  Detroitstar Member Username: Detroitstar Post Number: 1012 Registered: 01-2006 |
I just noticed out my window tonight that the Fisher Building"s roof has a green lighting scheme. We all know this is to support MSU in the NCAA tournament. Okay, really it's for St. Patrick"s day...but I can wish. I dont remember them doing it on this occasions in past years. What other color schemes have you seen there? any cool photos? The only other theme I've seen on the Fisher was blue/orange during the 2006 World Series. | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 291 Registered: 05-2006 |
They used red for st. valentines a couple years ago, sorry no pics. | ||
Mikeydbn Member Username: Mikeydbn Post Number: 363 Registered: 04-2004 |
The green tower is a St. Patricks Day tradition dating back to the days of JP at WJR. | ||
Detroitstar Member Username: Detroitstar Post Number: 1013 Registered: 01-2006 |
I guess I am just unobservant! | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1324 Registered: 11-2003 |
I think it was lit up in red and also perhaps white for at least one of the Red Wings Stanley Cup victories. The tower was also lit in green right after J.P. died. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 452 Registered: 12-2007 |
It was more orange than gold when the Tigers were in the world series I believe... | ||
Matt Member Username: Matt Post Number: 1252 Registered: 10-2003 |
I think it should remain green. I think it looks so nice. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6526 Registered: 08-2004 |
Wasn't the roof actually gold leaf or something like that before WWII? Wasn't that how they got "from the golden tower of the Fisher Building" for the WJR motto decades ago? Or was that just a shiny copper roof before verdigris set in? | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1326 Registered: 11-2003 |
The roof was indeed gold leaf before WWII. It was removed and replaced with green terra cotta, so as not to be as visible to potential enemy bombers. WJR actually was the first tenant of the Fisher Building. As part of its lease payment, the station promoted the building on the air, and used the "Golden Tower" slogan from the outset. At the very top of the tower, part of the roof ridges are still gold-colored. Does anybody know if that's actually gold, or what it's made of? *Info partially from http://info.detnews.com/redesi gn/history/story/historytempla te.cfm?id=32 | ||
Motorcitydave Member Username: Motorcitydave Post Number: 127 Registered: 11-2004 |
Yeah, it has been green on St Pattys for the past few years that I have lived downtown, and it WAS orange and blue (orange on 2 sides and blue on the other 2) during the Tigers run 2 years ago. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2050 Registered: 07-2004 |
Yeah, I noticed the green last night while taking the Lodge home. It reminded me of living in New York, because the Empire State Building would often get different lighting treatments different times of the year: Red-white-and-blue for Independence Day, shamrock green for St. Patrick's, etc. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6529 Registered: 08-2004 |
Thanks Burnsie... it's kinda funny in retrospect thinking about worrying about Japanese or German bombers zooming in on Detroit. But that was another era, and there were a lot of war "jitters"... just look at Steven Spielberg's comic movie "1941" about the war jitters in California the week after Pearl Harbor. Although it was a comedy, there was nothing funny back then with all the hysteria about who would be next. | ||
7_and_kelly_kid Member Username: 7_and_kelly_kid Post Number: 86 Registered: 12-2007 |
i had the privledge of working in the Fisher Bldg. in the 70's.......and was able to sneak up into "The Golden Tower"...I would peak out the little windows.East, North,South,West.......it was hot up there.........and relatively small.... | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 461 Registered: 12-2007 |
Gistok...not entirely...Nazi subs raided the east and gulf coasts during the early stages of WWII had the South American countries sided with the Germans and Italians, Detroit would have been an obvious Target much like Bremen and Hamburg were, especially with a v-1 or v-2 rocket. Major industrial cities would be at the top of the list, Detroit probably number 3 Behind Washington and New York. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 2053 Registered: 07-2004 |
In those old movies, factories were definitely legitimate targets for air raids. I imagine the Civilian Defense officials were on alert despite being 600 miles inland. Ever see "30 Seconds over Tokyo"? All those factories looked the same in those days, so it's weird how much it looks like Detroit being blown to bits. | ||
Deteamster Member Username: Deteamster Post Number: 101 Registered: 07-2007 |
Bombers from Iceland or Greenland(had the Germans occupied those areas) could also reach Detroit. It was a plausible threat, not mere hysteria; the reason why the Willow Run Bomber plant was built without any windows. | ||
Malcovemagnesia Member Username: Malcovemagnesia Post Number: 67 Registered: 12-2005 |
Growing up in the 70's, my semi-fuzzy memory was that Fisher tower roof was completely gold painted except around St. Patrick's day, when it was changed to green (painted? or just lit that way?). When was the gold roof permanently painted over? | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1327 Registered: 11-2003 |
