Save AMC executive office building

[David L]

Sorry about the duplicate thread. But if this is to happen Detroiter's must demand it. Also enlist every historical commission to protest this short sighted move. The administration building and tower are historically significant examples the best of Detroit's industrial might. They must be preserved.

[Danny]

That building is historic. It's considered called the 'Packard Plant' of the west. Those developers should not propose to demolish the building make it into a mix used industrial and commercial park.

In fact, make trade market and a homeless shelter.

[Richard]

Can somebody techy start a change dot org thing,they seem to have worked in the past and it is not uncommon for cities across the country to require the blending in of the historical aspect without destroying it.

I think it was historic Detroit where I read the city retains less then 15% of its pre 1920s historic architectural significance.

The company was founded in 1916 as the Electro-Automatic Refrigerating Company, but two months later, it was renamed the Kelvinator Corporation. The company’s namesake, Lord Kelvin, was the British physicist who discovered absolute zero and established the Kelvin temperature scale. one of the pioneers in automatic refrigeration technology.
The Kelvinator Corporation was one of the pioneers in automatic refrigeration technology. It started when Detroit inventor Nathaniel B. Wales pitched his idea for an electric refrigeration unit to General Motors executives Edmund J. Copeland and Arnold H. Goss. Two years later, Wales showed the men his first working model. From there, the company wast established and soon became an important appliance manufacturer.

http://www.dailydetroit.com/2016/08/...rters-detroit/

[Gistok]

Can somebody techy start a change dot org thing,they seem to have worked in the past and it is not uncommon for cities across the country to require the blending in of the historical aspect without destroying it.

I think it was historic Detroit where I read the city retains less then 15% of its pre 1920s historic architectural significance.

Richard, to anyone who has the encyclopedic Buildings of Old Detroit book by W. Hawkins Ferry, this will be of no surprise. Detroit only had 293,000+ residents in 1900, and many of the buildings downtown or along [[or near) Woodward Avenue usually have the 3rd building on the site. So much of northern downtown and midtown had beautiful historic homes that [[with the exception of W. Canfield St., E. Ferry St., and a few parts of Brush Park) have have long been razed for commercial buildings, which have in turn been razed by newer developments [[such as stadia, university, or medical facilities).

Downtown office towers, such as The Cube [[formerly Chase Tower), 1001 Woodward, and First National Building have replaced the historic Hammond Building, Majestic Building, and first Ponchartrain Hotel.

And sometimes buildings survived for absurdly short times. Some of the homes on Woodward on the west side 2 blocks north of Grand Circus Park went from residential, to commercial, to the 1913 built 1300 seat Grand Circus Theatre, only to be razed a dozen years later for the 1925 built 3000 sat State [[now Fillmore) Theatre.

Even vast stretches of the riverfront were cleared of low rise historic commercial buildings, only to be replaced by the Detroit Civic Center & Hart Plaza, as well as Cobo Hall [[now Huntington Place). Even the very large Mies van der Rohe's Lafayette Park replaced historic neighborhoods. And then there are all the buildings and homes razed to build the city's freeways.

Detroit, the oldest American major city between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains [founded 1701], has nothing that survived from the first 125 years of its' history [oldest being the 1828 built Trowbridge House], thanks in great part to the Great Fire of 1805.

The list goes on and on...

[Gistok]

My personal favorite "big 3" of Detroit's historic fabric that I would love to be saved are the majestic AMC Office Building and Tower [buildings of this level of lavish detail just aren't built anymore], the Lee Plaza Hotel [which is city owned, waiting for a developer], and the United Artists Building/Theatre... which includes Detroit's "Jewel Box" of movie palaces, once one of the 3 United Artists flagship theatres [the others are the magnificently restored LA UA, and the razed Chicago UA]. It would be a great loss to lose this C. Howard Crane Spanish Gothic/Art Deco masterpiece.

[djtomt]

Counterpoint to preserving the structure:

https://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/29514/commentar[[[he_monstrous_abandoned_amc_site_has_devastated_our _detroit_community

[Richard]

^ interesting way of looking at it.

Minneapolis was laid out in the same way,as were most northern industrial cities with restrictive covenants,but they did not feel the need to demolish every building because of its past.

Through out that buildings history,were no African Americans employed there at the wage of the times,equal to $70,000 a year when the average across the country was lucky to make $5000 a year?

For those who are not aware of what the restrictive covenants were,as they were laying out the city grid and building houses,you could not purchase one unless you agreed to never sell it to an African American.

The building also benefited not only the African Americans that were employed there but also made millions of African American lives easier right alongside of everybody else as they switched from a washing board to a washing machine,from an ice box to a refrigerator,not only in Detroit but across the country and the world.

