What building was this?

[LeannaM]

I looked at some Detroit sites and couldn't find it.

It was probably just an old apartment building. I saw it on Google Earth. It was at the southeast corner of Peterboro and 2nd Street, and it was somewhat tall [[hard to tell by Google Earth), and the building was shaped like an "E". It was there in 1999 and demolished by March 2002. Google Earth shows Sabbs Bar across the street.

It probably wasn't an important building. I'm just curious.

Thanks.

[MikeM]

Probably the Seville Apartment Hotel, 3162 Second Blvd.

[EastsideAl]

It was indeed the Seville. That was once a pretty nice apartment hotel, back in the heyday of such things [[there were once dozens in the downtown area) as places for single people and couples without children to live. The neighborhood it was in, around Cass Park and the Masonic Temple was once, believe it or not, a pretty classy area.

When Chinatown was moved to that area, after the original Chinatown just west of downtown was torn down by the city, the classiest of the neighborhood's Chinese restaurants, Henry Yee's Forbidden City, occupied the first floor space on Second [[Mr. Yee was often called the "mayor of Chinatown"). Later the hotel, like the entire area, fell on very hard times, best symbolized by a graffiti that was written on the building's back wall: "if you need a pill, go to the Seville!"

[LeannaM]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the info.