Why 1900-1930 Detroit should become a UNESCO World Heritage Site...

I have been to 20 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in my lifetime... 5 in the USA, and 15 in Europe.

Europe has the most cultural ones, due to the long history and historic events. But the USA seems to have most of the sites that refer to either natural wonders, native American sites, and just a few historic sites [Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, Alamo, select homes of Frank Lloyd Wright].

I had always wondered why Detroit during the era of Transportation & Industry [1900-1930] wasn't added to the USA list, since so few buildings are on the list in the USA. With the finishing restoration of Michigan Central Station, Detroit really does have some of the most amazing buildings of the early 20th Century. After all, after NYC and Chicago, Detroit was the fastest growing city in the USA in the early 20th Century.

And as is the case with so many surviving architectural treasures worldwide... most of the treasures of Detroit survived because the city went stagnant during a long period, and there was no need to tear them down for something newer.

The Art Deco skyscrapers, downtown movie palaces, some of the historic factories in Milwaukee Junction, the treasures in the Cultural Center, the MCS, etc., would make Detroit a great tourist attraction that most folks here [and elsewhere] just don't know about, unless the come here and are shown what we have.

Now having Detroit as a UNESCO site doesn't have as much ummph as it would in Europe, where people search them out as travel destinations... but being on the list would surely benefit the city as a travel and tourism destination... and help negate many folks perception of us as some of the more unflattering labels that 50 years of news reports have pinned upon us.

I checked the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites... and the USA is really low on the proverbial totem pole historically and culturally...
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

And getting added to the list does require a series of steps... none of which really puts Detroit out of reach for such a designation...
https://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/

We are getting more Great Lakes tours coming thru, that see a lot of what Detroit has to offer. Maybe Detroit could be ahead of the curve vs. other American cities that have qualifications for being added to the site list.

It sure couldn't hurt! :rolleyes:

Over the last 20 years I gave 10 tours of the city to dance troupes from Europe, mainly Germany and Hungary. My itinerary never changed, since it got such rave reviews [not of my presentation, but of what I took them to see].

Since the tour group buses were always parked at one of the ethnic cultural centers in Macomb County, I would always start them with a tour of the Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores... then take a drive down Lakeshore... and continued down Jefferson to once around Belle Isle, with a photo op at the western tip with downtown in the distance.

Then we would get back on the bus and head for the Guardian Building... One thing I also noticed is.. as we were going towards downtown on the bus from Belle Isle... I would point out historic Lafayette Park, and the Mies Van Der Rohe connection. They could care less about that. Usually they told me that "they have enough of his uninspiring crap in Europe!" [their word, not mine]. :eek:

The folks were awestruck by the Guardian Building... even though Art Deco started in Europe, they have nothing to compare to the Guardian. Afterwards we took a loop around the People Mover from the Financial Center Station to see the downtown area [they loved the historic vibe of the city center]. When we got off of the PM again at the Financial Station, I would take them to the edge of the platform to view One Woodward Ave... and talk about how this was an earlier prototype of the World Trade Center Detroit architect Minuru Yamasaki. There was always a calm silence when I mentioned that.

Then we would get back on the bus, and head to Comerica Park, for a photo-op in front of the tiger statue with the paw outstretched. Following that I had made arrangements with the Fox folks for a private tour I would give the folks. The look of amazement on their faces when we entered the lobby of the Fox... priceless... even more so when we got to the auditorium, where Fox organist Dave Calendine would give the folks a quick performance of the mighty 4/36 Wurlitzer... he really blew the cobwebs off of the organ pipes by the time he was through. I always had him play the same song... Widor's Toccata... and the folks were all on stage looking out onto the palatial auditorium listening to this gem on the organ... [first 2 minutes of this unrelated video I found on Youtube at the Fox]...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0rrR1n9l9I

Then after the tour of the Fox [they are always blown away that this was a mere movie theatre]... we got back on the bus and headed up Woodward Avenue to view the sites in midtown, before heading back to Macomb County via I-94.

For those 10 tour groups of Detroit, I never varied from my program, and for a good reason! When during the first year of the 10 groups I took on tour of the city... when that group got to Chicago, after visiting other Midwest cities, the Chicago folks would call me and say "what did you do to these Europeans? All they ever did in Chicago was talk about how wonderful Detroit was!" :o

We take for granted our monumental treasures that we have... but Europeans are amazed by them, which is a tall order when you consider what they have in the way of competition!

But we have a lot of untapped potential in our city that is not getting enough attention... as I saw in the eyes of visiting Europeans, and also Americans that I took on tour of the city in the past.

When you look at part of being ultra wealthy back in the day was to travel the world before you commissioned your mansion to be built,when you look at the country estates in England,France,Germany etc you can see the architectural styles that mimic the other regions.

Same thing here in the U.S. when the likes of the Rockefellers, etc. they also traveled the world for ideas before they commissioned their grand estates.

Europe is based on centuries whereas the U.S. is like 200 years old.

What I find unique in Detroit and because it was a world class city at the time you see the architectural designs carried over into the commercial buildings,most of those designs were only ment for the ultra wealthy to enjoy.

But in Detroit they are carried over into buildings that the general public had excess to ,you may see it with the occasional high end hotels but not on a scale that you see in Detroit.

And the majority were demolished through urban renewal.

I kindathink if one lives there they are just buildings that you grew up around and because you saw them every day they may not have seemed special.

Detroit as a city changed the world,its impact was found in every corner of the globe and its architectural buildings reflect that.

You just do not see that in other cities,I agree it deserves a lot more recognition and designations than it has and protections so future generations can also enjoy them.

Great topic, I've thought about this before. I could see our architectural gems forming part of a multi-city World Heritage Site [[similar to how "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright" is spread across many sites in multiple states). So maybe something like "Art Deco Landmarks of the US" and we'd have a few buildings along with buildings in other cities.

However, I could see our automotive heritage as a standalone site.

I have been to just over 30 WHS and I have to say a couple have not been so impressive. For example, the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois east of St Louis, I get the importance of the history but it's not an impressive place to visit. Last year, they inscribed another pre-Columbian Indian site in Ohio without a whole lot to see. So I guess their decision-making isn't super clear to me...

Interestingly enough, not all UNESCO sites have to be totally original. For example, the Hamburg Germany amazing warehouse district [built 1880-1927] of the massive port city [Germany's 2nd largest city] was half destroyed in the blitz of Hamburg in 1943. It was rebuilt to much of its' original look in the 20 years after the war. It comprises a large group of brick buildings on steroids in the harbor, and totals about 7 million square ft. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.