BY STEVE NEAVLING
DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Plans to demolish the once-venerable Ford Auditorium in downtown Detroit hit a snag today.

Council members said they won’t approve Mayor Dave Bing’s plan to raze the vacant downtown waterfront venue on Hart Plaza until there are solid plans to replace the 55-year-old building, once home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a destination for pop music concerts, famous speeches and theatrical productions.

“We need to have some discussion about what’s going to be done at that site,” Councilman Ken Cockrel Jr. said during a regular council meeting this afternoon. “I don’t like rushing this. It doesn’t smell good.”

Council members said too many buildings were demolished in the past without specific plans to replace them. Those include Tiger Stadium, Hudson’s department store and the Lafayette Building.


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