Building demo: Lower Woodward at Temple

[royce]

Royce has proven time and again that he has a very myopic view when it comes to this kind of thing why are you surprised? I mean according to him Campus Martius was a bad idea because it added about 10 seconds to his trip up Woodward.

Don't get me wrong I am pretty sure I met Royce at one of the forum gatherings and if memory serves he was a rather nice guy, I just think he is often dead wrong when it comes to city planning type issues.

On the contrary, Gumby, I thought Campus Martius was a bad idea because it added 10 seconds to my trip crossing Woodward. My stance on Campus Martius has mellowed, but not because it's a great traffic controller, but because it is such a great social gathering spot. However, on days when I'm in a rush and they decide to use the red/stop signal for all of the traffic signals surrounding Campus Martius Park, it can be annoying.

Again, I have supported on several occasions the preservation of certain abandoned buildings. I supported saving the Lafayette Building. I supported saving a portion of Tiger Stadium [[for a Detroit Sports Hall of Fame) and the field for baseball playing. I'm in favor of saving all of the buildings on lower Woodward. I would love to see the David Whitney Building become a hotel and the David Broderick Building become apartments or condos.

Now, I'm not in favor of saving Ford Auditorium, the Metropolitan Building, the train station, and the Packard Building. A few lesser known buildings I would like to see torn down include: the apartment building across the street from Cliff Boles, the building that remains on the Statler site, the Eros Lounge and that old parking deck at the corner of Griswold and Grand River [[so that the city could built a much needed parking garage, that would go over the street, for the future apartments/condos planned for the lower Woodward buildings [[like the Eliot), the hotel next to the Masonic Temple, and the church under discussion here.

Now, Gumby, I'm sure that there are a few more buildings that I would like to see saved and a few more that I would like to see torn down. However, to say that I have a myopic view is harsh. I agree that I don't always see things the same way that you or others see them, but the same can be said about many others on this forum. For every person who wants to save a building, there's another that says, "Tear that Schit down." Admittedly, we just have a healthy difference of opinions. C'est la vie. Well, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year just the same.

[wolverine]

On the contrary, Gumby, I thought Campus Martius was a bad idea because it added 10 seconds to my trip crossing Woodward. My stance on Campus Martius has mellowed, but not because it's a great traffic controller, but because it is such a great social gathering spot. However, on days when I'm in a rush and they decide to use the red/stop signal for all of the traffic signals surrounding Campus Martius Park, it can be annoying.

Who is in a rush in downtown Detroit? What is there to rush to anyway? Believe it or not, but good streets slow people down as much as possible. Use the extra 10 seconds to take in your city and enjoy what you have. left

Again, I have supported on several occasions the preservation of certain abandoned buildings. I supported saving the Lafayette Building. I supported saving a portion of Tiger Stadium [[for a Detroit Sports Hall of Fame) and the field for baseball playing. I'm in favor of saving all of the buildings on lower Woodward. I would love to see the David Whitney Building become a hotel and the David Broderick Building become apartments or condos.

Now, I'm not in favor of saving Ford Auditorium, the Metropolitan Building, the train station, and the Packard Building. A few lesser known buildings I would like to see torn down include: the apartment building across the street from Cliff Boles, the building that remains on the Statler site, the Eros Lounge and that old parking deck at the corner of Griswold and Grand River [[so that the city could built a much needed parking garage, that would go over the street, for the future apartments/condos planned for the lower Woodward buildings [[like the Eliot), the hotel next to the Masonic Temple, and the church under discussion here.

If you really call yourself a preservationist, you wouldn't advocate for any building to be demolished, no matter how economically impossible it is. Take the Met for example. If we cast aside the fact that it has difficult floorplates to work with and is in great disrepair, you'll also realize that it forms an integral and unique piece of Detroit's streetwall. One can speak alot about the facade itself, but it really is an important piece of Detroit's downtown cityscape. Eventually there will be demand for something to go in there, but definitely not now. Same could be said for many of Detroit's buildings downtown years ago that have since become renovated. You can't predict that.

[Gsgeorge]

Now, I'm not in favor of saving Ford Auditorium, the Metropolitan Building, the train station, and the Packard Building. A few lesser known buildings I would like to see torn down include: the apartment building across the street from Cliff Boles, the building that remains on the Statler site, the Eros Lounge and that old parking deck at the corner of Griswold and Grand River [[so that the city could built a much needed parking garage, that would go over the street, for the future apartments/condos planned for the lower Woodward buildings [[like the Eliot), the hotel next to the Masonic Temple, and the church under discussion here.

These are all the worst ideas ever conceived by a self-proclaimed "preservationist". Ever. I mean in the history of preservation. You want to knock down the TRAIN STATION???? No comment there. The Metropolitan Building, one of the earliest and few remaining examples of Neo-Gothic architecture in a skyscraper? You want to knock down Eros Lounge, a functioning building with a stripclub tenant? There's one less business in Detroit. You want to build a NEW parking garage on the site of an already-existing parking garage, and make it cover each side of the street, destroying the intimacy, sightlines, and architectural integrity of the Capitol Park neighborhood? You want to destroy the Hotel Charlevoix, one of Detroit's oldest commercial buildings? You want to take down the Hotel Fort Wayne, a salvageable building and an important part of Temple Streets revitalization?

No wonder Detroit looks the way it does. Even our preservationists advocate demolition of historic structures and superblock developments in historic neighborhoods...