Detroit's light pole restoration project

[MetalDr.]

Hello its the Metal doctor with a new an exciting project, Have a look at this and tell us what you think.

[Mind field]

Wow, Detroit has a grand array of beautiful, but neglected, streetlights. Best of luck in your efforts to restore them all to their original condition.

[Jimaz]

That was very impressive — a very well-done video. Well worth promoting.

CAN Art Handworks

[cjd]

Very nice video. Can you tell me anything more about your project? Where is the funding coming from or expected to come from? What are the goals and the timelines for the project [[I believe 10% of 88k was mentioned in the video)? Has such a project ever been done elsewhere? Has anyone ever used these old streetlights in the innovative ways you suggested?
Finally, what can any of us do to help?

[ParisianLesion]

^ I second that... what can I do to get involved?

[DetroitPlanner]

Have you identified a source of funding for this project?
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/map21/factsheets/tap.cfm

[Dbest]

I'm so glad this guy is trying to help. The thought of what could happen to these historic lights has crossed my mind too many times. These lights are no different than some of the beautiful run-down buildings in the city. At their core they are strong and aesthetically pleasing. The lights add to the blight in their current condition though, a wide-scale effort to restore these would be huge in my book.

One other thing, He mentions a plan to "re-appropriate" lights to historic areas. What areas would be stripped of their lights? I worry because he talks about wi-fi and charging ports. That doesn't fit the demographics of the current neighborhoods outside of downtown.

Is there a website for this particular project?

[Packman41]

I really hope this project takes off. We get back our ornamental streetlights and at HALF the price of new replacements. All the while he is passing on a craft to the youths of the area.

He has a very interesting backstory here: http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detr...storing-Roots/

[p69rrh51]

http://www.dbusiness.com/daily-news/...-Streetlights/

[Lowell]

Very nice presentation MetalDoctor. Interesting history of the styles. I never realized they were so old. Good luck with you project and efforts.

[scottn55]

This is great. I've always loved the ornate streetlights throughout the city. They make a huge difference aesthetically in my opinion. For a perfect example note the difference when you drive Plymouth Rd westbound from Redford Twp, which uses the 1970's era lights, into Livonia where they've installed historic-style replicas. It's a very stark contrast even though the lights are really the only distinction between the two areas.

[Detroit Signal]

Outstanding work MetalDoctor!!! I have an old arc lamp fixture that was converted to incandescent and it hangs in my basement bar. The patent reads 1908. I love stuff like this!!!

My projects are along the same lines, but I restore Detroit traffic lights for my own collection. My last completed project was a restoration of a 1940s Marbelite signal which served at McDougall and Ferry:

[milt721]

There's a whole bunch of the old style streetlights along E Warren near Cadillac Blvd.

[mtburb]

Years ago there was a lot of old-style street lights along Fort Street between Waterman and the Rouge bridge. Unfortunately, they've been all pretty much been replaced.

This is great. I've always loved the ornate streetlights throughout the city. They make a huge difference aesthetically in my opinion. For a perfect example note the difference when you drive Plymouth Rd westbound from Redford Twp, which uses the 1970's era lights, into Livonia where they've installed historic-style replicas. It's a very stark contrast even though the lights are really the only distinction between the two areas.

There's a similar contrast further out Fort along the Southgate-Wyandotte border-Southgate also uses 1970's lights, while Wyandotte has also installed historic replicas-they were installed last fall, albeit only from Eureka Road northward. These historic replicas replaced 1970's lights that used to line the entire length of the Wyandotte side of Fort up until a couple years ago.

Here's a picture looking north from Eureka taken last month to show you. Wyandotte is on the right, I am standing in Southgate.