Top of the Detroit Water & Sewerage 735 Randolph Street, Detroit, MI 48226

[ddaydetroit]

Why do the 3 top floors of this building appear to be an after thought ? I actually like the way it looks but the top 3 floor are a bright white while the rest of the building is gray and the design doesn't seem to match the lower floors.

[Jimaz]

Street View

[Jimaz]

... the top 3 floor are a bright white while the rest of the building is gray and ....

Could it be getting a powerwash from the top down? The rest of the building looks quite dirty.

[Hermod]

I worked in that building in 1961. The Bureau of Expressway design had a couple of floors. We were working diligently on the Chrysler [[later I-75) and had designs on the Fisher.

[hybridy]

"The exterior of the penthouse is actually painted terra cotta, with the rest of the building is faced in Bedford limestone"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_...ls_reference-2

http://historicdetroit.org/building/...oard-building/

http://www.louisgrell.com/artworks/w...lding-detroit/

[EastsideAl]

As shown in the bottom link posted by Hybridy above, the interior of the Water Board Building is really quite impressive. I remember being surprised by it, and how well it had been maintained, when I worked over there for a couple of months on a research project.

Check out the beautiful brass elevator door in this link:
http://detroit1701.org/Water%20Board...l#.VsYCH-Z8vf0

[Ray1936]

Top three floors were added some years after the original building was built. Why they made no attempt to match is probably lost to history. Prior to the original building being built, it was the site of Detroit Police Headquarters, which was demolished in 1922 after the new HQ building at 1300 Beaubien was built.

[hybridy]

Top three floors were added some years after the original building was built. Why they made no attempt to match is probably lost to history. Prior to the original building being built, it was the site of Detroit Police Headquarters, which was demolished in 1922 after the new HQ building at 1300 Beaubien was built.

Ray do you have a source? The top levels are mechanical penthouse which would need to come online with the entirety of the building upon opening. Everything I've read seems to state it was completed all in the original 7 months.

FYI- it's very common to skin building penthouses with a different materials for cost and aesthetic reasons.

[p69rrh51]

Looks like the penthouse was part of Kamper's original design. An ad from a 1928 issue of the Detroit Free Press.

[Ray1936]

Ray do you have a source? The top levels are mechanical penthouse which would need to come online with the entirety of the building upon opening. Everything I've read seems to state it was completed all in the original 7 months.

FYI- it's very common to skin building penthouses with a different materials for cost and aesthetic reasons.

Could be right; I just recall learning about the delay some decades ago. As far as the site being the HQ building of the DPD, that's a fact.

[Ray1936]

THE DETROIT POLICE HEADQUARTERS is centrally located at Bates, Farrar and Randolph streets. It is one of the best conducted departments in the country. This building contains the offices of the Police Commissioner, License Clerk and the head of the Detective Bureau.