Packard Plant Demolition

[MichaelAnthonyVideos]

My first Packard Plant demolition video from January 2023.

[royce]

Mayor Duggan announced on Monday that the majority of the Packard Plant will be torn down by the end of 2024. He says that a small portion will remain [[southern frontage on Grand Blvd) for Historical reasons. I say tear all of it down. Put up a historical marker and call it a day. The mayor also says that he wants to encourage auto suppliers to build on the future vacant land.

[Zacha341]

^ Finally! Yes, tear it down.

[Richard]

Mayor Duggan announced on Monday that the majority of the Packard Plant will be torn down by the end of 2024. He says that a small portion will remain [[southern frontage on Grand Blvd) for Historical reasons. I say tear all of it down. Put up a historical marker and call it a day. The mayor also says that he wants to encourage auto suppliers to build on the future vacant land.

The city owns the corner they want to save for historical reasons,the other building that was connected to the other end of the fallen bridge,they are going to come up with the millions needed to preserve it for historical reasons,they have had it all these years and have done nothing with it while holding others accountable to fix up their parts.

They did not want to kick in to save the most iconic part,the bridge.

It still does not resolve the ownership part,it’s akin to a neighborhood,those neighborhoods with a few house left standing,multiple people still own the rest of the vacant lots,so you cannot look at is as one continuous parcel that you can sell to a supplier.

So the only thing really accomplished was to seal its fate and to fulfill the city’s 40 year promise to demolish it in retaliation.

Even I remember not to long ago when the call was to tear down the train station because nobody was ever going to fix that dump.

[Lowell]

The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit are falling. Finally. The past couple of years have been remarkable for the number of major ones which have gone on the chopping block AND, more importantly, those that have gone on the repurposing block.

Chopped:

• Hannan YMCA on Jefferson
• Remaining Monroe Block buildings minus Kahn Theater
• AMC plant on Plymouth Road Westside
• Continental Motors site Eastside and now the big one...
• The Packard Plant

Repurposed:

• Fisher 21 on Piquette
• Studebaker on Piquette
• Kahn Theater

What did I miss?

[Zacha341]

Awe! Now I'll miss this building. Drove by it often.

I kinda figured it was toast once the roof sat open for a decade+!

[Richard]

The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit are falling. Finally. The past couple of years have been remarkable for the number of major ones which have gone on the chopping block AND, more importantly, those that have gone on the repurposing block.

Chopped:

• Hannan YMCA on Jefferson
• Remaining Monroe Block buildings minus Kahn Theater
• AMC plant on Plymouth Road Westside
• Continental Motors site Eastside and now the big one...
• The Packard Plant

Repurposed:

• Fisher 21 on Piquette
• Studebaker on Piquette
• Kahn Theater

What did I miss?

Historic Detroit has been posting on FB a few schools that are being demolished also,even the schools were works of art architecturally,all the schools I went to were just mundane boxes dropped on a piece of land.

At least you and others documented what Detroit was so future generations can dream.

University Club -

[MichaelAnthonyVideos]

[night-timer]

I love Detroit's history and architecture, so I don't really want to see the Packard Plant totally removed. Do you need to re-use the space that it takes up? Is there a lack or shortage of empty land in Detroit?

If you need to build something new, there are plenty of empty parcels of land... try Brush Park. It's close to Midtown, Woodward Avenue, Downtown, Comerica Park and the Red Wings arena.

I haven't passed through Brush Park in a while, but I always felt it had great potential for rebirth and modernization.

[Richard]

It’s like a little piece of the city’s soul is being ripped away everytime you watch videos like that,the only positive thing is it is documented for future generations so they do not make the same short sited mistakes.

[Gistok]

^ It's just another Leviathan industrial building being pounded to rubble, just like the massive Dodge Main, Kelvinator Plant, Uniroyal complex, Stroh's Brewery, Detroit Edison Plant [7 sisters & 2 brothers], etc.

Unless another use can be found [such as the UKs Battersea Power Plant], the dinosaurs are gone. Plants with a capacity for 5000 workers have been replaced with plants for only a fraction of that number.

The Packard Plant has been out of service for 70 years... plenty of time to find another use has gone by...

[Burnsie]

^ It's just another Leviathan industrial building being pounded to rubble, just like the massive Dodge Main, Kelvinator Plant, Uniroyal complex, Stroh's Brewery, Detroit Edison Plant [7 sisters & 2 brothers], etc...

Plus Hudson Jefferson Ave., Continental Jefferson Ave., Chrysler old Jefferson plant, Fisher Body Fleetwood, Motor Products Mack Ave., Cadillac/Hudson Conner Ave., Cadillac Clark St., Lincoln/DTE Warren Ave., most of Ford Highland Park, Budd Charlevoix Ave., Chrysler Highland Park, Briggs Conner Ave., etc.

Though Packard actually had tenants, which were kicked out by the city in its first hamfisted demolition effort in the late '90s. The City of Detroit itself even leased office space on Grand Blvd. as late as 1987.

[401don]

I love Detroit's history and architecture, so I don't really want to see the Packard Plant totally removed. Do you need to re-use the space that it takes up? Is there a lack or shortage of empty land in Detroit?

If you need to build something new, there are plenty of empty parcels of land... try Brush Park. It's close to Midtown, Woodward Avenue, Downtown, Comerica Park and the Red Wings arena.

I haven't passed through Brush Park in a while, but I always felt it had great potential for rebirth and modernization.

There's very little land left in Brush Park and it's almost all spoken for. You certainly aren't going to build industrial there.