Forest Arms being demolished...

**Zacha341** · December-23-09, 09:40 AM

I will try to get a photo up before it goes down all the way, but it looks as though the old Forest Arms big apartment at Forest and Second? is going down. A yellow backhoe thing is there and the back end of the building is seeing the sky? What happened to this building. I hear there was a fire and talk of restoration... It was really nice in it hayday... nice large apartments... WSU doing something with the land?

**East Detroit** · December-23-09, 10:00 AM

Looks like the title of your post is missing a question mark.

**Detroitnerd** · December-23-09, 10:08 AM

Very sad to hear this, if it is true.

**Bobl** · December-23-09, 10:18 AM

This is sad, if true.
I thought that it was to be restored, which would be a daunting task.
Spent a good year or two living there, in the late sixties. Worked briefly as a caretaker. Some people on the upper floors had been there for decades.

Would often walk over to the Bronx Bar, or HoHo Inn after hours, where interesting people, good conversation, and life lessons could be found.

**Gsgeorge** · December-23-09, 10:24 AM

I thought they were gutting the inside and saving the facade for a total rebuild.

**rjlj** · December-23-09, 10:25 AM

Try using the google machine to find our what is going on there.

**Zacha341** · December-23-09, 10:32 AM

Drats. Good point and you cannot edit "headlines"......

Originally Posted by East Detroit

Looks like the title of your post is missing a question mark.

**HazenPingree** · December-23-09, 10:38 AM

FOREST ARMS IS NOT BEING DEMOLISHED

The work being conducted on site right now is a cleaning and removal of hazardous non-load bearing elements.

When completed, the crew will begin the construction of a temporary roof to protect the structure from further degradation.

Though the plan is to eventually restore the building, funding could not be put together at this time, so UCCA stepped in to save the building.

**Gsgeorge** · December-23-09, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by HazenPingree

Though the plan is to eventually restore the building, funding could not be put together at this time, so UCCA stepped in to save the building.

Can you explain this a bit further? Who is UCCA? By "stepping in and saving the building", are they paying for a full restoration or just securing it for future development?

**Detroit_uke** · December-23-09, 10:51 AM

UCCA - University Cultural Center Association - detroitmidtown.com

**Pcm** · December-23-09, 10:53 AM

That's funny, because I distinctly remember Scott Lowell being the developer of this project. Perhaps you can send him an email.

**HazenPingree** · December-23-09, 11:05 AM

Scott Lowell is the developer, but he is working with UCCA on financing.

Model D Article about Lowell, UCCA, and the Forest Arms

**Whitehouse** · December-23-09, 04:23 PM

So in time we can post that building in this thread?

**DetroitZack** · December-23-09, 05:24 PM

I'm glad to hear it's not actually being demolished. I gasped when I read that headline lol

**davewindsor** · December-24-09, 08:55 AM

That photo isn't too revealing of what it looked like from the front. I googled this online.

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...a%3DX%26um%3D1

Originally Posted by HazenPingree

Scott Lowell is the developer, but he is working with UCCA on financing.

Model D Article about Lowell, UCCA, and the Forest Arms

**DLN** · December-24-09, 09:33 AM

Restoration is a bit of a misnomer, when there is extensive damage, modern building codes will apply. So a lot of the charm of the old building will be gone, water does more damage than fire. i.e. plaster walls and such.

**davewindsor** · December-24-09, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by DLN

Restoration is a bit of a misnomer, when there is extensive damage, modern building codes will apply. So a lot of the charm of the old building will be gone, water does more damage than fire. i.e. plaster walls and such.

Yes, but I'm guessing this building was insured for fire damage. Isn't it the insurance company's responsibility to bring it back to a habitable condition with all its charm to what it was before the fire?

bartock · December-24-09, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by davewindsor

Yes, but I'm guessing this building was insured for fire damage. Isn't it the insurance company's responsibility to bring it back to a habitable condition with all its charm to what it was before the fire?