I guess if one only looks for the bad things in life,they only see the bad things in life and if a building can be seen as a negative representation in history would it not be better to say - See we took this building that was the crux of evil in the world and repurposed it from a negative to a positive.

So is that the solution,bulldoze entire cities in an attempt to erase the past?

Surly if it was that tainted why would any African American in their right mind even want to be employed there in the future,even if it is bulldozed,the soil that the evilness was built upon would remain.

Unless the federal government sets up a racist building super fund,where they can demolish all the buildings and remove and replace the soil,so the new building can be built on untainted ground.

Was this local representative,as a politician,also advocating to bulldoze the entire city of Detroit to the ground because of its racist past?

She was elected 4 years ago,4 years of waiting for somebody to come along to make change that she can showcase,I would have figured if one was in that position and that concerned,they would not have waited 4 years to address it.

Difference between pro-active verses re-active.

[Gistok]

Dumping and negligent owner is not a reason to doom a historic building. If it is not in the way of the development, and can be mothballed, then it should be saved.

The city government was all about condemning the Michigan Central Station... and had [[Detroit's most hated billionaire) Maroun not prevented its' destruction, then the wonderful possibilities of a Ford EV Campus would never be taking place right now. For all the valid hating that folks have done about that late slumlord... at least he did the city a favor and saved the building against all odds... to have a wonderful future and anchor that part of the city.

If the historic HQ to AMC is destroyed... then most people will not care about the area [[outside of the neighbors).

But to tear it down because of past negligence seems severe, especially once it is gone, nothing as grand will ever replace it.

[IrishSpartan]

[QUOTE=Gistok;619406]

Can somebody techy start a change dot org thing,they seem to have worked in the past and it is not uncommon for cities across the country to require the blending in of the historical aspect without destroying it.

I think it was historic Detroit where I read the city retains less then 15% of its pre 1920s historic architectural significance./QUOTE]

Richard, to anyone who has the encyclopedic Buildings of Old Detroit book by W. Hawkins Ferry, this will be of no surprise. Detroit only had 293,000+ residents in 1900, and many of the buildings downtown or along [[or near) Woodward Avenue usually have the 3rd building on the site. So much of northern downtown and midtown had beautiful historic homes that [[with the exception of W. Canfield St., E. Ferry St., and a few parts of Brush Park) have have long been razed for commercial buildings, which have in turn been razed by newer developments [[such as stadia, university, or medical facilities).

Downtown office towers, such as The Cube [[formerly Chase Tower), 1001 Woodward, and First National Building have replaced the historic Hammond Building, Majestic Building, and first Ponchartrain Hotel.

And sometimes buildings survived for absurdly short times. Some of the homes on Woodward on the west side 2 blocks north of Grand Circus Park went from residential, to commercial, to the 1913 built 1300 seat Grand Circus Theatre, only to be razed a dozen years later for the 1925 built 3000 sat State [[now Fillmore) Theatre.

Even vast stretches of the riverfront were cleared of low rise historic commercial buildings, only to be replaced by the Detroit Civic Center & Hart Plaza, as well as Cobo Hall [[now Huntington Place). Even the very large Mies van der Rohe's Lafayette Park replaced historic neighborhoods. And then there are all the buildings and homes razed to build the city's freeways.

Detroit, the oldest American major city between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains [founded 1701], has nothing that survived from the first 125 years of its' history [oldest being the 1828 built Trowbridge House], thanks in great part to the Great Fire of 1805.

The list goes on and on...

The National Bank of Detroit is the entity that I will always associate that building with more than anything else since NBD had it for over 35 years. I guess 1001 Woodward is a decent alternative since First Federal Savings and Loan of Detroit/ First Federal of Michigan is just a memory as well.

[Meddle]

I don't think anyone has any objection to clearing away the production area ruins, but certainly the office building can be rehabbed and reused. From what I looked at on GEarth, the office building is on a relatively small portion of the property which could easily be separated and spared.

[Satiricalivory]

The city government was all about condemning the Michigan Central Station... and had [[Detroit's most hated billionaire) Maroun not prevented its' destruction, then the wonderful possibilities of a Ford EV Campus would never be taking place right now. For all the valid hating that folks have done about that late slumlord... at least he did the city a favor and saved the building against all odds... to have a wonderful future and anchor that part of the city.

He didn't do us any favors and he doesn't deserve any credit what-so-ever for the fact that MCS is still with us. The building would have been wildly expensive to tare down and obviously the money loving Morons didn't wanna foot the bill and the city couldn't afford to do it anyway. It was out of no kindness of anybody's heart.

Matty literally destroyed entire Detroit neighborhoods to make a quick speculator buck. Lets not do this please.

[Richard]

^ but you went there.

