'The city was ours' - David Broderick Tower roof adventure

Eyeball-worthy post at Vox by a local writer/photographer calling himself City Chicken, whose birthday gift from a pal [["drinking buddy and ghetto purist") was a guided tour up 36 flights to the David Broderick Tower roof on Sept. 15.

He shares 13 snaps -- some stunning -- and waxes eloquently [[overly so at times) about "the debris-clad ghosts of this once-proud skyscraper and the people who were once its inhabitants."

Quote:

---

Imagination sprints while flapping its arms wildly at the thoughts of what life was like in this grand unit. . . . Sadly, I have no photos but trust me when I say the suite encompassed the entire floor, had four slate balconies at each corner of the building and its own built-in bar. . . .

"[On] the roof, the city -- at least for this night -- was ours. . . . You come down to the ground a changed man after an adventure like this.

---

Nice. Can I come along next time!!! A reminder of the thread, "Why Detroit Matters".

Paging Rjlj:

Wasn't the Broderick supposed to be redeveloped by now?

Paging everyone who yayed! the billboard over the whales:

Mr. Higgins and his partners hashould have collected close to $1.8 million by now. Can anyone see where any of that money has gone in to making his project a reality? Has anyone seen Mr. Higgins lately? No? Have you checked the Alps to see if he is on yet another skiing trip?

Hi David;
How can I see your 13 pics????

Quote:

---

How can I see your 13 pics?

---

The words "post at Vox" in this thread's first item are a clickable link to here: http://citychicken.vox.com/

That site has the anonymous writer/photographer's 13 new photos, Tom.

I don't know whether his name is David. I do know mine isn't.

The David whose name is on the 1928 abandoned office tower was a Detroit insurance broker who bought it in 1945. He died in 1957.

That Wikipedia research, incidentally, led me to this optimistic note there:

Quote:

---

The David Broderick Tower . . . is under redevelopment with an expected completion date in 2010.

---

Or not.

This was a fantastic read, makes me want to do the same thing.