Work Begins/Continues Across Midtown

**gumby** · September-29-10, 12:27 AM

I think we all need to pitch in and get you a new camera Detroitdad. I love the updates but feel like I have been drinking heavily when looking at the pics.

**wolverine** · September-29-10, 02:05 AM

I like what I see happening here. Small steps in the right direction.

**kryptonite** · September-29-10, 06:50 AM

Detroitdad, thanks for posting the renovation photos. I have worried for years that the building/s would be demolished. This is so encouraging.

**casscorridor** · October-07-10, 02:24 PM

I am beginning to question if the Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe is ever going to be open. For months I have been saying that it looks like they are about to open in a matter of weeks/days, yet food has still not been stocked on the shelves. Get the damn food in there already! I'll go there and spend money, I'm sure many others will as well. GOSH DANG IT!!!

I am also beginning to question if the Sunflower Market on Forest Ave btwn Woodward and Cass is ever going to start a build out. Right now it is just an empty room with gravel as flooring. At least the YOBS has everything needed to start running. But unlike that store, this one has a larger population within walking distance, so what the heck is going on?

Both of these projects were announced nearly a year ago, and still have not come to fruition. I am getting very frustrated by the lack of seriousness put into these projects. How is the Midtown population going to expand if there are no quality non-spartan grocery stores? I know a lot of people are relying on Kim's Produce and Goodwell's for groceries, but many many more simply don't put up with this shit and drive to the burbs. This has GOT to stop, and the only way to stop them is having quality markets right here to serve them. Think of all the money that is leaving the city because of simple things like lack of shopping.

This seems interrelated to the similar problems of lack of places open past 7pm, much less past 11. There are virtually no late night places that aren't bars or coneys. The problem, I think, stems from the business owners don't really give a damn. They think everyone packs up and leaves Midtown after school or work... well they are living in the past. That, coupled with the persistent attitude that because it is Detroit, we can setting for mediocrity, is INCREDIBLY frustrating... examples... we don't need consistent hours, we don't need good customer service, etc, etc.

Having more grocery stores, coffee places, and any other business will help, because it will add competition. Businesses think they can get away with anything because it is Detroit and there is no place else to go, but that is going to change quickly, and those places that don't adapt will go out of business.

**BrushStart** · October-07-10, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by casscorridor

I am beginning to question if the Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe is ever going to be open. For months I have been saying that it looks like they are about to open in a matter of weeks/days, yet food has still not been stocked on the shelves. Get the damn food in there already! I'll go there and spend money, I'm sure many others will as well. GOSH DANG IT!!!

I am also beginning to question if the Sunflower Market on Forest Ave btwn Woodward and Cass is ever going to start a build out. Right now it is just an empty room with gravel as flooring. At least the YOBS has everything needed to start running. But unlike that store, this one has a larger population within walking distance, so what the heck is going on?

Both of these projects were announced nearly a year ago, and still have not come to fruition. I am getting very frustrated by the lack of seriousness put into these projects. How is the Midtown population going to expand if there are no quality non-spartan grocery stores? I know a lot of people are relying on Kim's Produce and Goodwell's for groceries, but many many more simply don't put up with this shit and drive to the burbs. This has GOT to stop, and the only way to stop them is having quality markets right here to serve them. Think of all the money that is leaving the city because of simple things like lack of shopping.

This seems interrelated to the similar problems of lack of places open past 7pm, much less past 11. There are virtually no late night places that aren't bars or coneys. The problem, I think, stems from the business owners don't really give a damn. They think everyone packs up and leaves Midtown after school or work... well they are living in the past. That, coupled with the persistent attitude that because it is Detroit, we can setting for mediocrity, is INCREDIBLY frustrating... examples... we don't need consistent hours, we don't need good customer service, etc, etc.

Having more grocery stores, coffee places, and any other business will help, because it will add competition. Businesses think they can get away with anything because it is Detroit and there is no place else to go, but that is going to change quickly, and those places that don't adapt will go out of business.

Credited. I find this especially frustrating because if people continue to *see* that there's nothing open past 7 PM, then they will continue to *assume* that there's nothing open and always head out of town for stuff, which will reinforce the present situtation. A few business have to set a precedent for being open late and then people will eventually realize that they have options in downtown/midtown at those hours. They literally have to "create the market."

I also think that in the case of Ye Ole Butcher Shop, as well as others, that they are waiting for the M1 rail line to be built or something. What other possbile reason is there to wait unless they are having financing problems? I too would spend my greenbacks in both of those places if they ever open.

