MCS cleanup?

[Gsgeorge]

Here are the pics, as promised. These are from the cleanup on Friday the 10th of July. There hasn't been too much that has changed since the last cleanup on Thursday so these photos should suffice until they start some of the heavy facade cleaning and restoration.

The main hall. You could eat off that floor! Well, almost.
Attachment 2310

Volunteers lining up to dump debris into the frontloader that the Bridge Co. provided.
Attachment 2311

The Bridge Co. brought one of their pickup trucks inside to power a blowtorch.
Attachment 2312

Project leader John Mohyi [[orange helmet) speaks with a representative of the Bridge Co. and several of his volunteers.
Attachment 2313

The facade is getting there. The first column on the right has been partially cleaned, while the ones on the left still have grime and graffiti. Soon, the broken glass will be replaced and new front doors will be installed.
Attachment 2314

[Gsgeorge]

A few more.

A volunteer removes some debris, passing in front of one of the frontloaders provided by the Bridge Co.
Attachment 2316

Breaking out the blowtorch to remove some heavy piping that has fallen from the ceiling.
Attachment 2317

A volunteer shovels debris and dirt into a garbage can.
Attachment 2318

[French777]

Did you say a new door and glass?!!!

I am really excited!!!!

[ASR89]

Indeed, French. Me too. Thank you for uploading those, George.

[cman710]

Thanks for the update. I have attached a crop from a much larger picture that I took 1 year ago of that same main window with the pillars [[surrounding the rightmost of the three main windows when one faces the station). It looks like those pillars never had graffiti [[unless there was some more recent tagging), so the cleanup job on those was probably easier for them. Hopefully, they will have no problems getting the grafitti off the other pillars.

[French777]

its amazing what can happen when neighborhoods band together for a common good!

[Detroit500]

does anyone know what Maroun is planning to do with the building once this is done?

[EastSider]

I vote for "coast on the goodwill generated by this dog and pony show and let it rot for another 10 years."

[mcsdetroitfriend]

Hey I was the original guy who posted on the ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, well I'm glad people here are a little more receptive to what a lot of us consider progress!
Shout out to gsgeorge who stopped by a couple weeks ago to check it out! good to meet u!

[EastSider]

Hey I was the original guy who posted on the ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, well I'm glad people here are a little more receptive to what a lot of us consider progress!
Shout out to gsgeorge who stopped by a couple weeks ago to check it out! good to meet u!

What's "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"?

I think this is a poor use of what could be a good group for the city. Why are you letting a billionaire slumlord use you? Why are people wearing shorts! to do hazardous cleanup work?

Couldn't you find some summer school to help tutor in?

[mcsdetroitfriend]

I'm not a member of summer in the city.....~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ . com was what that was no hotlinking on here I see.

I'm not sure why the kids are allowed to wear shorts, I've voiced concern to their leader and he says he would not be able to enforce it, which I call bullshit on....
As far as why we're letting Maroun's company use us. Well a vast majority of those volunteering have a fond spot for the building. For me it's kind of like my Titanic, I know it inside and out, so to be able to be a part of a group that can help facilitate in making it functional again is a big deal to a lot of people. Whether it's a PR stunt for ABC or not I don't care, the employees that have been helping us have been genuinely giddy about what's going on and they've been helping us everyway they can, so it doesn't really matter because people connected to the company are excited about this. We have Home Depot on board now which is huge, and I think if people of Detroit see that there's a new life being put into MCS then I think a lot of good could come out of it

[Gsgeorge]

Agreed mcsdetroitfriend. Nothing like perpetuating the same-old-same-old by battling the billionaire who owns the station. Time to put aside our differences, however vast, and join together to do something good for the community. The restoration of MCS can only do good for the city & the neighborhood, and it will not happen without getting the owner involved with the community on some scale. This is a good way to bridge the divide that has existed between ABC and the community.

[Meddle]

Is this the building I think it is? If so, I heard a story once that in order for workers to go in there, they had to wear protective clothing due to the number of fleas.

[Gsgeorge]

Meddle, WTF?????

[EastSider]

Fleas, other parasites and bacterial infections are a considerable health risk when dealing with rodent and bird droppings/feathers. The thought of those people in the pictures without even those cheap dust filters over their mouths turns my stomach. Not to mention your eyes can also be an entry point for bacteria to enter your system.

I wonder if the company workers are giddy about the work, or because they got a bunch of kids to give them free labor?

[Gsgeorge]

There isn't as much bird droppings in the MCS as you might think. Try digging around in the Eastowne theater if you want to get sick. MCS is open to the elements, the wind sweeps through there and clears the air out pretty good. Birds don't nest in the station's main hall, and there are not any living in the upper floors. The only thing the station has is a colony of bats in the smokestack.

