Hudson's and the Kern Block

Upon skimming through my Hudson's book, from the Images of America collection, I realized something. Did Hudson's ever consider buying the Kern Block building a parking structure [[yes I know, we all hate those in the city) and offering either free parking or some low-cost parking and perhaps build a skyway to link with the building. Perhaps it would have done good with the Cadillac Mall project. I know a parking deck wouldn't look that good over Campus Martius, but you gotta do whatcha gotta do for sales.

I wasn't even alive when downtown Hudson's was open, but now writing this I seem to remember they offered some type of parking, but maybe a larger deck would have done good, maybe with validation.

[[I tried to find another thread to put this in, but couldn't fyi)

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1238133229

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Originally Posted by leland_palmer

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1238133229

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ah hah! Thanks leland, it would have been more embarrasing if I posted on that thread. We'll let this thread die. Thanks again!

J.L. Hudson actually owned a parking lot on Broadway behind the store called Shoppers Parking. I worked there zooming cars around the floors. There were 4 floors and rooftop parking as I recall. I think we were paid $1.25 an hour plus tips. To get a car from an upper floor, we jumped on a moving belt. For a Detroit kid it was really great to drive so many different kinds of cars.

I can recall my mother parking there once. It was almost unheard of to drive to downtown when I was growing up in the 1970's and early 80's. The bus was the preferred mode back then, even for a mom with a few kids in tow.

That's true, Detroit Planner. In many cases back then, Mom didn't have her own car. Off the top of my head, I can think of only 3 or 4 families in my block that had two cars. I know my mon didn't drive until after dad retired and they moved to Clare.

Ma never drove downtown. We used to catch the streetcar on Chester & Morang, or the bus at Warren & Canyon by the hill at Balduck Pk.

Mikefmich- streetcar on Morang? Going where? My Mom and I caught the Gratiot streetcar for a quivk trip straight downtown and all its wonders includi\ng lunch at the Sanders counter

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Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

I wasn't even alive when downtown Hudson's was open,

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Nothing like making the rest of us feel old.

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Originally Posted by BillRush

Mikefmich- streetcar on Morang? Going where? My Mom and I caught the Gratiot streetcar for a quivk trip straight downtown and all its wonders includi\ng lunch at the Sanders counter

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There's an old thread somewhere in the archives about streets [[or streetcars) on the eastside [[can't find it at the moment).... and it mentioned that before the advent of I-94 in the late 50s/early 60s... that a streetcar endstation/turntable and wait station were located near where EMBO's Market used to be at Harper/Chester/Morang. The streetcar went down Harper, not Morang.

And back then Harper continued eastward for a short while [[later that stretch was renamed Chester).... and the stretch of the Harper that is now I-94 service drive... east of Morang was known as Mt. Clemens Ave... [[heading out into the eastern burbs) and was later renamed Harper.

There have been several street re-alignments and renames in the early to mid 20th century in Detroit. Another one that comes to mind was the realignment of Mack Ave. in midtown. The part of Mack Ave. that ends at Woodward was formerly known as Rowena St.