More Streetscapes coming, along with improved DDOT

**Russix** · April-18-09, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by Rocko

Russix - I thought of your comment when I saw today a streetsweeper in Detroit sweeping in action!! The Belle Isle bridge is nicely swept now

The irony is I also spotted a convoy of three street sweepers the day after posting that comment making their way east down McNicholas somewhere between Wyoming and Livernois. Glad somebody was listening!

**Rocko** · April-23-09, 02:20 PM

I drove down that stretch of Michigan Avenue between Campus Martius and Cass today to see if I could identify some of those old early-20th Century streetlight poles still in action. I noted four or five still in service. These are really old poles, but have been fitted with modern "cobrahead" streetlights to match the newer installations. All are painted up in that nice hunter green common to downtown streetlights... I really like how those green ones look. Anyhow, I noted 4-5 of these old poles in this stretch, and at least 8-12 more west of Cass between Cass and the end of the other streetscape improvement project west of the Lodge. The locations I specifically noted along this stretch were two in front of 1001 Woodward on the Michigan Ave. side, 1 at the corner of Mich & Shelby, and 1-2 at the intersection of Michigan and Cass.

Interestingly, there are actually two old types represented here, something I have not realized up until just today. I'm going to do some photo hunting and try to crop them down so I can clearly articulate and show what I mean, on the off chance anyone else out there cares!

Below are some crops of photos I've taken in the past which illustrate the two different types of old streetlight bases I mean. Maybe someone else besides me will find this interesting!

The first photo below [[twin light base) shows the base of streetlights which were installed around downtown on several streets c. 1930 [[still can't get a pinpointed date yet). They had the most ornate base and fluted pole and two acorn style lights hanging down from a fancy frame at the top of the pole.

The second photo below [[pineapple base) shows the base of streetlights which were installed beginning in 1916 and for at least the next decade, along major thoroughfares and at cross streets, etc. These have a more simplified base, but still ornate trimwork between the base and the fluted pole, and featured a single acorn lamp with decorative pineapple finial on top. These can be found in many places around the city.

The third photo depicts the full light type of the twin light, which today in its original form can now only be found on Lower Woodward, from Jefferson to I-75, and around Campus Martius park. These lights were also originally installed on Fort, Griswold, Lafayette, Gratiot and elsewhere around the center of downtown, and were later modified [[1970s-1980s?), with the fancy twin light fixture and decoration removed from the top and a standard "cobrahead" affixed there instead. I'm working on getting a photo of one with this modification, but I can tell you for sure there's one at the NE corner of Fort and Washington Blvd, two in front of 1001 Woodward on the Michigan Ave side, and one at the apex of the American Coney Island point at Lafayette and Michigan. You will never see one of these with a pineapple decorative finial on top, because they never had them in the first place.

The fourth photo depicts a full Pineapple light in it's original form. Many of these survive around the city, both in the green paint here or more modern battleship gray. Some have lost their pineapple decorative finial along the way through the years, but the fancy base and fluting remain on the pole.

The last photo shows a modified Pineapple light, which had the fancy old acorn fixture removed and replaced with a more modern cobrahead lamp. You can see the old base and pole fluting clearly here. This one has lost it's pineapple, although many retain them today. This is the same modification that the "twin-light" types received on all streets other than lower Woodward. Many similar to this exist on Michigan Avenue near Clark, for example.