Urban Garden where the Lafayette Building once stood

**stromberg2** · June-08-11, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by 401don

Since the Lafayette is gone, I'm still curious, for now do you guys prefer a traditional park [[given there's probably no need so close to Capitol Park or money to maintain it), a paved parking lot or garden?

I think a garden filled with wildflowers and such and picnic tables would be a great idea for now. Not too terribly hard to maintain, either.

Stromberg2

**Detroitnerd** · June-08-11, 03:39 PM

Why not have the lot empty, but put up a sign declaring it "George Jackson Square"?

**ghettopalmetto** · June-08-11, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Why not have the lot empty, but put up a sign declaring it "George Jackson Square"?

I know there some top-notch Photoshoppers reading this thread. Can you make it happen? Pretty please with razor wire on top?

**socks_mahoney** · June-08-11, 05:00 PM

Cool! Maybe they can provide some of the restaurants in the Westin with some produce in the summer time. Detroit needs to establish itself as a center of fresh local [[delicious!) food. More food yuppie tourists por favor!

**ghettopalmetto** · June-08-11, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by socks_mahoney

Cool! Maybe they can provide some of the restaurants in the Westin with some produce in the summer time. Detroit needs to establish itself as a center of fresh local [[delicious!) food. More food yuppie tourists por favor!

Sure, why not? If you think half a city block of "public garden" is sufficient to germinate a "food yuppie" tourism industry.

And if you think that the fill material placed on-site after demolition is appropriate for growing produce.

**wolverine** · June-08-11, 08:51 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

Does a downtown full of derelict, windowless, unsecured, and crumbling buildings send any better a message?

Well at least a place with buildings can be called a city.

**szla** · June-08-11, 10:04 PM

I cannot say a veggie garden would be good at all, but a beautiful flower garden encompassing the whole lot with gravel walkways could be just what the lot needs till at some point it gets redeveloped.

**rjlj** · June-08-11, 10:50 PM

Your statements clearly show that you have no clue as to what is truly happening downtown with regards to projects. Please disregard anything this person says, it is all opinion.

Originally Posted by bailey

Except that the Broderick has barely begun...and has done this fits and starts redevelopment thing for about 15 years... and the Whitney doesn't even have financing in place... and the madison building was supposed to be done 10 years ago...Post Bar ring a bell?

Why throw away assets? For the reasons noted below by DNerd... those "saviors" of the city at the B-C didn't want to explain to guests why they have to look out their 400 a night window and see a hulking mess for the next 30 years.

**Novine** · June-09-11, 06:41 AM

I wouldn't dismiss one point that bailey has raised. Detroit's downtown grew up around a city with a peak population of 2 million. It's fair to question whether there is going to be enough demand in the reasonable future to utilize the existing amount of vacant building space. But where I think bailey is wrong is the belief that knocking down old buildings is better long-term than mothballing and letting them stand. Both approaches cost money. But I've never heard of any city that's had success turning buildings into parking lots. If bailey believes that a successful strategy, point out the examples of where that's worked. Everything we know about successful downtowns points to the damage done to the urban environment by knocking down buildings and replacing them with parking lots. Even greenspaces, like parks, don't always have a positive effect. Old buildings, even vacant, better maintain the urban fabric, while still allowing for the possibility of future development.

**ragnarok1981** · June-09-11, 08:58 AM

My concern with this proposed garden is the area it is going into. If they are going to grow food in it then I just pray that they are either completely replacing the soil or making sure that the plants are not taking root at all in the ground there. I would be very worried about contamination from the demolition getting into any plants from the soil and then getting into people if they ate them. My other concern is how the garden will be taken care of. Having it in such an open unprotected area leaves it open to theft, vandalism, and destruction. If they are growing crops there then I can bet that the homeless will see it as free food and strip the place bare. Yes I think it is a great idea to provide them with something nutritious to eat, but at the same time seeing it decimated by people who don't know what they are doing would be awful and heart breaking. I think we can all also agree that people in the area don't have a lot of respect for personal property [[ as seen in the numerous buildings being stripped of everything of value around Detroit and neighboring communities). A community garden is great, but as ironic as this may sound, I think it needs a barrier to keep the community out for its own good, otherwise it wont be around long.

**ghettopalmetto** · June-09-11, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by ragnarok1981

My concern with this proposed garden is the area it is going into. If they are going to grow food in it then I just pray that they are either completely replacing the soil or making sure that the plants are not taking root at all in the ground there. I would be very worried about contamination from the demolition getting into any plants from the soil and then getting into people if they ate them. My other concern is how the garden will be taken care of. Having it in such an open unprotected area leaves it open to theft, vandalism, and destruction. If they are growing crops there then I can bet that the homeless will see it as free food and strip the place bare. Yes I think it is a great idea to provide them with something nutritious to eat, but at the same time seeing it decimated by people who don't know what they are doing would be awful and heart breaking. I think we can all also agree that people in the area don't have a lot of respect for personal property [[ as seen in the numerous buildings being stripped of everything of value around Detroit and neighboring communities). A community garden is great, but as ironic as this may sound, I think it needs a barrier to keep the community out for its own good, otherwise it wont be around long.

I wouldn't worry about that. The "community garden" language is just a handful of crumbs so that Detroiters won't notice the City paid $1.5 million for an empty lot on property it already owned.

bartock · June-09-11, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by rjlj

Your statements clearly show that you have no clue as to what is truly happening downtown with regards to projects. Please disregard anything this person says, it is all opinion.

"It is all opinion." You say it like it's a bad thing. In MY OPINION, I think the statements are pretty accurate, given the history. Just because in YOUR OPINION they don't reflect what is "truly happening," doesn't mean we can't disagree. All of the things that may be "truly happening" downtown sound great, but until I see them come to fruition, I go by history.