[Meddle]

This is 14th & Michigan, right?

The story was third or fourth hand, but it concerned the upper floors and the amount of waste and paper [[old files) full of moisture. It was said that when people went in there, there were so many fleas they could actually see them moving.

But that was 20 years ago or more.

[kraig]

Great job to all of the people that got in there and did something.

[Bearinabox]

I vote for "coast on the goodwill generated by this dog and pony show and let it rot for another 10 years."

Sounds about right.

[Gistok]

What's "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"?

I think this is a poor use of what could be a good group for the city. Why are you letting a billionaire slumlord use you? Why are people wearing shorts! to do hazardous cleanup work?

Couldn't you find some summer school to help tutor in?

"----------------------" is the.... as the Harry Potter movies would say.... the Voldemort [[or that website that cannot be mentioned)... of DYES.

As for how someone donates their free time... that's their business...

[kraig]

"As for how someone donates their free time... that's their business..."


Amen to that. It's amazing that there are some people, on this thread, that are complaining about volunteers cleaning up the MCS. There have even been comments about some of the people coming from out-state. Why would that even be an issue? Whoever has problems with the MCS cleanup, just have problems, period.

[EastSider]

"As for how someone donates their free time... that's their business..."


Amen to that. It's amazing that there are some people, on this thread, that are complaining about volunteers cleaning up the MCS. There have even been comments about some of the people coming from out-state. Why would that even be an issue? Whoever has problems with the MCS cleanup, just have problems, period.

Summer in the City is a 501c[[3) non-profit organization. When tax-deductible donations are involved, it stops being just about "how someone donates their time." It's about the blatant contradiction between the stated goal of Summer in the City

Working to Create a Tangible Impact on a Great City!Summer in the City focuses its resources on creating a impact that you can see throughout the great city of Detroit. We tutor, mentor and play with elementary school students, offering them a safe and fun environment to learn and grown. We paint murals that beautify places throughout the city. We demolish blighted property to make way for new construction. We plant, weed and landscape community gardens that reclaim vacant lots throughout the city.

and cleaning up a billionaire slumlord's property for free.

Especially when that building owner steals parkland from the city and ignores contracts with MDOT, to name two recent examples of his behavior.

[kraig]

Summer in the City is a 501c[[3) non-profit organization. When tax-deductible donations are involved, it stops being just about "how someone donates their time." It's about the blatant contradiction between the stated goal of Summer in the City

and cleaning up a billionaire slumlord's property for free.

Especially when that building owner steals parkland from the city and ignores contracts with MDOT, to name two recent examples of his behavior.

It was a tangible impact, that's for sure.

It appears as though the DIBC provided the materials and the volunteers provided the labor. Do you know if there was money spent by the Summer in the City organization during the cleanup? If so, how much?

There are plenty of organizations that do work that is not detailed in their mission statements. "Blatant contradiction between the stated goal" would imply that they are not carrying out their mission statement. Are you accusing them of that? Please clarify.

Let's leave it up to the courts to decide if Parkland was stolen or contractual agreements were violated. As I've stated before, the City of Detroit gave the DIBC permission to block off a portion of Riverside Park. Haven't you noticed that the City got real quiet about this all of a sudden?

[mcsdetroitfriend]

It was a tangible impact, that's for sure.

It appears as though the DIBC provided the materials and the volunteers provided the labor. Do you know if there was money spent by the Summer in the City organization during the cleanup? If so, how much?

As far as I'm aware of the only thing Summer In The City has spent money on is some commemorative t-shirts for all their kids with a black and white photograph of the station in its prime, and maybe the gas to get to and from the location.

Everything else from the shovels, the brooms, the masks, the hardhats, the portapotty rentals, the dumpsters, and all other supplies, along with the food for the BBQ's we've had DIBC has provided all of that

[kraig]

As far as I'm aware of the only thing Summer In The City has spent money on is some commemorative t-shirts for all their kids with a black and white photograph of the station in its prime, and maybe the gas to get to and from the location.

Everything else from the shovels, the brooms, the masks, the hardhats, the portapotty rentals, the dumpsters, and all other supplies, along with the food for the BBQ's we've had DIBC has provided all of that

Thanks for clearing that up. And double thanks for helping to clean up an area that a lot of people have been complaining about for years. I'm sure that the last thing you were expecting were all of the complaints you've gotten over helping to preserve a historic site. Especially on a site that's dedicated to the fabulous ruins of Detroit.