Penobscot building lights

**drjeff** · October-06-11, 02:30 PM

As I sat in Comerica Park Monday and Tuesday nights, I was reminded again that for some reason the lights that used to illuminate the Penobscot building at night are no longer lit. The red ball was lit, but the white lights that shine on the upper parts of the building were dark and have been for quite some time now. Does anyone know why? This is such an iconic part of the Detroit skyline that I miss.

It also makes it seem like the red globe is floating in the sky by itself.

**esp1986** · October-06-11, 03:18 PM

I am shocked the red ball was even lit... the last time I saw any of that lit, it was only half the ball. As for the building, it has probably been at last 9-10 months since it has been lit. The building's owners, or former owners, were also the owners of the recently foreclosed First National Building that has been sold to Dan Gilbert. I have heard that the Penobscot is out of their hands now, but It is no surprise that the lights atop the building are of no concern to the owners...

one question for you... was the entire ball actually lit?

**drjeff** · October-06-11, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by esp1986

I am shocked the red ball was even lit... the last time I saw any of that lit, it was only half the ball. As for the building, it has probably been at last 9-10 months since it has been lit. The building's owners, or former owners, were also the owners of the recently foreclosed First National Building that has been sold to Dan Gilbert. I have heard that the Penobscot is out of their hands now, but It is no surprise that the lights atop the building are of no concern to the owners...

one question for you... was the entire ball actually lit?

It sure looked like it from my vantage point. This is the first time I've seen any part of it lit in many months.

There were also no interior lights on in any part of the building I could see. Is it mostly vacant now?

On a good note, it's so nice to see lights on in the peak of the Broderick!

**mikeg19** · October-06-11, 04:32 PM

One thing that I liked a few years ago were those proposals to light up more buildings downtown. Not to the extent that those drawings had, but the accent lighting on the facade of the Penobscot, Stott, Guardian, and the like. It would be nice to see some of those buildings lit up a bit more at night. But then again, I can only imagine what it would cost to have lights burning all night on a building. Even if it was from 8pm to midnight would be cool.

**ismoakrack** · October-07-11, 02:01 AM

One Woodward has also gone dark within the last several months. Despite lights on in the Broderick, downtown is much darker. What gives?

I know the crown of the Guardian hasn't been lit up for centuries. Anybody know why?

**Gistok** · October-07-11, 02:29 AM

Originally Posted by ismoakrack

One Woodward has also gone dark within the last several months. Despite lights on in the Broderick, downtown is much darker. What gives?

I know the crown of the Guardian hasn't been lit up for centuries. Anybody know why?

Ummmmm this is just a guess, but..... looked at your DTE electric bill lately?

**ismoakrack** · October-07-11, 01:00 PM

Duh. Building occupancy must be considerably down.

**Downriviera** · October-07-11, 01:48 PM

I'm wondering if all the downtown buildings will be lit up for the coming Monday Night Football game. I know most cities do this when they have a Monday night game, makes for a nice aerial shot.

**BasementBeat** · October-07-11, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by Downriviera

I'm wondering if all the downtown buildings will be lit up for the coming Monday Night Football game. I know most cities do this when they have a Monday night game, makes for a nice aerial shot.

I hope so, would be an awful time for one of those downtown power outages...

**Whitehouse** · October-07-11, 09:50 PM

I think the red ball might be lit by FAA regularion, an aircraft beacon.

[[A farm with a red ball on top)

**Gistok** · October-07-11, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

I think the red ball might be lit by FAA regularion, an aircraft beacon.

[[A farm with a red ball on top)

Good point... at 625ft. the ball at the top of the Penobscot Building is the 2nd tallest building point in Michigan.

**MSUguy** · October-07-11, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by ismoakrack

Duh. Building occupancy must be considerably down.

That's what I was thinking, that given a drop in occupany they could no longer afford to keep the exterior lights on.

**stasu1213** · October-08-11, 08:09 AM

The fountain at Campus Martius wasn't running around 4pm this past thursday. I was wonder was the city cutting back on the amount of power it uses to run it. There were paper and other litter in the fountain when it wasn't running. God forbids what it would look like if it was to stop running permanentely.

