Something's up: Uniroyal Tire Site

**Rocko** · September-01-11, 10:19 PM

From aboard Diamond Jack's River Tours today I noticed a small fleet of 3-4 backhoes/bulldozers within the old Uniroyal Tire Plant site on East Jefferson near the Belle Isle Bridge - at least two of the big rigs were active in felling large trees along the water within the site. Are things finally starting to move forward at this location? Seems kinda silly to cut down all the trees, some of which are now well over 20 years old, just to plant new silly ones. Anyone know what's up?

Side note: This is the last weekend of Diamond Jack's public tours for the summer, so if you've been meaning to go but haven't yet, you have till this Sunday at 3:30 to make it happen or put it off till next June!!

lilpup · September-01-11, 10:36 PM

Press conference Friday a.m. about it - Bing and a Jerome Bettis representative due to be present.

**BVos** · September-01-11, 10:48 PM

It's the environmental remediation of the site that's starting:

http://www.modeldmedia.com/inthenews/uniroyal13608.aspx

On the other side of the site a fence company has been adding a gate this week. A sure sign that something is about to happen as well!

**East Detroit** · September-01-11, 11:54 PM

An unnamed hardware store in Detroit reports selling 4 hardhats and 4 chrome shovels this week.

**davewindsor** · September-02-11, 07:37 AM

They were talking about it on Channel 7 news this morning. Apparently, DTE Energy and another company finally agreed to pay for the cleanup and then they showed pictures of a proposed future condo development on the site. Then, the screen flipped to a picture of Donald Trump saying he made an offer for the site in 1986, but it was rejected so I guess the inference was it must be some really hot property for condo development because Trump made an offer on it. Probably the only reason he was interested in it was because he thought he could build a casino on it and the state told him where to go.

**Hypestyles** · September-02-11, 09:46 AM

From the Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/article/2011090...yssey=nav|head

The original Betters/Bettis proposal was expected to take 10 years, with up to 2,000 residential units in a multiuse complex. The expected cost in 2006 was about $500 million.

...it would take 10 years to build what they want? seriously? how contaminated is that area?

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · September-02-11, 09:49 AM

Where my Mom lives in upstate NY, GE's cleanup of the upper Hudson is expected to take anothe 25 years...

**MSUguy** · September-02-11, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

From the Free Press:
http://www.freep.com/article/2011090...yssey=nav|head

...it would take 10 years to build what they want? seriously? how contaminated is that area?

They weren't referring to cleanup, but constructing 2,000 housing units.

**vjean46** · September-02-11, 02:01 PM

Originally Posted by MSUguy

They weren't referring to cleanup, but constructing 2,000 housing units.

Who's the developer?
And who are they going to sell these units to? Well, maybe in ten years they'll have a few sold.

**Detroitnerd** · September-02-11, 02:07 PM

Grandpappy worked at United States Rubber for a long time. I would say it's VERY polluted. Like, don't even walk on the ground there.

**English** · September-02-11, 02:08 PM

I'm confused why they're not developing the former Watermark project site. There's nothing there...

**corktownyuppie** · September-02-11, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by English

I'm confused why they're not developing the former Watermark project site. There's nothing there...

I think the Watermark developers may still rights to the land and are trying to line up financing.

**Jimaz** · September-02-11, 02:45 PM

LOL at the Orwellian sound of "felling large trees" as part of "environmental remediation."

I'm sure it's necessary though. The roots probably sucked up a lot of poison.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · September-03-11, 12:03 AM

Okay, let me preface this- before I get flamed by all- that my ideas in this post ARE unrealistic, and not a proposal for the city to spend money doing... It's just what would do if I had the money and the power to do it...

With the Uniroyal site finally being cleared of contamination [[well, work to that affect starting), I would propose to make it into a second "Cultural Center" in the city, dedicated to the sciences. I would put a natural history museum, planetarium and aquarium there, as well as relocate the Detroit Science Center [[dedicated to being a kid's museum about the application of math, science, and technology), and relocate a vastly larger Dossin Great Lakes Museum there. I think they could all be fit on a campus there, with centralized parking. It would make it a better destination for tourists, and drive up pedestrian traffic along Jefferson and the Riverwalk.