Yeah, but I think it was ruled an arson, which may or may not be a rider on the policy [[and how expensive would arson insurance in Detroit cost in 2008?). I'm also wondering why there would be a mix of public/private dollars for a "renovation" if the building was insured in the first place.

I lived on the 4th floor [[North side) in 1998 and 1999. I'll never forget the frantic phone call from my mother after that professor was murdered during exams at Old Main.

**Whitehouse** · December-24-09, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by DLN

Restoration is a bit of a misnomer, when there is extensive damage, modern building codes will apply. So a lot of the charm of the old building will be gone, water does more damage than fire. i.e. plaster walls and such.

If they could create a gem like this in 1906, it can be restored to the same grandeur as back then. Granted, now you have the opportunity, it's of course wise to implement the latest improvements from the century that passed. Back in 1906 maybe an elevator was not that reliable. There certainly were no internet connections back then.

You can improve a building without losing it's charm. There are countless examples everywhere. Given the raw material the builders were given with the Book-Cadillac was almost a build from scratch, I don't think they missed the mark by improving the building too much.

**Zacha341** · December-24-09, 06:26 PM

Some insurance companies will skimp when they can... so long as they are within a micron of code. And for sure they will not use original plaster. Drywall all the way. Often they ditch the boilers and old iron radiators for forced air furnaces that are more fuel efficient. Though there was something sorta quaint about the banging and hissing of the radiators in those buildings!

Originally Posted by davewindsor

Yes, but I'm guessing this building was insured for fire damage. Isn't it the insurance company's responsibility to bring it back to a habitable condition with all its charm to what it was before the fire?

**tahleel** · December-24-09, 08:58 PM

I saw this building go up in flames right in front of my eyes from my apartment building. I woke up to my mom's phone calls in the morning. Can't remember the time, but I went out the previous night so I really wasn't up for talking.

At the time, I lived in an apartment behind the Bronx, across Marcus's Market, kiddy-corner from the Forest Arms. I could feel the heat from behind my closed apartment window, in winter!

My uncle and his family lived in that building. I left my apartment frantically looking for them in the crowds that were outside. I wasn't wearing a coat, but it was so hot from the fire, I didn't need one. I got a call from my mom at around 10 am saying that my uncle and his family were safe at the Red Cross building.

My uncle said that the manager banged on his door yelling fire. My uncle grabbed his keys, wallet, wife and kids, and took off. They lost everything else.

-Tahleel

**Zacha341** · December-25-09, 10:27 AM

Wow! What was the the cause of the fire?

Originally Posted by tahleel

I saw this building go up in flames right in front of my eyes from my apartment building. I woke up to my mom's phone calls in the morning. Can't remember the time, but I went out the previous night so I really wasn't up for talking.

At the time, I lived in an apartment behind the Bronx, across Marcus's Market, kiddy-corner from the Forest Arms. I could feel the heat from behind my closed apartment window, in winter!

My uncle and his family lived in that building. I left my apartment frantically looking for them in the crowds that were outside. I wasn't wearing a coat, but it was so hot from the fire, I didn't need one. I got a call from my mom at around 10 am saying that my uncle and his family were safe at the Red Cross building.

My uncle said that the manager banged on his door yelling fire. My uncle grabbed his keys, wallet, wife and kids, and took off. They lost everything else.

-Tahleel

**gnome** · December-25-09, 11:19 AM

A disguntled renter, who was being evicted for not paying his rent, poured lighter fluid around his top-floor room and struck a match. I believe he was the only one who died in the fire.

**Zacha341** · December-25-09, 11:42 AM

Ughh! That is horrible and the main reason I loathe the day I'd ever have to go back to apartment living [[did that in the WSU area etc. decades ago). I'd not want share a dwelling with those who play with matches... and all that common audience-driven domestic drama, the "disgruntled" and the demented, etc.

What a selfish person!

Originally Posted by gnome

A disguntled renter, who was being evicted for not paying his rent, poured lighter fluid around his top-floor room and struck a match. I believe he was the only one who died in the fire.