums, and Paris and London after dark.

The info you wanted is,

Grande Ballroom building
8952 Grand River Ave.

COD owner of record,

Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church
5000 Joy Road
Detroit mi

Since it is church owned there are no property taxes. Therefore no forced tax sale.
Building could sit and rot forever.

The main church is a block away from the Grande.

[papillonaquatique]

Silly me, I walk around downtown NYC, Chicago, Houston, Detroit by the Stadiums, and Paris and London after dark.

Since it is church owned there are no property taxes. Therefore no forced tax sale.
Building could sit and rot forever.

The main church is a block away from the Grande.

Well if it is a well lit area, you have company with you and it is only to get to somewhere close by that is something different entirely. Still I would never do that alone. I volunteer to match missing persons with the deceased and I guess I have just heard one too many true horror stories.

Thank you for the infomation.

Now while they may not be forced to sell for tax reasons can they be forced to sell for not bringing the building up to a certain safety code within a set amount of time perhaps?

[EastSider]

Well if it is a well lit area, you have company with you and it is only to get to somewhere close by that is something different entirely. Still I would never do that alone. I volunteer to match missing persons with the deceased and I guess I have just heard one too many true horror stories.

So you're gonna close the Dancing Bakery at 6 PM every day? How are expecting to raise the revenue to pay off the large sum of money needed to rehab the place with truncated hours?

And what message would the customers get if the building owner isn't willing to come after dark?

[papillonaquatique]

So you're gonna close the Dancing Bakery at 6 PM every day? How are expecting to raise the revenue to pay off the large sum of money needed to rehab the place with truncated hours?

And what message would the customers get if the building owner isn't willing to come after dark?

Not really sure what kind of business we will decide on at this point. However if it is indeed a bakery odds are good that someone will have to be there most of the time. Think about all of the different kinds of baked goods and how long they take to prepare or how long different kinds of doughs need to rise. Running a bakery is not an easy job by any stretch and there will be many long hours involved. I have no problem keeping my business open at reasonable hours. That doesn't mean it will turn into a 24/7 place though. Opening around 5-7 AM and closing around 8-9 PM sounds reasonable to me. I don't mind being at either building after dark just so long as I am inside and not by myself. Besides that it is not like we won't have a solid security system.

[DC48080]

I don't mind being at either building after dark just so long as I am inside and not by myself. Besides that it is not like we won't have a solid security system.

Having a "solid security system" as you put it will not do you any good when the police will take 2 days to show up if they even show up at all. The only security system that will be of any value to you is heavy firepower. Ask any liquor store owner in the city about that. Just drive by an inner city liquor store at closing time and observe when they're locking the doors and walking to their cars and you'll see what I mean.

I'll be interested to see how your outlook changes once you visit that neighborhood [[if you ever do). Until then this is just fantasy.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if you are really serious about this idea of yours, and not just playing games, a forum like this is not the ideal place to gain the information you need.

[fryar]

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if you are really serious about this idea of yours, and not just playing games, a forum like this is not the ideal place to gain the information you need.

Yes. Go to Detroit. Not for putting the final touches on this plan. In order to gauge if this thought process is worth pursuing at all.

[Aluminum]

Anything official happening to the Vanity these days? It looks like metal has been removed from an enclosure on the roof and many of the second floor windows are now missing...

[renf]

I turned from East Jefferson onto Newport last Thursday and Friday. The
Vanity Ballroom did not look much worse, nor any better, than a year
ago. I have heard of no efforts to restore this interesting building.

[FARRO1347]

hi i lived on newport 1347 closer to kercheval until 1955 then moved to st. clair shores
went to st ambrose graduated in 1957 i used to go up to the vanity in the summer and climb the fire escape and sit there and watch them dance
use to go to dorseys drug store on the corner and the library around the corner

do you have a email like to shoot the shit with you about the old neighborhood

thanks