Craigslist - Ford Auditorium Granite Slabs $450

[bigtreble]

I stumbled on this craigslist posting:

http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/for/2515816828.html

[CLAUDE G]

Probably stolen shortly before demolition

[Goose]

if its gonna be turned into dust is it really stolen? or is it preserved? not sure why demo-companies or the city itself could not sell off parts like this to the general public.... damn, just list it on craigslist for a few months and give it a shot..... same goes with things like the seat in the old tiger stadium, sure they sold a few, but why couldnt they just stack em and tell the public to come and get em, 1 per person.... $20... they would have sold every seat.....

[Scottathew]

Goose raises a good question as to why the city is busy chasing people off the old Tiger Stadium site instead of generating revenue from a building it's going to demolish.

[davewindsor]

Goose raises a good question as to why the city is busy chasing people off the old Tiger Stadium site instead of generating revenue from a building it's going to demolish.

I can think of insurance from lawsuits for one.

If somebody is allowed to help themselves to a chair like strawberries in a u pickem strawberry field and trips and busts their kneecap because a plate on the ground was missing or the area was poorly lit, the owner of the property can be sued. If plaster falls on someone and they cut their head open, the property owner can be sued. So if John Public can go through it, you need insurance, you need the area properly lit, you need an engineer to make sure it's safe to walk through, etc. It all costs money. If a voluntary organization that has their own insurance like Habitat doesn't want it, it gets thrown in the garbage.

[Bigb23]

The guy could have run across those slabs anywhere while scrapping. Then he could concoct a story/provenance to increase the value. For that money,try to get him to sign a document swearing he swiped them from a city owned historic landmark.

[Scottathew]

I can think of insurance from lawsuits for one.

If somebody is allowed to help themselves to a chair like strawberries in a u pickem strawberry field and trips and busts their kneecap because a plate on the ground was missing or the area was poorly lit, the owner of the property can be sued. If plaster falls on someone and they cut their head open, the property owner can be sued. So if John Public can go through it, you need insurance, you need the area properly lit, you need an engineer to make sure it's safe to walk through, etc. It all costs money. If a voluntary organization that has their own insurance like Habitat doesn't want it, it gets thrown in the garbage.

The city can do much more good by tearing down one of the 30,000 abandoned structures instead of chasing people off of a field that they willingly maintain for free.

As to injury liability, how would it be any different than a city park? Except for that the grass at Tiger Stadium is actually being mowed [[by caring citizens) and city parks look like jungles.

[DetroitPlanner]

The guy could have run across those slabs anywhere while scrapping. Then he could concoct a story/provenance to increase the value. For that money,try to get him to sign a document swearing he swiped them from a city owned historic landmark.

Yeah like thats going to happen! Why would anyone want that anyway? I graduated High School from that building but it does not hold much in the way of sentimental value. I could see if it was the Marshall Fredricks sculpture or the organ, but an old piece of granite?

I will miss how the reflections of the fireworks would bounce off of the faceted backside though.

[Paul Meller]

I also hear that they got the pipe organ out of there. It's in restoration. I wonder if they had to pay for the organ. Would it have been demolished with the building if they didn't take it.

[CLAUDE G]

if its gonna be turned into dust is it really stolen? or is it preserved? not sure why demo-companies or the city itself could not sell off parts like this to the general public.... damn, just list it on craigslist for a few months and give it a shot..... same goes with things like the seat in the old tiger stadium, sure they sold a few, but why couldnt they just stack em and tell the public to come and get em, 1 per person.... $20... they would have sold every seat.....

I worked with the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy and other organizations to help save Tiger Stadium.

I'll tell you, once the auction was over and the keys where turned over to the demolition company they didn't want anyone taking anything. There was paver bricks in the Plaza and Food court and people where reaching under the fence and stealing bricks. The demolition company actually removed 2 feet of paver bricks just so people wouldn't steal them.

I didn't get what the big deal was, it was like they where literally grinding up the bricks as they removed them so nobody could steal them