Old City Hall demolition

[dtowncitylover]

the article might mention it, but I thought I read somewhere or was told it they wanted to move the statues to Wayne State but obviously that has never happened.

If you're talking about the Fantastic Four, they're still out there...

https://newsroom.wayne.edu//news/201...mpus-home-6558

[EastsideAl]

Yes, Melchers' 4 sculptures of Detroit pioneers ended up OK.

[[picture from article linked by dtowncitylover above, which also has a brief and interesting history of the sculptures)

Most of the other parts of City Hall though, including the allegorical "maiden" sculptures and the clock faces, didn't end up so well.

[EastsideAl]

Incidentally, Julius T. Melchers' house is still standing on Seyburn in the West Village.



His perhaps more famous son, Gari Melchers [[Julius Garibaldi Melchers), was one of the most important American artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and has a museum dedicated to his work at his former estate in Falmouth VA. In Detroit, several of his works are in the DIA collection, and his murals can be seen at the Main Library.

[archfan]

...
It was a strange time in America. A building built 100 years earlier was seen by many leaders as hopelessly obsolete. I don't know that this would happen today. It would not be as easily done.
...

It is still happening. Even something as recent as Philip Johnson's post-modern AT&T building [[550 Madison Avenue) is being greatly altered. We tear down significant Brutalist buildings because "that stuff is ugly", but that's exactly what folks in the post-war era thought of Victorian architecture.

[Bham1982]

It is still happening. Even something as recent as Philip Johnson's post-modern AT&T building [[550 Madison Avenue) is being greatly altered.

550 Madison was recently landmarked, so there will be no major alterations.

[Michael Hojnacki]

Yes, Melchers' 4 sculptures of Detroit pioneers ended up OK.

[[picture from article linked by dtowncitylover above, which also has a brief and interesting history of the sculptures)

Most of the other parts of City Hall though, including the allegorical "maiden" sculptures and the clock faces, didn't end up so well.

Here is Charles Kotcher Cleaning the clock
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...wilson-kotcher. Another article I'll post talks about how it stopped working after it was cleaned and it was the second largest clock in the world after London's Big Ben.

[archfan]

550 Madison was recently landmarked, so there will be no major alterations.

Right, although the designation came too late to save the lobby.

[gnome]

i thought some of the ornate statuary ended up in a heap at Fort Wayne

[Detroitnerd]

i thought some of the ornate statuary ended up in a heap at Fort Wayne

Perhaps you saw this article:

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/h...nt?oid=2179142

I personally got a good long look at the statuary when it was in a shambles behind the fort. I went back several years ago and the historical society had secured them indoors.

[Michael Hojnacki]

Here is the builder of the clocks though I read somewhere they were crafted in Chicago? Not sure. He died in 1929.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...albert-fischer

[Kathleen]

His perhaps more famous son, Gari Melchers [[Julius Garibaldi Melchers), was one of the most important American artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and has a museum dedicated to his work at his former estate in Falmouth VA. In Detroit, several of his works are in the DIA collection, and his murals can be seen at the Main Library.

We visited the Gari Melchers estate Belvoir in Falmouth, VA a few years ago. Amazing site! You can see his studio and his gallery space, both filled with his beautiful paintings! And you can tour his home as well as walk about the estate gardens. If you ever get the chance to visit, you won't regret it!!

[p69rrh51]

The movement from the old city hall tower clock.

[Michael Hojnacki]

Where is it at now?

[Jimaz]

Non Detroit Issues » Music- What are you listening to? » Domtoren Clock Tower Plays the Marble Machine Song

[p69rrh51]

Where is it at now?

In storage at the Detroit Historical Society's Resource Collections Center.