2 Notable Buildings gone

**masterblaster** · October-12-17, 12:03 AM

KRONK GYM where Emmanuel Steward trained many notable and accomplished boxers, was burned to the ground a few days ago.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/new...oit/744167001/

BARAT HOUSE - a cool mid-century building across the street from the back of the DIA - a building that was designed by a student of Eli Saarinen - was demolished to make way for a 65 vehicle capacity parking lot for the DIA

http://www.dailydetroit.com/2017/10/...a-parking-lot/

**archfan** · October-12-17, 01:44 AM

Here's an exploration of Kronk from a few years ago.

**JBMcB** · October-12-17, 08:55 AM

The Kronk gym burned down, it's too bad but things like that happen.

What's baffling is the DIA tearing down an architecturally interesting building to make a parking lot.

Kudos to whomever put up this sign:
https://www.metrotimes.com/the-scene...use-demolition

**Bham1982** · October-12-17, 01:54 PM

That building behind the DIA is very nice. Sad.

Even Midtown, possibly the healthiest Detroit neighborhood, gets more sparse by the day. The DIA is building a moonscape of parking lots while its own garage sits empty and derelict.

It's these little buildings, not the megaprojects, that make a city.

**bust** · October-12-17, 02:48 PM

That building behind the DIA is quite a loss.

Detroit's abundance of mid century modernist architecture is one of the greatest and most underappreciated attractions it has to offer. Art Deco and Gilded Age architecture too. But Detroit's mid-century modernist architecture is especially underappreciated. Its more subtle beauty is so often overlooked.

What a shame even the DIA is guilty of that!

But mark my words: that trend is changing. Appreciation of mid-century modernism is on the rise. More and more will grow to appreciate it as time passes. And unlike the ornate excess of Gilded Age architecture -- made possible by abundant materials, cheap skilled labor, and scarcely regulated robber barons -- its ideals are still very relevant for the future.

I hope Detroit is spared further major losses before it comes to its aesthetic senses.

**preserve** · October-12-17, 03:32 PM

Just curious, is the underground parking at the DIA so deteriorated that it cannot be fixed?

**Bham1982** · October-12-17, 03:56 PM

Originally Posted by preserve

Just curious, is the underground parking at the DIA so deteriorated that it cannot be fixed?

I have wondered the same. The garage was in terrible shape before it was closed, but I always assumed it was closing for renovations.

I can't imagine the long-term plan is to leave a giant abandoned garage under the DIA. Anyone know the inside scoop?

**SpartanDawg** · October-12-17, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

That building behind the DIA is very nice. Sad.

Even Midtown, possibly the healthiest Detroit neighborhood, gets more sparse by the day. The DIA is building a moonscape of parking lots while its own garage sits empty and derelict.

It's these little buildings, not the megaprojects, that make a city.

hahahahhahahahhahahahhhahahhhhha

thanks for the uninformed comment. knew we could count on you!

trolls gonna troll lololol. move along bham.

**Bham1982** · October-12-17, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by SpartanDawg

hahahahhahahahhahahahhhahahhhhha

thanks for the uninformed comment. knew we could count on you!

trolls gonna troll lololol. move along bham.

Mindless boosters, devoid of all nuance, and impervious to facts, are almost as cultish as Trump deplorables.

Your response, devoid of anything approaching logic, is Exhibit A. Anyone who really knows that corner of Detroit is aware that the built form is extremely sparse compared to even 20 years ago.

**JBMcB** · October-12-17, 10:52 PM

Originally Posted by bust

And unlike the ornate excess of Gilded Age architecture -- made possible by abundant materials, cheap skilled labor, and scarcely regulated robber barons -- its ideals are still very relevant for the future.

Pfft. The future is post-modern. Giant keyholes on the top of skyscrapers that serve no purpose. Stairs that go nowhere. Buildings that look like someone constructed a model of a mushroom out of tin foil, threw it down the stairs, and built whatever it ended up looking like.

It may be expensive to build, difficult to maintain, and not very functional, but boy it sure is ugly.

**Jason** · October-12-17, 11:12 PM

The Science Center expansion, the attached middle school, the CCS building, the CCS garage, and about 40-50 apartment buildings have been built in that corner of midtown since 1999 [[the earliest aerial imagery in google earth). Only a few houses have been lost since that time. The african american museum was built in the late 90s but I don't remember exactly when.

Crossing Woodward, WSU has definitely been filling out, with the new dorms, the welcoming center and garage, and a few other new buildings.

North of MLK in general hasn't actually seen that many demolitions in the last 20 years, but it has had a fair bit of new construction.

Barat House wasn't topping any Detroit architecture lists, but it was a worthwhile building, designed by someone who cared about what they were doing. The problem with Detroit isn't necessarily that buildings like this get demolished, the problem is that there aren't new buildings with the same amount of care being built to replace them. Detroit had strong architectural output all the way through the 70s, and then the 80s happened and it fell off a cliff. I don't know why.

For Kronk Gym, imo this is the type of thing that Detroit needs to pay attention to and make a special effort for. Having a physical place with that kind of history and success is something that can be a source of pride and self worth for kids that can't be replicated with youth outreach programs.

This is kind of off topic but for the parking lot I've always thought it'd be cool if there was an artist oriented housing community built there. All of the units would have some kind of studio space and other artist friendly features, and there would be communal workshops, and it would have multigenerational/multidisciplinary demographics, with units being occupied in association with CCS and WSU [[art students/professors), DIA and Wright, and independent artists.