It's simple stuff like this that makes living in the city a real pain in the a**.

**Hermod** · October-07-10, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

Credited. I find this especially frustrating because if people continue to *see* that there's nothing open past 7 PM, then they will continue to *assume* that there's nothing open and always head out of town for stuff, which will reinforce the present situtation. A few business have to set a precedent for being open late and then people will eventually realize that they have options in downtown/midtown at those hours. They literally have to "create the market."

I also think that in the case of Ye Ole Butcher Shop, as well as others, that they are waiting for the M1 rail line to be built or something. What other possbile reason is there to wait unless they are having financing problems? I too would spend my greenbacks in both of those places if they ever open.

It's simple stuff like this that makes living in the city a real pain in the a**.

1. Possibly they think the rewards for staying open past 7PM are not sufficient to cover the risks of being open past 7PM in the city.

2. Maybe the reason the businesses haven't opened yet is that the permitting paperwork is slowly aging in some moron's desk in the dis-functional city bureaucracy.

DetroitDad · October-13-10, 12:30 AM

As usual, sorry for the grainy pictures. I'll try to get out there with a better camera.

The following three pictures are of the demolition of buildings at Warren and Woodward, which appears to be to make way for a new park.

Attachment 7571

Attachment 7572

Attachment 7573

This last picture is of the new multipurpose athletic building near Warren and the Lodge. There is only a sign and site clearing thus far.

Attachment 7574

**wolverine** · October-13-10, 12:39 AM

That is perhaps the most depressing update I've seen in awhile. I thought cities were supposed to have buildings. Would have been more impressed with them getting cleaned up and providing a continuum of retail and restaurant on Woodward.

**kryptonite** · October-13-10, 08:09 AM

It seems idiotic to me - to create a greenspace gateway to a large urban university? Why? particularly when a substantial amount of demolition is required. WSU has done a good job of landscaping and physical improvements over the last 15 or so years. To me this seems frivolous and badly planned.

Where does WSU come up for the money for that? A federal grant?

**swingline** · October-13-10, 10:13 AM

Approximately 2006 during Irwin Reid's tenure a hotel/commercial project was announced for this site. Has a park permanently replaced this project? If so, what a disaster. Wayne State should run any green space plans for that site past the Project for Public Spaces folks [[who awarded their highest honor to Campus Martius Park) and pay attention to the looks of incredulity they would receive.

DetroitDad · October-13-10, 10:50 PM

This is clearly a move to showcase the buildings surrounding the new green space, right? When I took that picture, Wayne State had a lot of students out and about on campus, especially on the small existing lawn of Old Main [[Wayne State Clock Tower). While I really dislike set backs like the rest of you, it does fit in with the other buildings in the Detroit Cultural Center. I am skeptical, but willing to give the project a chance. Judging from what I saw, I can envision these lawns serving as park like meeting places, where students, artists, and other residents can congregate in an inspiring environment. That outcome could possibly be okay, if it functions to draw people outside [[Campus Martius), ans so long as it is subtle and made to have a connection with nearby urban areas that blend quickly.

I'm taking a wait and see approach for now.

**wolverine** · October-14-10, 12:32 AM

Actually, the future 'park' has awful edge conditions that will be difficult for any design to repair. You have two very wide and busy roads anchoring two sides of the park. While the new welcome center will look great from the park, it's not like people can spill out of it onto this greenspace, only a major boulevard that's safe to cross at select points. Same with woodward.

Looking towards Woodward, there's no suitable backdrop. There's a church, but it sits too low within relationship to the tree line. In other words all you see is a tree line, which is inadequate for providing definition to an urban park space. Think of what gives campus Martius its aesthetics..... It isn't so much the park itself but the compact cluster of highrise buildings around it. The park's "edge"....what gives the place its identity.

On the other sides, you just have the ass ends of buildings. Thankfully they didn't tear down the Goodrich building, but the side of this building was never meant to be exposed to a park, and that's why you'll get common brick to look at. I suppose they'll put up some sort of mural, which is IMO is not an element of a good campus green space.

I think the apartment building and the Psychology building were pretty solid architecturally. I think they could have been incorporated with a narrow campus walkway between these and the buildings to the South. It would have been a more intimate space and created a procession from Woodward to Old Main.

Might be a slow day tomorrow....I'll create a sketch of what I mean.

But from what I see from even a blurry semblence of this space in the renderings, I can't imagine this being the type of environment the architect's envision. I see some bad chemistry for a location that never intended to be suitable for a park. I can only hope I am proven wrong.