**Scottathew** · October-08-11, 08:18 PM

Anyone else notice that around the fourth floor that the Penobscot building has something that closely resembles a swastika that goes around the entire building?

**mikeg19** · October-08-11, 08:35 PM

Originally Posted by 48091

Anyone else notice that around the fourth floor that the Penobscot building has something that closely resembles a swastika that goes around the entire building?

The "Swastikas" on the Penobscot Building were on the building before Hitler adopted them as part of his Nazi Germany. The Swastika actually was a good luck charm for the Penobscot Indians, as evidenced by the Native American theme of the building.

**stasu1213** · October-08-11, 10:10 PM

The ball was lit on top of the Penobscot Building tonight. Speaking of the Penobscot; I didn't know until 10 years ago the Chanel perfume co was housed inside of the building. I love walking through it, the Fisher, the Guardian, and the Dime

**Gistok** · October-08-11, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

The "Swastikas" on the Penobscot Building were on the building before Hitler adopted them as part of his Nazi Germany. The Swastika actually was a good luck charm for the Penobscot Indians, as evidenced by the Native American theme of the building.

Right you are, they are a native American motif, as well as ancient Roman. I saw some Swastika emblems on ancient Roman mosaic floors in Europe.

The Swastika was used as a 3rd Reich motif, taken as a symbol of ancient Rome...the Holy Roman Empire [[1st Reich, 800AD - 1806AD) was considered by Germans as a reestablishment of the Roman Empire. Another emblem taken by the Nazi's was the ancient Roman Fasces [[as seen on the back of old Mercury Dimes of 1916-45).... however, the fasces don't have the stigma today that the swastika has.

**Scottathew** · October-09-11, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

The "Swastikas" on the Penobscot Building were on the building before Hitler adopted them as part of his Nazi Germany. The Swastika actually was a good luck charm for the Penobscot Indians, as evidenced by the Native American theme of the building.

Wow, I had no idea!

My coworkers will find this information most fascinating. Thanks!

**Gistok** · October-09-11, 02:15 PM

The original owner of the Penobscot Buiding [[not Wirt Rowland, the architect) was from Maine... where the Penobscot Indians originated from... hence the building name. In fact the county where Bangor Maine is located is called Penobscot County.

**Dexlin** · October-10-11, 12:01 AM

Did a little research and the real estate agency for the building is reporting a 47.86% lease rate. So the building is just a bit over half empty. The total space available for lease is about 495,000 square feet. That is a lot of space to fill. I totally get why the CBD vacancy rate is over 30% even with all of the moves downtown, lately. Just some perspective, the CBD absorbed 112,000 square feet of space over the first half of this year.

**Scottathew** · October-10-11, 09:16 AM

I saw a Quicken press conference this morning. Apparently they just moved A LOT of people into the Chase building. I looked out my window and it seemed like they had the entire lobby crammed with people.

So it looks like downtown is a little less vacant this morning!

**legalbeagle922** · October-14-11, 02:01 PM

Just heard word that ceremonial re-lighting of the red beacon on top of the Penobscot is planned for October 27th.

**mikeg19** · October-14-11, 04:10 PM

Was the reason as to why the ball on top was out of commission ever validated? Was it a lightning strike?

**detroiter79** · October-15-11, 02:48 AM

Wow legalbeagle, we just sent invitations this afternoon to tenants, glad to see word is getting out on the event... The re-lighting of the red beacon is scheduled for the 27th and special guest Cynthia J. Pasky, President & CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions will be conducting the relighting. If there's room I'd be happy to send invites to anyone interested in attending [[just pm me).

For those of you who haven't been in the Griswold lobby lately, it was diamond polished a few weeks ago and looks just amazing. Met a security guard that's been working at the building since 1981... I'm sure you could imagine the stories he has to tell. Spent the night last week working on a time-lapse project on the roof and the views were just amazing:

**French777** · October-16-11, 08:48 PM

I walked/jogged the half-marathon this morning at the Penobscot lights were on untill about 7am. The white lights along the upper floors exterior and the red ball. Looked Great!