What are they? [The old convention hall.]

[Bluenote132003]

If I do this right, the link should take you to a larger version. We're looking down Woodward to the South from around Warren Ave. dated 10/10/34. In the upper right quadrant of the picture are two side by side, long, apparently corrugated tubes [[?), couple blocks long, maybe 6-10' in diameter? I see no evidence of train tracks, but what are they? Photo courtesy of Bentley Image Bank.http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhl/x-bl004007/bl004007

[townonenorth]

If I do this right, the link should take you to a larger version. We're looking down Woodward to the South from around Warren Ave. dated 10/10/34.
In the upper right quadrant of the picture are two side by side, long, apparrently corrugated tubes [[?), couple blocks long, maybe 6-10' in diameter? I see no evidence of train tracks, but what are they?
Photo courtesy of Bentley Image Bank.


http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bhl/x-bl004007/bl004007

Looks more like a skylight on an industrial building to me. zoom in at the 7000+ and you will see.

[MikeM]

The old convention hall.

[Detroitnerd]

Yeah, they look like windows. A lot of old buildings had them. Daylight was an important source of illumination, even in the early 20th century.

[Bluenote132003]

Is this it, Mike?

http://173.12.230.43/tag499.jpg

[MikeM]

Yes, I believe so, although I thought the "front" end was on Cass.

[Detroitnerd]

An old DY post read: "Convention Hall was in the middle of the large block between Canfield and Forest, just north of the Whitney Mansion [[the Whitney Restaurant today). It ran all the way through from Woodward to Cass."

Also, according to DetroitYES legend, it's also the structure that caused the Detroit vortex to form.

[MikeM]

Another, earlier view:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/dpa1ic/x...;q1=Convention


This might be the inside, unless it's the old downtown armory:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/dpa1ic/x...;q1=Convention

[Gannon]

LOL...the hole in time that the Nain Rouge uses to mess with us?!

[MikeM]

4464-4484 Cass was the address.

[rb336]

Whatever it was, it was right accross from the 1st congregational church

[Detroitnerd]

Another, earlier view:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/dpa1ic/x...;q1=Convention

Note ghetto palms at left...

[MikeM]

4464-4484 Cass was the address.

Not sure when it was built. A map from 1921 labels the empty space behing the Woodward store fronts as "Grindley Athletic Field".

[MikeM]

Note ghetto palms at left...

On the Whitney's lot.

[Detroitnerd]

LOL...the hole in time that the Nain Rouge uses to mess with us?!

It could be! Somebody have a link to the "Detroit vortex" thread where it as officially "discovered"?

[Detroitnerd]

An old DY post read: "Convention Hall was in the middle of the large block between Canfield and Forest, just north of the Whitney Mansion [[the Whitney Restaurant today). It ran all the way through from Woodward to Cass."

Also worth noting that it was originally the grounds of an athletic club, one of the few large greenfield parcels ready for development in the early 20th century.

Also saw some photos of the convention hall in the 1960s I think. It looked seedier.

[animatedmartian]

It's the huge building in the bottom of the picture. The Main Library and the DIA are at the top.

Attachment 11279
^{Screenshot from DTE archive aerial photos.}

[gnome]

As an aside, the Venors Company traded their property downtown [[on what would become Hart Plaza) for the Convention Hall property.

[Bluenote132003]

Thanks, all!
Not as odd as I thought it might be...

[Lowell]

That picture had to be shot from the top floor of the Maccabees Building. How do I know? I have an unfinished drawing from the 1980's I did from there back when WDET had its offices located there and I could sit in the stair well by a window. Woodward appears to have been narrower back then.

[Lowell]

An aside... It is slightly amusing that the photo was by Great Lakes Steel who was probably responsible for a good portion of the smog covering downtown Detroit.

[Lowell]

As an aside, the Venors Company traded their property downtown [[on what would become Hart Plaza) for the Convention Hall property.

That was the site of the famous Vernor's gnome sign. There were glass windows on the Woodward side where one could view some of the bottling operations.

[animatedmartian]

Lowell, what's going on in that picture you drew? I see cows and a semi-truck with its back doors open.

[gazhekwe]

Wow, cows running around on Woodward, too cool! Was this an actual event?

[old guy]

This is that photo from the Maccabee, July 1942.
Attachment 11281