What is going on with the former Michigan National Bank building?

**detroiturbex** · October-05-10, 04:33 PM

Apologies if this has already been posted, I did a search but didn't find any threads about it. It looks like it got run over by a tornado.

**5speedz34** · October-05-10, 04:40 PM

Is that a National Park Service police car?

**leady106** · October-05-10, 04:44 PM

It was used as part of an battle/explosion scence for the movie Transformers 3, [[ I believe) that was film around capitol park. The are currently replacing the damage storefront.

**detroiturbex** · October-05-10, 04:44 PM

http://npsprotective.com/

**BrushStart** · October-05-10, 04:48 PM

I was hoping that they were not going to leave it like that after filming. If they don't at least close it up and mothball it, I'll be pissed. That building is not that bad on the inside and shouldn't be left open to urban miners and the like.

**Whitehouse** · October-05-10, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by 5speedz34

Is that a National Park Service police car?

Or a Decepticon??\

Is this building worth saving? Looks like everthing that was wrong in the 60's.

**Jason** · October-05-10, 05:44 PM

That's funny, when I saw it I was reminded of how much I like the building.

The building was built either in the late 30s or early 40s, which makes sense since stylistically it's a lot closer to art deco than modernism. It was done by Albert Kahn not too long before he died.

**wolverine** · October-05-10, 06:30 PM

From what I can see, the inside already looks terrible and outdated with those nasty drop ceilings. New glass on the front will be a plus, but hopefully someone can take it a step further and entirely gut the inside to the concrete so this building is a bit more marketable

**detroitbob** · October-05-10, 08:33 PM

The interior has been remodeled over the years but years back I remember Richman Bros. Men's Store was a longtime tenant. Gutting the inside to concrete might be advisable for the upper floors...the main floor had some interesting plaster details which were covered by dropped ceiling and false walls.

**Whitehouse** · October-05-10, 10:42 PM

I didn't know the Michigan National Bank was owned by the Dutch Bank mogul ABN/AMRO. [[The arconym stands for Algemene Bank Nederland/Amsterdam-Rotterdam.)

**detroitbob66** · October-05-10, 11:54 PM

Originally Posted by leady106

It was used as part of an battle/explosion scence for the movie Transformers 3, [[ I believe) that was film around capitol park. The are currently replacing the damage storefront.

Correct you are! It was used for an explosion scene for Transformers 3