**j to the jeremy** · June-09-11, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Novine

I wouldn't dismiss one point that bailey has raised. Detroit's downtown grew up around a city with a peak population of 2 million. It's fair to question whether there is going to be enough demand in the reasonable future to utilize the existing amount of vacant building space. But where I think bailey is wrong is the belief that knocking down old buildings is better long-term than mothballing and letting them stand. Both approaches cost money. But I've never heard of any city that's had success turning buildings into parking lots. If bailey believes that a successful strategy, point out the examples of where that's worked. Everything we know about successful downtowns points to the damage done to the urban environment by knocking down buildings and replacing them with parking lots. Even greenspaces, like parks, don't always have a positive effect. Old buildings, even vacant, better maintain the urban fabric, while still allowing for the possibility of future development.

True. It is always a better long term investment to mothball. All the people on these boards clamoring for downtown demolitions tend to be the same ones complaining about how Detroit isn't a "real" city. Guess what. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

**drjeff** · June-09-11, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by ragnarok1981

My concern with this proposed garden is the area it is going into. If they are going to grow food in it then I just pray that they are either completely replacing the soil or making sure that the plants are not taking root at all in the ground there. I would be very worried about contamination from the demolition getting into any plants from the soil and then getting into people if they ate them. My other concern is how the garden will be taken care of. Having it in such an open unprotected area leaves it open to theft, vandalism, and destruction. If they are growing crops there then I can bet that the homeless will see it as free food and strip the place bare. Yes I think it is a great idea to provide them with something nutritious to eat, but at the same time seeing it decimated by people who don't know what they are doing would be awful and heart breaking. I think we can all also agree that people in the area don't have a lot of respect for personal property [[ as seen in the numerous buildings being stripped of everything of value around Detroit and neighboring communities). A community garden is great, but as ironic as this may sound, I think it needs a barrier to keep the community out for its own good, otherwise it wont be around long.

I've noticed in some of these community gardens the plants are not actually in the ground- they are in boxes above the ground.

**j to the jeremy** · June-09-11, 10:46 AM

Almost always, drjeff. Raised beds.

**ghettopalmetto** · June-09-11, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by j to the jeremy

Almost always, drjeff. Raised beds.

They're easier to steal that way.

**gthomas** · June-09-11, 10:59 AM

So true, Its so funny how some people just don't get it..Put your money where your mouth is..I'm doing just that. Look for me soon..I'm more about it than just running my mouth or criticising everything the city is doing wrong. Well make it right...

Originally Posted by j to the jeremy

True. It is always a better long term investment to mothball. All the people on these boards clamoring for downtown demolitions tend to be the same ones complaining about how Detroit isn't a "real" city. Guess what. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

**begingri** · June-09-11, 11:26 PM

Compuware to start work on community garden at old Lafayette Building site

Compuware is spending about $500,000 on the half-acre site near Lafayette and Shelby in downtown Detroit, including hiring a gardener, putting in a fence and paved walkways, and readying the site for planting fruits and vegetables by mid-July.

Meanwhile, a related plan for the City of Detroit and Compuware to install a green roof on the top of the underground parking garage on the site of the old Hudson’s building has been delayed as the city tries to figure out what to do with drainage issues on the site.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2011110609029

**BrushStart** · June-09-11, 11:33 PM

Originally Posted by begingri

Compuware to start work on community garden at old Lafayette Building site
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2011110609029

So, I guess it will be fruits and veggies... let's see how it goes... If growing actual produce doesn't work out, I hope Compuware doesn't totally abandon the project. It can certainly be transitioned into something enjoyable and visually appealing without growing crops.

**401don** · June-10-11, 06:38 AM

Wouldn't it have been easier just to put the garden on the roof of the Lafayette? It already had some nice trees.

**bailey** · June-10-11, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by Novine

But where I think bailey is wrong is the belief that knocking down old buildings is better long-term than mothballing and letting them stand. .

For what feels like the 50th time I am not now, nor have I EVER advocated that knocking down old buildings is a BETTER long term strategy than mothballing. I am saying that the buildings WERE NOT, ARE NOT, going to be preserved, mothballed...whatever...for a future renovation.

Originally Posted by gthomas

So true, Its so funny how some people just don't get it..Put your money where your mouth is..I'm doing just that. Look for me soon..I'm more about it than just running my mouth or criticising everything the city is doing wrong. Well make it right...

Paging someone from the Vinton team.....or have they all been bannished for sharing too much about the realities involved in a large scale rehab in this town?

**ghettopalmetto** · June-10-11, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by bailey

For what feels like the 50th time I am not now, nor have I EVER advocated that knocking down old buildings is a BETTER long term strategy than mothballing. I am saying that the buildings WERE NOT, ARE NOT, going to be preserved, mothballed...whatever...for a future renovation.

That's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, don't ya think?

**bailey** · June-10-11, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by ghettopalmetto

That's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy, don't ya think?

Yes. and it's quite sad.

**Autoracks** · June-10-11, 09:35 AM

flix? Not a bad idea. Better that than a weed strewn lot while they try to figure out something else to do with it. Im always having some sort of idea about what could be done that would help people and the city at the same time.

DetroitPole · June-10-11, 10:51 AM

It would be cool if there were a Lafayette Building on that site instead. Half a million for a garden to become Capitol Park South? I don't want to eat tomatoes grown downtown. Have you seen how glossy with oil the Ren Cen gets every few years? You'd have to powerwash those veggies. How about they drop a couple hundred thou to plant squash on Zug Island next?