Major COBO Renovations Announced This Morning

[Pcm]

Dedicating a major civic center after a Jim Crow politician is a cruel joke. Anyone who has studied Detroit history will find that the illustrious ex- candy store owner Albert Cobo was no friend to 90% of today's Detroit population. If they want to honor him in Dearborn, that's fine.

What the...?

[R8RBOB]

Dedicating a major civic center after a Jim Crow politician is a cruel joke. Anyone who has studied Detroit history will find that the illustrious ex- candy store owner Albert Cobo was no friend to 90% of today's Detroit population. If they want to honor him in Dearborn, that's fine.

I suppose one would be disturbed that a center is named after a dude that didn't care much about the Black population and the city leaders knew this and they had a solution for this. Cobo is going to be Cobo regardless of what the man stood for but when you walk through the glass doors what do you see? Not a statue of Albert Cobo but a statue of Joe Louis Barrow. A very large statue in fact. And as you are walking south through Cobo, you come across a painting. Not of Albert Cobo but that of Coleman Alexander Young. A very large painting in fact. It may be called Cobo, but it is in name only.

[MSUguy]

Looks great. I'm surprised they're turning the arena into a massive 40,000 sq. ft. banquet hall though. Will this really get utilized enough?

It should, it sounds like a lot of space, but that is about 2,500 for dining twice that in general seating. 40,000 is pretty typical for facilities the size of Cobo, the 27,000 sq ft that the Riverview Ballroom is on the small side.

One question that I have what will happen to the MI Sports Halls of Fame?

Cobo's news floor plans:

http://www.cobocenter.com/rendring_b...evel%20100.jpg

http://www.cobocenter.com/rendring_b...evel%20124.jpg

http://www.cobocenter.com/rendring_b...evel%20144.jpg

http://www.cobocenter.com/rendring_b...evel%20164.jpg

vs the old

www.cobocenter.com/css/Cobo_Brochure2010[1].pdf

[Gistok]

Thanks for the images MSUguy....

The only thing I would change is to get rid of the meeting rooms below the ballroom... and make it another 40,000 sq. of convention space opposite the Michigan Hall.

The meeting rooms they have planned for down there are surrounded by enormous hallways.... seems like a lot of wasted space.

[Warrenite84]

One thing not mentioned here is how well the LRT line, [[downtown options 1 & 2), would tie in with a renovated COBO. These two options, [[option 1 median based, and option 2 curbside based), have proposed stations at/near Washington Blvd. and both Larned and Congress.

Seems like a great way to engage Woodward above the CBD and improve the chances of convention patrons to frequent businesses in the Midtown and New Center Areas along with the CBD.

P.S. I really like the way the Cobo design increases interaction between the ex-arena and river/city by increasing incoming light and views.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

The comments on Mayor Cobo are interesting. I didn't know anything about him, other than the fact that my parents had a button from his 1956 campaign for governor - "Let's Go Cobo!" Unfortunately, now I can see why they supported him.

[Gistok]

The comments about Mayor Cobo could be said about half of all politicians of the 20th century...

[southen]

i was just looking at the renderings more closely. did anybody else notice the new ramp and reworking of the riverfront by joe louis arena? you really can only see it in the overhead/arial rendering. not sure if im a fan of that.

[DetroitPlanner]

I suppose one would be disturbed that a center is named after a dude that didn't care much about the Black population and the city leaders knew this and they had a solution for this. Cobo is going to be Cobo regardless of what the man stood for but when you walk through the glass doors what do you see? Not a statue of Albert Cobo but a statue of Joe Louis Barrow. A very large statue in fact. And as you are walking south through Cobo, you come across a painting. Not of Albert Cobo but that of Coleman Alexander Young. A very large painting in fact. It may be called Cobo, but it is in name only.

There used to be a large bust of Cobo in the building. Cobo is a name that has been intertwined into the history of Detroit. The name itself is historical and legendary in the world of Auto Shows, Rock Shows, Wrestling, and Basketball. He was the person who had the vision for the building. Regardless of who was mayor at that time he was going to be white and have similar things thought of him. This is similar to how many people feel about CA Young.

[MSUguy]

i was just looking at the renderings more closely. did anybody else notice the new ramp and reworking of the riverfront by joe louis arena? you really can only see it in the overhead/arial rendering. not sure if im a fan of that.

The Free Press article said that another ramp to the loading dock would added

[canuck]

I didnt read any mention of the video fly-over of the Cob Center's new iteration, so here is a link to the video from the Cobo's website. I found it more fluid then the one posted on the Freep's site!?

http://www.freep.com/section/VideoNe...tvideo|article

I like the massive video screen and the huge exhibit hall size looks really well thought out.

[1KielsonDrive]

... and on one of those threads I showed this image of California's Catalinia Islands round Casino Building's main ballroom as an inspiration for Detroit...

Yeah, well let's try Catalina as an inspiration for Detroit. As well as the harbor, FLW and the climate.

[Gistok]

Yeah, well let's try Catalina as an inspiration for Detroit. As well as the harbor, FLW and the climate.

Your comments make no sense... I'm talking about an inspiration fo redecorating a round building, and you're bringing up an ocean harbor, climate, and an unrelated famous architect [[the Catalina Casino was designed by Sumner Spalding and William Webber... not Frank Lloyd Wright).... ???

[Lowell]

Let there be light! ...as shown in this fabulous 3D fly-through.


This promises to be spectacular. Bye bye to the dark walls sealing off the best views.


Gigantic Digital Video Display

[Joseph C. Krause]

Wow! The food court is already getting rave reviews!