He did not do it on his own,he had over 600,000 residents helping him,it’s nice to be able to place blame on one singular person in order to justify.

Last I checked the power of 600,000 is a heck of a lot more then the power of one,it’s not healthy or productive to keep living in the past or looking to place blame for everything.

This is the present,learn from the mistakes of the past and stop the cycle of the past,which is what is happening again here with this building.

They are using racism to justify destroying history.

I read an article a few weeks back,it was about a group that formed to pushed to cut a tree down that was used in a lynching 70 years ago.

Thing is that they remembered that tree and what it signified 70 years later,where as of if it had been cut down,nobody would have ever given it a second thought,it would have been long forgotten.

They could have pushed to place a plaque telling that story where future generations can see and feel it while being reminded of mistakes of the past so they are not repeated.

By nature humans are visual,the impact of telling a story bears more weight when we can see and touch that story.

Somebody mentioned the Rosa parks bus seat in a museum,why save it? Scrap that thing and buy some hotdogs for the homeless,because it represents a horrible time in history that we do not want to be reminded of,if we erase it all,stop having MLK day of remembrance because that also represents a bad time in history.

Scorch and burn cities in the name of urban renewal,clear all of that ugliness out of the way for a bright new future,it did not work in the 60s and cities are still dealing with it.

For all of the innovation and creativity we have,we really do not put it to use very much.

It would be nice if they could incorporate at least the facade of the main building into the new design,lots of cities out there that actually require it.

But architecture is just like the cars anymore any kid with a computer and a free cad trial program can produce a box.

Maybe that is why names like Kahn or Trumbauer and other architects will remain in the history books for ever,because they could design architecture that had function and style,now you have a bunch of lazy architects that get paid big money to go online and order a metal building and call it a factory.

Its not really a workplace any more,it’s just a building people get paid to go to everyday.

If one lives in a neighborhood,what is more appealing,driving by a big metal factory or one that has a facade that fits the neighborhood and softens the view so it does not look like a commercial district.

Because that is what it will become,no longer a neighborhood,a commercial district that looks no different then the thousands scattered across cities and states that you drive through and it could represent any city and any state,kinda like the burbs,you can pick up any burb and set it down anywhere in the country and nobody would even notice a difference.

Personally I think that is the real cause of global warming,if there is such a thing,because they are building all of these steel and glass buildings that are reflecting the suns rays instead of absorbing and making it seem like it is hotter.

[Meddle]

This thread is about the AMC complex, not whatever nonsensical ramble the guy up there ^^^ has gone on to.

<< I wonder if he hears the ocean when he turns his head sideways in the wind? >>

[Richard]

^ I wonder why some cannot see past the building and look at the bigger picture and how everything is connected.

The objective is not to save or protect one building,the objective is to put policies in place to save and protect buildings so they do not reach the point of where some feel the only solution is to demolish them.

So we have already heard both sides of the argument,what is your next step ?

Outside of worrying about somebody’s nonsensical ramble,you could have directed that same energy towards saving the building.

My stepmother who is 20 years my junior,was the deputy mayor of a midsize city where a Wal Mart closed down a super center-distribution center,as everybody knows it does not take long for vacant buildings to start getting trashed,she held Wal-Mart accountable and they re-developed the property before it became a blighted eyesore.

I guess that is the choice,either get in front of things or get behind them while picking up the pieces.

You can do over 100 threads concerning each individual building and just copy and paste the responses.

Your response is clearly spelled out in the OP - short sighted,

You do understand what that meens correct?

The developers can do what ever they want to this property,with in the confines of the laws and protections in place,you can appeal to them in order to perserve the historical aspect,but now they have a neighborhood that follows a city wide stance of,you do not live here so piss off,it is our sandbox.

You really need to be on the city councils ass and deal with this now otherwise as the city moves forwards the battle for one building is going to become a war and you cannot fight it one building at a time.

[hybridy]

Detroit City Council approval means NorthPoint project at old AMC site moves forward

City Council President Pro-Tem James Tate, during the same committee meeting, said that while the building is trashed within, its exterior is striking architecturally. Detroit needs to do a better job being "proper stewards" of buildings the city is supposed to monitor, he said."There's no reason at all that a building like this should have been in the condition it was in," Tate said. "We have yet to do what is necessary to protect [[these architecturally noteworthy) buildings."

Tate said many people would love to see the front of the building preserved but he understands the challenges that preservation poses.

NorthPoint's Conder told council that "we can certainly look into the ability to do something like that, parts of the facade incorporated into the new facade of the building, we can certainly look into it. I just don't want to get caught with a major adaptive reuse where we're taking the whole facade ..."
Conder has previously said cost is a barrier to reusing in any substantial fashion the front of the building, which includes an Art Deco-detailed central tower.

