Buildings next to Fillmore slated for demolition

**Zads07** · September-13-17, 03:23 PM

As of today, they have been demolished.

https://www.facebook.com/jim.diamond...55831965138083

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**buckster1986** · October-19-17, 12:29 PM

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**kathy2trips** · May-17-18, 07:07 PM

Don't people move buildings anymore? At least preserve the brick and exterior architectural details for reuse! Nobody makes that stuff anymore! Dumb!

**Gistok** · May-17-18, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by kathy2trips

Don't people move buildings anymore? At least preserve the brick and exterior architectural details for reuse! Nobody makes that stuff anymore! Dumb!

Kathy.... Chuck Forbes is the king of moving buildings... but those buildings are such a ramshackle hodgepodge of buildings... he really didn't have an easy way to move either of them... at least with the Gem/Century and Elwood, the moving folks could get all the way around the buildings to move them. These 2 buildings were pinned in on 3 sides by other buildings, and moving them was not practical... and also just how do you move just the oldest part of a building? If there were a way to do it that made sense... I'm sure Chuck would have figured it out.

**rjlj** · May-17-18, 11:51 PM

So says Gistok the expert building mover. Making all assumptions.

Originally Posted by Gistok

Kathy.... Chuck Forbes is the king of moving buildings... but those buildings are such a ramshackle hodgepodge of buildings... he really didn't have an easy way to move either of them... at least with the Gem/Century and Elwood, the moving folks could get all the way around the buildings to move them. These 2 buildings were pinned in on 3 sides by other buildings, and moving them was not practical... and also just how do you move just the oldest part of a building? If there were a way to do it that made sense... I'm sure Chuck would have figured it out.

**Detroitdave** · May-18-18, 08:18 AM

So was was so important to demo these two little buildings?
What possibly will such a big difference in that small pocket?
Another piece of Detroit's history sadly gone, and for what?

**dtowncitylover** · May-18-18, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by Detroitdave

So was was so important to demo these two little buildings?
What possibly will such a big difference in that small pocket?
Another piece of Detroit's history sadly gone, and for what?

A loading dock! So exciting!

**Gistok** · May-18-18, 09:55 AM

Can one of you armchair preservationists please tell me how you would go about moving these buildings from out between the Fillmore Theatre and the Women's City Club Building?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pa...!4d-83.0345679

Maybe a giant spatula would have done the trick, huh? There was little chance to get around to the sides of this hodgepodge of buildings to put rollers underneath it to do a months long move. And is Elisabeth St. even wide enough or the roadway firm enough to handle moving the enormous weight of these buildings on rollers? And just how do you remove these buildings when there is no easement to the neighboring buildings.... do they just scrape the sides of the Women's City Club and the Fillmore Auditorium as they are getting them out of that very tight space?

Chuck Forbes knows more about moving buildings than ANYONE. Do you think he tore these buildings down just for the fun of it?

LiveNations, who has the lease on the Forbes owned Fillmore Theatre has encountered serious issues with loading and unloading traveling shows since the Little Caesar HQ started construction next door. So yeah... a loading dock sucks as a use for demolishing these buildings. But when there is no alternative for keeping a working [[and now closed for restoration) historic theatre as a working entity... then sometimes decisions have to be made that affect the city's historic fabric.

Now if one of you had a workaround to this... please let everyone know...

We're all ears...

**elizabethhistory1750** · January-22-19, 03:24 PM

My great grand parents, the Faltis family built this building. They lived in the apartment on the 2nd floor. My grandfather leo McInerney married edna faltis and later baught the building and started McInerneys poultry. Also started a gift basket business. Later in the 50ties moved the pultry business to east elizabeth. I worked on the building for many years. Had a lot of great memories of down town. So sad to see a real piece of Detroit history torn down.

**masterblaster** · January-23-19, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by elizabethhistory1750

My great grand parents, the Faltis family built this building. They lived in the apartment on the 2nd floor. My grandfather leo McInerney married edna faltis and later baught the building and started McInerneys poultry. Also started a gift basket business. Later in the 50ties moved the pultry business to east elizabeth. I worked on the building for many years. Had a lot of great memories of down town. So sad to see a real piece of Detroit history torn down.

Thanks for providing this history. It definitely was a cute, neat building.