North Park Plaza demolition in Southfield

[Zacha341]

The second implosion to happen in this area since JL Hudson building downtown!

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/27...-in-southfield

[rjlj]

I could hear it from the I-75 & 696 area.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/27...-in-southfield

The second implosion to happen in this area since JL Hudson building downtown!

[gazhekwe]

I haven't heard a thing and I am only a mile away.

[Zacha341]

It happened at 8:33 AM or so... see approx. 15:00 time of top video supplied in the link above. Who else heard it, how far away?

[gazhekwe]

Yes, got to the end of the "live" video. Top one is at 15:01, bottom one about 13:40. Top one is the best, you can see the sparks inside when they push the button. Bottom one shows the extent of the cloud after two minutes, then blacks out. We got no dust over here, a mile to the northwest. And I heard nothing.

[Scottathew]

WJBK had this on TV live. I gathered the family around and we watched.

Shortly after the implosion they had a band on called "Steel Panther" that sang a Christmas song about inserting things into a woman's vagina, vibrators, sex, and other explicit and implicit sexual themes.

Many people complained on WJBK's Facebook page about it. WJBK decided to censor the people complaining on Facebook, instead of all the sexual language they invited a band to play around 9:00am on a Sunday morning. WJBK deleted all the complaints made on their Facebook page and have ignored the issue since the broadcast this morning.

[Zacha341]

At least they did not mention Jesus. That would have really been an uproar! Sounds perfect for the 'X'-mas season...... I went to youtube to get a sampling of their music. Those concerned should call the station directly and tune up their lines for a bit.

[Scottathew]

At least they did not mention Jesus that would have really been an uproar! Sounds perfect for the 'X'-mas season...... I went to youtube to get a sampling of their music. Those concerned should call the station directly and tune up their lines for a bit.

I did contact the station.

Here's the song they performed on air, from what I can tell, there was nothing modified from the YouTube version, and also, the song was played in its near-entirety on air.

[Zacha341]

Prudes beware! Hah. Dumb management decision considering the viewership that might include children as well. Be surprised by nothing is my motto.

[adamjab19]

Heard it loud and clear at 11.5 and woodward.

[eliboyer]

Heard it at 9/Woodward.

[Zacha341]

Here's a little bit of info on the actual building. Wasn't there a night club in there on the first floor at one time?

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

From the link:
"OCC has no immediate plans for the land but school officials decided the building was beyond repair..."

Makes me think that instead of continuing to champion sprawl, the dinosaur named L. Brooks Patterson should be attending to decline in the inner ring communities.

[248lurker]

Wasn't there a night club in there on the first floor at one time?

I don't know about a night club, but if this is the building I think it was, there used to be a cafeteria on the first floor. When I used to work in a suite at the next-door Kenmar Building, I often went there for lunch when they had items of interest on the menu.

[Gary]

The bar/nightclub was called Yesterday's. It was on the ground floor of the one time Southfield Sheraton hotel immediately next door on the east to North Park Plaza. The hotel went through several owners through the years.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I heard Oakland Community College right across the street, bought the property that also included the old Ramada Inn which was imploded this past summer, that was next to it. I wonder what are the plans for it?

[Bham1982]

I heard Oakland Community College right across the street, bought the property that also included the old Ramada Inn which was imploded this past summer, that was next to it. I wonder what are the plans for it?

This is what I was wondering. OCC enrollment is flat, that branch has low enrollment, yet the county finds money to buy a highrise to then tear down.

For what purpose? There is no need for additional OCC facilities, and, if there were, there would hardly be a less efficient way of finding new space by buying and demolishing highrises. Just lease space anywhere in that Northland corner of Southfield, which tends to have cheap rent and sky-high commercial vacancies.

OCC could also save money by selling its administrative center in Bloomfield Hills, well positioned for 5-minute commutes for its lavishly paid bureaucrats.

[Gannon]

I heard Oakland Community College right across the street, bought the property that also included the old Ramada Inn which was imploded this past summer, that was next to it. I wonder what are the plans for it?

Perhaps they're starting the long-waited Suburban-Implosion De-Engineering curricula?! That'd be fun...watch Southfield go down one building at a time. Next up? Troy.

[Scottathew]

This is what I was wondering. OCC enrollment is flat, that branch has low enrollment, yet the county finds money to buy a highrise to then tear down.

I didn't know the county paid for it. According to everything I can find, OCC purchased and paid for the land and building demolition.

I haven't been able to find any information about purchase price and demolition cost.

If OCC was able to get it on the cheap, it may be a very good way to allow for future expansion. If OCC paid top-dollar, then it would be rather frustrating. Government entities have the bad habit of over-paying for real estate.

[Hypestyles]

a lot more of this needs to happen throughout the metro. Starting with...

[paulj313]

I heard it at Greenfield & Puritan, felt like a small earthquake.

[DTWflyer]

What was the story with this building?

It was next to the Ramada Hotel they brought down last year?

While you joke about Troy, the only real large-scale derelict building at the time is the former K-Mart headquarters. Maybe the Ameritech building [[not sure if its still vacant, but at least its being maintained).
For awhile, some of those buildings in the Robinson Office park off I-75/Stephenson area were empty during the depth of the recession, it appears they've filled-up somewhat. Troy's big commercial build-out was mostly 1980s-era construction.

[Bham1982]

While you joke about Troy, the only real large-scale derelict building at the time is the former K-Mart headquarters. Maybe the Ameritech building [[not sure if its still vacant, but at least its being maintained).

The old KMart HQ, though, is prime real estate and very valuable land. It was bought by Somerset mall owners, who plan on expanding Somerset North onto the KMart HQ site.

In contrast, the whole Northland Mall area is pretty much a commercial disaster. At least one office building I recently visited had security guards in a highrise watchtower in the parking lot, medieval Europe-style. The only thing keeping that area semi-thriving is Providence Hospital.

[MAcc]

From the link:
"OCC has no immediate plans for the land but school officials decided the building was beyond repair..."

Makes me think that instead of continuing to champion sprawl, the dinosaur named L. Brooks Patterson should be attending to decline in the inner ring communities.

It's L Brooks's fault for aging [[i.e. cheap/declining) residential and commercial, Detroit being more or less inhabitable for families, leading to the deluge of subsidized housing vouchers used in Southfield, Clawson and south Troy? Oh, O.K.

[MAcc]

The old KMart HQ, though, is prime real estate and very valuable land. It was bought by Somerset mall owners, who plan on expanding Somerset North onto the KMart HQ site.

Is this still the same rumor from a few years back, or is this really being planned? So there'd be a bridge through Nordstrom, across Coolidge? Sounds incredibly futile.