[Junkin4Life]

I'm finally saying GOODBYE to the old basketball court in Cobo

[Joseph C. Krause]

The traffic patterns shown in that video are extremely manic and dangerous.

[gnome]

Didn't we already discuss this back when the design was revealed? Dec? Jan? Feb? Did something new happen?

[401don]

Didn't we already discuss this back when the design was revealed? Dec? Jan? Feb? Did something new happen?

Give the newbie who started the thread a break.

[wolverine]

The traffic patterns shown in that video are extremely manic and dangerous.

LOL. As someone who occasionally does video renderings at work, I took notice to the traffic right away. It's one of those details you discover at the end of the export and look back and laugh.

[Lowell]

Give the newbie who started the thread a break.

LOL. Threads merged. "There's no news like old news" and it [the renderings at least] were new to me.

What drew me to this was an article in this week's Crain's Rossetti redux: Preserving the Cobo legacy, undoing the past. Basically a correction of the father's 'sins' item.

Can't read 'em all. That's why I count on y'all and report post to keep me focused.

Thanks.

[Lowell]

Well dang that link doesn't work unless you have a subscriber's login, so here is a snip of the story's essence.

Walking through the Detroit River entrance to Cobo Center, Matt Rossetti can see evidence of his grandfather's personality as an architect.

In particular, there are the details of the building, such as the intricately rounded pillars of brick that give Rossetti a clear image of his grandfather designing the building in the 1950s.

"Knowing how fastidious he was, I look around and I can imagine him sweating over every line and course," said Rossetti, president of the Southfield-based Rossetti Associates Inc. architecture firm, pointing to one of the long brick walls on the lower level.

Too bad he probably will rip that wall down.

Rossetti's firm is part of the team of architects working on the proposed $221 million renovation of Cobo Center. The project, announced in March, involves complete reconstruction of the river side of the building to include a three-story glass wall to let in more natural light. The renovation will add 40,000 square feet of exhibit space.

For Rossetti, it's a signature Detroit project, but it also carries on the family legacy. His grandfather, Louis, designed Cobo Center, and his father, Gino, did interior work for the building, then designed Cobo Arena.

"It's something I'm thrilled to be a part of," said Matt Rossetti. "From the perspective of what it means to the city, it's exciting. From my family's standpoint, there's a lot of perspective."

Design of Cobo Center started in 1950. Louis Rossetti secured the work for the firm he founded, Giffels & Rossetti, a predecessor to Rossetti Associates, which broke away from the Giffels family in 1969.

Among the largest firms in the country in the 1950s, the firm did work around the world with 950 employees and Louis as director of architecture.

By 1954, the firm added one more employee: Louis' son Gino. He joined the family business and got right to work on the Cobo project.

His role with Cobo Center involved much of the interior design, though he had input on the design of the larger project. By the time Cobo Arena was being designed, Gino was vice president of design and played a large role.

Asked how he feels to see his son ripping his work apart, Gino chuckled and said "bittersweet."

"You design something, you want to see it last forever," he said. "This has lasted well for the city over the years. And the new designs will be an improvement."

Gino Rossetti said his father approached the Cobo project as a way to conserve the city's riverfront space.

"At that time, convention centers were windowless boxes," he said. "By orienting it at a right angle to the river, it conserved the amount of windowless space facing the river, and it opened up the opportunity for Cobo Arena to exist.

"Then, by building it over the expressway, he brought it away from the river and into the city."

But as the convention center industry has evolved, so must the designs of the centers, said Matt Rossetti.

A key to the renovated Cobo Center's design is to remove a large section of the river-facing wall and replace it with a three-story glass wall. That wall will create an atrium that will be visible from the main floor and the lower floor, with the idea of bringing more natural light into the 100,000 square feet of convention space on the lower level, making it more desirable to conventions.

"Convention centers aren't black boxes anymore," Matt Rossetti said. "We approached this project looking at how we can do this at one-fifth of what it should cost. Part of what we've done is take advantage of the river, aesthetically."

But he is also quick to defend the work of his father and grandfather.

For their day, the ideas implemented in the previous design and renovations were remarkable, he said. For example, there was the ambitious idea of building a convention center over an expressway and into the city.

The south-facing windows that jut out of Cobo Center's ballroom were an innovative use of a large amount of glass that wasn't typically used to such a degree back then.

"Some things may seem ugly by today's standards, but in their context were ahead of their time," he said. "The use of glass in the curtain wall facing the river was cutting edge in the "50s."

[Gistok]

IIRC... Rossetti & Associates moved from a nice downtown HQ out to Southfield during the "Tetris" upgrade to Cobo in the 80s....

[leland_palmer]

Expansion work on Wayne Hall from last week.

http://fadeddetroit.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-steel.html

[MSUguy]

The company doing the interior demo/abatement to Cobo Arena has a couple very small pics of the work. The Cobo Authority has new video showing the work.


Precision Environmental has the unique opportunity to be part of the transformation of Cobo Center, one of North America’s premier meeting and convention venues in downtown Detroit. The arena is experiencing extensive restructuring and expansion in the three-year, three-phased project.

As a subcontractor to the Adamo Group, Precision is contributing to the third and final phase that involves converting the former arena into a ballroom and kitchen to facilitate Convention Center and Joe Louis Arena construction. Cobo Arena’s 40,000 square foot ballroom will be renovated to support meeting, pre-function and back-of-house spaces.
Precision is removing 47,300 square feet of ceiling plaster, 40,000 of which is elevated 90 feet above the arena floor. The abatement also includes removal of 3,895 fittings in each room, 27,000 square feet of duct, 9,200 bulbs and 4,600 ballasts.