**archfan** · October-13-17, 01:41 AM

Originally Posted by bust

...
But mark my words: that trend is changing. Appreciation of mid-century modernism is on the rise. More and more will grow to appreciate it as time passes. And unlike the ornate excess of Gilded Age architecture -- made possible by abundant materials, cheap skilled labor, and scarcely regulated robber barons -- its ideals are still very relevant for the future.

I hope Detroit is spared further major losses before it comes to its aesthetic senses.

I think people now appreciate MCM [[except the DIA). The next thing that we will mindlessly tear down will be Brutalist buildings, some of which are worth preserving.

[[I know, Brutalist buildings are ugly, with no redeeming value. I imagine that was the same argument we used to tear down Victorian houses, Art Deco skyscrapers, and MCM buildings.)

**Bham1982** · October-13-17, 01:36 PM

Originally Posted by Jason

The Science Center expansion, the attached middle school, the CCS building, the CCS garage, and about 40-50 apartment buildings have been built in that corner of midtown since 1999 [[the earliest aerial imagery in google earth). Only a few houses have been lost since that time. The african american museum was built in the late 90s but I don't remember exactly when.

There's no way that 40-50 apartment buildings have been built. Maybe 3 or 4 smaller buildings have been built within a few blocks of the DIA, and all on sites that had previous buildings, so not really a net gain.

There are so many lost buildings in Midtown it would be difficult to tally. But I'm old enough to remember clearly from about the early 90's, and the neighborhood was much more dense. There was a very large apartment building torn down for Wayne State parking, there was a church torn down for parking, Wayne State tore down a vibrant retail strip for a useless lawn and there are many other examples. There was the Vernor's site, a nearby apartment building along Woodward torn down, and a number of buildings along Cass torn down. And obviously the city was much denser/more vibrant in earlier decades.

Most of the Cultural Center building projects are just expansions of existing buildings [[CCS, African American Museum, Science Center) and replaced previous urban fabric. Garages are highly destructive to the urban fabric.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · October-13-17, 02:02 PM

That mid century building was quite handsome, IMHO, and a foolish loss. Nobody appreciates MCM more than those of us living in Palm Springs.

**Gistok** · October-13-17, 02:21 PM

Arguably the greatest loss to Midtown density was WSU's demolition of MacKensie Hall in the early 1990s [[IIRC)... it was a wonderful almost "Arts & Crafts" style brown brick building with a Pewabic lobby. It was used for professors offices. And although all the floors were worthy of gutting [[the offices looked like monks cubicles)... it was a grand stately building replaced by surface parking.

WSU used to be the greatest destroyer of Midtown Detroit... which is why Preservation Wayne [[now Preservation Detroit) was founded in 1975.

**bust** · October-13-17, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by archfan

I think people now appreciate MCM [[except the DIA). The next thing that we will mindlessly tear down will be Brutalist buildings, some of which are worth preserving.

[[I know, Brutalist buildings are ugly, with no redeeming value. I imagine that was the same argument we used to tear down Victorian houses, Art Deco skyscrapers, and MCM buildings.)

Oh, I so entirely agree:

https://www.detroityes.com/mb/showth...467#post496467
https://www.detroityes.com/mb/showth...555#post504555

And especially:

https://www.detroityes.com/mb/showth...645#post504645
https://www.detroityes.com/mb/showth...754#post504754

**Jason** · October-13-17, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

There's no way that 40-50 apartment buildings have been built. Maybe 3 or 4 smaller buildings have been built within a few blocks of the DIA, and all on sites that had previous buildings, so not really a net gain.

There are so many lost buildings in Midtown it would be difficult to tally. But I'm old enough to remember clearly from about the early 90's, and the neighborhood was much more dense. There was a very large apartment building torn down for Wayne State parking, there was a church torn down for parking, Wayne State tore down a vibrant retail strip for a useless lawn and there are many other examples. There was the Vernor's site, a nearby apartment building along Woodward torn down, and a number of buildings along Cass torn down. And obviously the city was much denser/more vibrant in earlier decades.

Most of the Cultural Center building projects are just expansions of existing buildings [[CCS, African American Museum, Science Center) and replaced previous urban fabric. Garages are highly destructive to the urban fabric.

The buildings highlighted in green are new since 1999. The apartment buildings [[I just counted over 50 of them) were built on what was basically urban prairie.

The big CCS building that is literally right across the street from Barat House replaced a parking lot.

You can do the same for the WSU area on google earth. A few buildings here and there have been demolished, but a fair number of new buildings have been built too.

Now, you brought up Trump. But who's the one who's talking out of his ass making claims that are easily disproven by photographs available to everyone? Who's the one who insists he's right on every topic that he inserts himself into, because he's just so superior to everyone that being wrong just isn't a possibility? Who's the one who after being proven wrong, blusters around denying it, and then disappears and pretends that nothing ever happened in the first place? And who's the one who has been doing this over and over for years and years and still hasn't gotten a clue? Everyone, Bham1982 will Make DetroitYES Great Again!!

**SpartanDawg** · October-13-17, 08:33 PM

No point in talking with bham... king of trolls. he thinks i don't contribute but he's just some angry old man sad to see detroit booming while his precious suburbs go by the wayside.

nice to see google making the smart move from bham to LCA.. i think that's Bhams worst nightmare seeing the illitches succeed lollll