Sanders sign Blast from the Past...

[Detroit Stylin]

Sanders sign uncovered from Bedrock renovation downtown

http://www.dailydetroit.com/2017/08/...8b2e-270293013

[Honky Tonk]

I didn't know Bernie campaigned there.

I recall going there with my parents as a kid. The place was so upscale back then. I always felt like we were Stylin'.

[Lowell]

I noticed that a couple of weeks back. It looks like the red [marble?] covering and silver letters have since been removed.

[clubboss]

I just tried Sanders ice cream - my favorite flavor is Hot Fudge Sundae. Not skimpy on the hot fudge

[Ray1936]

Jeez. As a kid, my memories are to the David Whitney Building, 8th floor, to have a dentist torture me; then to Sanders for a sundae, then to Grinnell's to buy the latest sheet music for me to try on the piano. I'm talking the forties, gang, but thinking about that trip today gives me 2/3rds of a thrill.

[ABetterDetroit]

Ironic. I would think that a upscale ice cream/candy/desert place would do well in that location now.

The Astoria has to be raking it in these days. Their busy constantly.

[Meddle]

^^ Is the restaurant/counter area still there? Or did they clear it out when they closed it?

Would be kinda cool to reopen it as retro.

[Hermod]

For little kids trying to sit at the soda fountain, they had a contraption that was a metal strap which hooked over the waitress side of the counter and lay across the top of the counter. Suspended from the customer side was a metal box which gave the kid a platform for his soda or sundae which was about 9 inches lower than the counter. I was always fascinated by that. My mother loved to stop in Sanders either the one downtown or the one in the little shopping strip along Houston between Kelly and Hayes [[Sanders, Wrigley's, Cunningham, Grinnell, and a few other stores.

[clubboss]

Ironic. I would think that a upscale ice cream/candy/desert place would do well in that location now.

The Astoria has to be raking it in these days. Their busy constantly.

Agreed, “Sanders Fine chocolatiers; America’s original gourmet dessert toppings”, would fit perfectly.
Still a fan after all these years.

[jcole]

^^ Is the restaurant/counter area still there? Or did they clear it out when they closed it?

Would be kinda cool to reopen it as retro.

I kind of doubt that the Bail Bondsman that was located there kept the counter, but hey, maybe..

[DetBill]

I still think Detroit could use a really good ice cream parlor downtown,, they tend to do very well as long as its good ice cream.. Mitchell family in Cleveland opened a fabulous one in their Ohio City area downtown that was an old theater,, totally gutted and renovated, spent several million, great ice cream.. all glass enclosed inside where you can watch all the operations and ice cream making going on and on two floors with an elevator. Its crowded all the time,, no matter what season, ,along with their five other suburban locations do very well. great product reasonable prices,, great marketing... I wish Gilbert with his Cleveland connections could convince them to open here..Im sure it would do very well, Detroit would be very impressed. We have some great locations on Woodward now that could house one, which Gilbert now owns

[Zacha341]

There are or were two ice cream places in Ferndale, but one just closed. Maybe that was too much for a small town around the corner from each other [[Nine mile Woodward area). But yes, it'd be grand to have one downtown... what happened to that Ben and Jerry's?

[p69rrh51]

I noticed that a couple of weeks back. It looks like the red [marble?] covering and silver letters have since been removed.

Unfortunately the current façade is part of a 1948 remuddle of the building designed by Pollmar, Ropes & Lundy. The image posted below is how Albert Kahn intended that façade to look. From what I have heard the unappealing 1948 façade will remain.

[Van Dyke Brown]

Unfortunately the current façade is part of a 1948 remuddle of the building designed by Pollmar, Ropes & Lundy. The image posted below is how Albert Kahn intended that façade to look. From what I have heard the unappealing 1948 façade will remain.

FYI, they are peeling the marble off the current facade as we speak...same as what they did to the Grinnell Building next door [[on the left), which also had a marble facade added in place of the original. I imagine they will bust out all of the brick behind it too [[like next door) to open it up and hopefully restore to the original facade.

[p69rrh51]

FYI, they are peeling the marble off the current facade as we speak...same as what they did to the Grinnell Building next door [[on the left), which also had a marble facade added in place of the original. I imagine they will bust out all of the brick behind it too [[like next door) to open it up and hopefully restore to the original facade.

The design approved by the HDC was to maintain the 1948 façade. They could be repairing damage behind the marble.

[Van Dyke Brown]

It was nice to see that the upper facade of the Grinnell Bros building was restored today to resemble the original design.

[archfan]

Are those radios at the top of each column?

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

The design approved by the HDC was to maintain the 1948 façade. They could be repairing damage behind the marble.

I like that 1948 version

[beachboy]

Are those radios at the top of each column?

"Tombstone" models?

Did you notice four ankh gizmos on restored cornice? [[cruciform-looking reliefs with round tops)...

[archfan]

"Tombstone" models?

Did you notice four ankh gizmos on restored cornice? [[cruciform-looking reliefs with round tops)...

So it turns out the new radios on the facade are an anachronism. The Grinnell building was built in 1908, well before cathedral radio was thought of. The ankhs are too, in a way, because the Egyptian craze wasn't until the 1920's. I wonder if the facade designers told the owner?

[bust]

So it turns out the new radios on the facade are an anachronism. The Grinnell building was built in 1908, well before cathedral radio was thought of. The ankhs are too, in a way, because the Egyptian craze wasn't until the 1920's. I wonder if the facade designers told the owner?

According to the photo on "souvenir program" from the Grinnell building's opening in 1908 the ankhs and what you're interpreting as cathedral radios were part of the original design.

Historicdetroit.org has it here:
http://www.historicdetroit.org/galleries/grinnell-brothers-music-house-artifacts/

I hope those bricks that stick out above the windows mean more is coming to restore the original design. Are they supports to attach more fiberglass replicas? It would be odd if it were intended as is.

[archfan]

The sixth photo from here is pretty clear, where it talks about the gorgeous cornice. From the cars, this must be the original cornice, without radios. It does look like the ankhs are there.

[gumby]

I wish they would restore that arched doorway in the Himelhoch building.

[Van Dyke Brown]

I hope those bricks that stick out above the windows mean more is coming to restore the original design. Are they supports to attach more fiberglass replicas? It would be odd if it were intended as is.

Yes, additional work continues on the facade restoration.

[Zads07]

And we have a tenant for the Sanders Building...

https://www.freep.com/story/money/re...ing/557611002/

"The Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced the move in a news release Friday, saying it will move into 74,500 square feet of space at 1523 Woodward Ave. within a year."