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  1. #1

    Default Question about Campus Martius

    It's going to be obvious by this question that I haven't lived in the Detroit area in a long time, but here goes.

    Does Campus Martius Park take in what used to be Cadillac Square? Does either Cadillac Square or the part that was renamed Kennedy Square exist anymore in a way or form that I would recognize from the 60's?

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2

    Default

    A green glass midrise was built on Kennedy Square, and the Compuware HQ was built on the pentagonal grass park.

    Campus Martius was carved out of the space where all the intersections are. Additional property wasn't taken [[except a small wedge from One Kennedy Square I think), it was just extra space recovered by cleaning up the intersections.

    Cadillac Square has been relandscaped, and probably looks completely different but the location hasn't changed.

    Also, all the monuments that were there have been shuffled around, so those won't necessarily be in the same places you might remember them.

  3. #3

    Default

    Kennedy Square was much larger prior to Campus Martius being constructed.

    This should help you visualize it a bit.
    https://reuther.wayne.edu/node/6714
    http://grobbel.org/photos/slides/cro...q_june1968.jpg
    http://detroithistorical.org/learn/e...s-martius-park

    Note the soldiers and sailors monument was moved to its present location. It was not a huge move, but it matters enough in the perspective of the photo.

    Here is the reason why the block is named Kennedy Square:
    http://wdet.org/news/story/111913-jf...or-day-speech/
    Last edited by DetroitPlanner; December-20-13 at 10:30 PM. Reason: added content

  4. #4

    Default

    The second photo , the Crowley 8th floor pic is really great ! it's give a GREAT VIEW of Campus Martius and shows the area in transition .
    You can really see where the old city hall was , Kennedy Square , now Ernst and Young ,modern green building now ,the area where Compuwear[[sp) is now ,old Crowley's ,and the way the traffic circle was configured in ,heading from north Woodward to south
    Thanks !
    Last edited by Detroitdave; December-21-13 at 07:13 AM.

  5. #5

    Default

    Gosh.. I like it so much better now! If only the same activity and the same retail existed around it today..

  6. #6

    Default

    I remember the little island off the Kern Block where the newspaper stand was. Wasn't the island still there at the time the Hudson bldg. was imploded in 1998? Was it removed at the same time the Kern Block was razed?

  7. #7

    Default

    Thanks for your info. I find that [[like in my "What are the borders of Mid-Town" thread) the longer I've been gone, the more the area changes, and thus the less I understand.

    Am I correct that picture #2 looks down on the Kern Block?

  8. #8

    Default

    Cadillac Square is a misnomer... it's actually the 2 block long street between Randolph and Woodward. And Campus Martius was the block that the original 1806 Woodward Plan showed in the historic map. In the 20th century it didn't exist except in name only... being the terminus of all the streets radiating from the central location of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

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