Detroit targets Park Ave. Bldg. for demolition

[Gistok]

Here's a snippet from Historic Detroit.org.... and I remember when this happened, because that 1 block stretch of Clifford Ave between Bagley and Middle St. was closed for over a year.

"In February 1983, the United Artists joined the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Grand Circus Park Historic District. But as time has shown in Detroit, such a designation does not always bring protection. On Nov. 2, 1987, a shower of hundreds of bricks fell from the 13th floor of the UA’s tower onto Clifford between Bagley and Middle Street, crushing Detroiter Barbara Simons’ 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. “At first the police were telling me they couldn’t make an accident report because this was an act of God,” she told the Detroit News at the time. While no one was injured, it was at least the second time a car had been destroyed by bricks falling off the UA; Kevin Moloney of Detroit said his 1972 Cutlass Supreme was hit in the same spot in August 1984. Apparently, the United Artists Building had a thing against Oldsmobiles. The UA’s owner at the time, Whitney Management Co. of Montreal, said it would shore up the wayward bricks and continued to try to sell the crumbling landmark."

http://www.historicdetroit.org/building/united-artists-theatre/

Well those bricks started falling off the SW side of the UA Building 30 years ago.... and if there was even the REMOTEST chance that the building was still not structurally sound... that "Demolition Mike" Ilitch would NEVER have spent millions to put a new roof on the UA Building and Theatre about 3 years ago, when they cleaned all the debris out of it, cleaned up the windows, removed the decrepit theatre marquee, removed additional loose bricks from the exterior, and even installed some drywall inside... all to mothball the building for potential sale or use....