Renaissance city forever

[JGRELLA]

JUST STOPPED BY TO SAY HI...
I was reading one of the forums about the UA Theartre and got nostalgic for Detroit. I spent much of my walking life renovating the DAVID WHITNEY BLDG on Grand Circus Park
when I bought The WHITNEY in '84 the people mover was going to save the city and POWER FOR TOMORROW was Mayor Young's cry for re-election and Detroit's renaissance was just around the corner unfortunately the road kept on going and that corner never came!
Oh well I had fun, invested everything we had then bailed out and came home to NEW YORK. Anyway thanks for the memories.
Joseph Grella

[marcwigle]

It's a long corner.

[gazhekwe]

Well, thanks for the work on the Whitney. It still looks relatively good considering it has been empty so long. My husband's first official law office was in that building before it slid. He shared a wonderful paneled suite with beautiful carved double doors. I remember a hidden bar, where you could swing two bookcases out and behind was this beautiful paneled bar. There was so much beauty and luxury in that building.

[JGRELLA]

if you'd like to email me I would like to see if your husband was one of our tenants.
jgejag@gmail.com

[DetroitDad]

While you may feel you wasted your time, I use the transit stops [[People Mover or 53 Line) around your former building all the time. Currently, there is a lot of activity in this area with Quicken Loans buying a adjacent building. The David Whitney Building is kept very secure. There is a security guard that goes around and checks all the doors every hour or so, and makes sure everything is kept in good order. The current David Whitney Building owners clearly treat their building as an investment, and are not letting it decompose the way other nearby building owners have.

As to Detroit being a Renaissance City forever, I don't think it has really been that long since Detroit was at it's height, when taking a step back and looking at it from the grander view of history. After decades of repeating mistakes, it seems that there never really could ever be or have been some grand renaissance. Detroit was not to be the answer to the urban dilemma.

While at first glance it looked like the spirit of Detroit had died, in reality it just lay dormant in the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the young. The new generation is learning that it isn't just about big projects that take decades to work out, but rather about small projects, millions of small projects, operating through trial and error over the span of decades. It isn't about always being the leader, but rather about learning to be a follower when appropriate.

Though there will be no triumphant renaissance to greatness, I think she will be a different place when you return, though maybe not as grand as you remember or hoped for. I am optimistic, not for a renaissance of what was, but rather for a new creation of what will be.

[Gistok]

Welcome to the forum Joe Grella. You certainly had one of the nicest buildings in Detroit! I've always thought that it would make a nice hotel... with the skylight moved from the top of the sumptuous 4 story marble lobby to the top of the building... and the current building hallway moved to the lightwell so that the hallway of each of the hotel floors looked down onto the lobby... similar to the historic Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, but on a much more dizzying scale with 18 floors looking down onto the lobby....

http://www.brownpalace.com/popups/photo_tour22.cfm