Overall, Tate and Durhal expressed support for the project, knocking down a long-blighted behemoth and bringing an economic boost.

[masterblaster]

There is a meeting today with State Senator, Sylvia Santana, in which community concerns about the redevelopment of the property and the lack of a community benefit agreement will be discussed.

Last ditch effort to save the Admin Building of the AMC complex: Does anybody know if federal historic tax credits can be used for a site where only a portion of the site [[the admin building) is being restored/redevelopment, while the rest of the complex is demolished? Thanks!

[Burnsie]

If it is not in the way of the development, and can be mothballed, then it should be saved.

The city government was all about condemning the Michigan Central Station... and had [[Detroit's most hated billionaire) Maroun not prevented its' destruction, then the wonderful possibilities of a Ford EV Campus would never be taking place right now. For all the valid hating that folks have done about that late slumlord... at least he did the city a favor and saved the building against all odds... to have a wonderful future and anchor that part of the city.

The MC Depot was not "mothballed," which implies actual securing. Saying that Moroun "prevented its destruction" is a real stretch, when he did zero for so many years to stop its destruction from people entering, smashing, and stealing to their hearts' content. "Saved the building against all odds" implies that he was standing out there valiantly protecting and guarding it, whereas for the vast majority of his ownership the depot had nothing more than a flimsy, hole-filled fence. I've never seen evidence that Moroun even set foot inside the station the whole time he owned it.

Moroun didn't keep the depot standing to "save" it, he did so because he was too cheap to tear it down. The new windows were installed only after a couple of decades because he finally felt a little of the city's heat on him.

If people want AMC to be saved, they should start by petitioning Stellantis. Its predecessor was the one that saw fit to leave it rot.

[Lowell]

There may be hope yet. General Motors is eyeing it. I spotted this in a Crain's email but the full article behind their paywall and I haven't seen more details elsewhere yet.

[hybridy]

There may be hope yet. General Motors is eyeing it. I spotted this in a Crain's email but the full article behind their paywall and I haven't seen more details elsewhere yet.

it's a bait and switch

Last week, Conder said at a Detroit Homecoming event that NorthPoint's purchase of the AMC site from the city is expected to close Oct. 6.

The hulking property at 14250 Plymouth Road closed 12 years ago. NorthPoint plans to construct either a pair of warehouse/light industrial buildings — one with 513,000 square feet and another with 215,000 square feet — or one such building totaling 761,000 square feet.

NorthPoint's plan was announced in December.

Some in the historic preservation community have been concerned about the plan to tear down the building's Art Deco-style tower; Conder has said that reusing portions of the building — which is not on the National Register of Historic Places — is cost-prohibitive.

[kuuma]

it's a bait and switch

when companies say something like this is "cost prohibitive", i wanna see numbers. how many dollars saved is worth throwing this iconic building in the garbage? and how much less profitable would the project be for them if they simply left the office portion alone and built on the other 95% of the parcel.

it's all just so lazy and unambitious.

[masterblaster]

Demolition of AMC Admin Building has begun

https://youtu.be/4aAJmvh73hE

[Richard]

Yea you know they were going to start with the clock tower building first,puts that conversation to rest immediately.

[Gistok]

Yea you know they were going to start with the clock tower building first,puts that conversation to rest immediately.

Yup... and there were several architectural wonders out in the industrial areas of Detroit that now join this gem in meeting the wreckers ball.

One of the nicest was the Liberty Motors HQ Building [later Budd Company]. The Independence Hall replica HQ portion on the lower east side at Charlevoix and Conner... met the wreckers ball back in 2017. So sad really...

https://www.google.com/search?q=Budd...ih=577&dpr=1.5

[Richard]

I watched a documentary about the Pullman company outside of Chicago,they are renovating the factory as as a museum and cultural center.

Pullman also built a city of sorts around the factory for the workers,brownstones and SFR and the dwelling units were built according to pay rates depending on how fancy they built each house.

They mentioned that Pullman originated in Detroit ,they had to have a sizable factory in Detroit,anybody know where it was ?

Its interesting how Detroit moved this country when it came to all modes of transportation and even when it came to outfitting one’s house when it came to appliances,it was like the nucleus of the Industrial Age,now it seems like they want to erase all of that from history.

After white flight cities across the country did the whole scorch n burn in the hopes that making everything new would entice people back to the city,all these years later they realized how it destroyed the very fabric of what they tried to protect.

Now future generations get to go to work in a non discript box of a factory it’s almost like there is no pride left.

I have not kept up with it but in another city there was a building that was the sister of this one,Winchester arms,at that time the building was also vacant for many years but it was protected from scrappers and still looked like the day they closed the doors.