Whereas the new Cultural Center would be dedicated to the sciences, the old one could focus on the arts and history. Where the Science Center was, I would put a museum of Native American History [[the one in DC is AWFUL and uninformative; if I were a native American I'd be peeved). I would like to see as well a Detroit Musical Heritage Museum [[I love the Motown Museum, but Detroit's musical story began ages before Motown, and continues to this day; maybe it could be adjacent to the Motown Museum). Also, I think a Michigan History Museum could be built adjacent to the wonderful Detroit History Museum. I know there's one in Lansing, but more people would visit one here.

If anyone's got a few billion sitting around, and not know what to do with it...

**RickBeall** · September-03-11, 03:33 AM

I say, Let's build a tire plant!

**masterblaster** · September-03-11, 04:17 AM

How about moving the Giant Uniroyal Tire to that location and altering it back to its original configuration as a Ferris Wheel? Not only would that add a sweet attraction to that end of the RiverWalk, but it would also pay homage to the history of that site.

I would also rebuild the World's Largest Stove, and put it at its original location at the entrance to Belle Isle.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · September-03-11, 06:33 AM

That Uniroyal Ferris Wheel is the funniest thing I've seen in years.

**jcole** · September-03-11, 07:31 AM

Why funny?

The Uniroyal® Giant Tire was originally created as a Ferris wheel attraction at the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. The wheel held 96 fairgoers and was powered by a 100-horsepower motor. More than two million people rode the Giant Tire Ferris wheel during the fair, including Jacqueline Kennedy and her children, John Jr. and Caroline.

**401don** · September-04-11, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

Why funny?

Can't find the link but the Toronto Star had an article Saturday about how the mayor proposed a giant ferris wheel for the waterfront and how other cities worldwide have looked at London's millenium wheel and want to take it to the next level.

**Whitehouse** · September-05-11, 05:35 AM

Originally Posted by 401don

Can't find the link but the Toronto Star had an article Saturday about how the mayor proposed a giant ferris wheel for the waterfront and how other cities worldwide have looked at London's millenium wheel and want to take it to the next level.

Can't find the link?
Djeez, That was easy.

Typical that it has to be a Ford dream. Just our luck....

**Junkin4Life** · September-05-11, 06:18 AM

i wonder what they will rename the Uniroyal site once the new buildings and landscapes are up.

**davewindsor** · September-05-11, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by 401don

Can't find the link but the Toronto Star had an article Saturday about how the mayor proposed a giant ferris wheel for the waterfront and how other cities worldwide have looked at London's millenium wheel and want to take it to the next level.

Must be great when the real estate prices are so high in Toronto that the Mayor can say "he wants the city to sell its roughly 170 waterfront acres to developers who would pay for the attractions plus infrastructure such as roads." That was easy.

**Detroitnerd** · September-06-11, 11:22 AM

I love Detroit development thinking.

Prosperous cities have Ferris wheels.

We need a more prosperous city.

Therefore, we're going to build a Ferris wheel!

**bailey** · September-06-11, 03:00 PM

“Our riverfront real estate is some of the most valuable land that I think we have in the city of Detroit, and for years and years it’s been totally underutilized,”

If the riverfront land is the most valuable land in the city, then Detroit is beyond hope. If it's so "valuable" then why are there so many empty parcels and failed developments? Why is the highest and best use of riverfront property near the RenCen a giant parking lot?

I mean valuable property is by definition not underutilized. "valuable" property is "valuable".. because there is a use for it. Value-LESS property sits empty for decades, or is perpetually "lining up financing" or "awaiting clean up", or is used as a surface parking lot.

I agree the riverfront is underutilized... but that doesn't make it valuable if no one wants to build, finance building, live, or invest on it.

**daniel_duggan** · September-06-11, 03:00 PM

FYI, here's a story I wrote on Friday about the clean-up plans. I omitted the quote from Jerome Bettis, which we included in our Rumblings section, in which he said that as a kid he thought "people were melted in there."

From my conversations with the people doing the work there are some nasty, nasty things under the ground. Giant tar pits that cooled and leached into the soil, for example, not to mention that they actually manufactured ammonia over there.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...-site-targeted