Malcovemagnesia-- Your post reminded me of a photo that was reproduced in an old 1970's souvenir booklet on Detroit. In it, roughly the top third of the Fisher tower was gold-colored, and the bottom two-thirds green. Yet photos previous to that (but after WWII) show it looking like it does today. But all the sources I've seen say that the gold leaf was stripped off during WWII. | ||
Iddude313 Member Username: Iddude313 Post Number: 162 Registered: 07-2005 |
Here is a photo I took around Spring 1999. I sure loved looking at those big letters in the sky.  | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5749 Registered: 10-2003 |
 Many years ago, my grandmother and her sister worked across from each other like the arrows I drew. They could see each other through their windows. She loves to tell me that story for some reason. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1716 Registered: 11-2003 |
Love seeing the General Motors on the building in those pictures. I think Forbes owns the GEM from the sign and someday will put them on the parking deck facing Comerica Park. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1332 Registered: 11-2003 |
At the time the signs were taken down, GM said it would put them in storage. It's too bad it didn't install one of the signs at the base of the RenCen, either facing the river or Jefferson. That would have looked awesome. | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 1718 Registered: 11-2003 |
Yeah, how sweet would pictures of Detroit look from Windsor with the huge General Motors sign lit up? | ||
Hardhat Member Username: Hardhat Post Number: 229 Registered: 10-2003 |
Here's an article and some pics related to the replacement of the spires atop the Fisher Building, from 2003. From the Building Tradesman Newspaper Trades restore lofty part of Fisher Building’s opulence (July 2003) By Marty Mulcahy Editor Building trades workers are helping to restore some of the lost luster atop the “Golden Tower of the Fisher Building.” Erected in 1928, the Fisher Building is described by its historical marker “as “Detroit’s largest art object.” It was built at a time when the seven “Body-by-Fisher” brothers seemingly had money to burn because of the booming automotive market, and basically gave architect Albert Kahn a blank check when it came to outfitting their building. He spent about $9 million on the building, and a quarter of that was devoted to “extras” that helped Kahn win the Architectural League’s Silver Medal designating the Fisher Building as the nation’s most beautiful commercial structure of 1928. Seventy five years later, the building is still an architectural gem, and atop the building, a small group of Western Waterproofing tradesmen are helping to make sure it stays that way. Earlier this month, Bricklayers and Allied Craftsworkers tradesman working for Western Waterproofing completed the process of removing a pair of rotten copper-clad ornamental spires on the roof, in a laborious effort that required a tricky scaffolding job and a gentle touch when it comes to dislodging the historic fixtures. The job was handled by foreman Shawn Merrill, Bradley Mayer and John Grougan of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1. They will also be removing, repairing or replacing terra cotta tiles that cap part of the skyscraper’s green and yellow roof. In several months, they expect to be back on the job installing new replica spires made of fiberglass. “Once you get under the skin of the spires, every section is rotted, and a lot of it basically turns to dust,” said Merrill, working on the tiny scaffolding platform they erected above the roof. “This is interesting, historic work and it’s the kind of work we like to do best.” The spires had obviously been deteriorating for years, but the need for this project came to a head when one section broke off. Further inspection found that the pair of spires were barely attached to the roof because of the rot. Before this disassembly project began, the spires were looped in wire so they wouldn’t fall apart further. Clad in 16-guage copper, the two wood and metal spires were gently dismantled and temporarily placed in a pile inside on the building’s top floor. They may be reassembled and displayed somewhere inside the building. The Western Waterproofing crew will also rebuild the 20-foot structures that anchor the fixtures to the roof. “The craftsmen who built these were pretty sophisticated,” Merrill said. “Look how they bent and folded all the copper. And then underneath, they did the same thing with the wood and the metal. When we started, we didn’t expect to see all the decay that we’ve seen. But there are a lot of seams, and that’s where the copper failed. I guess you’d have to expect that after being exposed up here all these years.”   | ||
Hardhat Member Username: Hardhat Post Number: 230 Registered: 10-2003 |
An exterior shot of the scaffolding in '03.  | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 537 Registered: 01-2007 |
My grandfather worked at the GM building before retiring in the mid-50's. My Mom (78) tells a story about her childhood dog riding the running board from 7 mile/Wyoming area to the GM parking garage. Grandpa would lock the dog in the car and call Nana, and she and Mom had to come get the dog from the car! I have a cast model of he GM Building that was given to my grandfather. It does not have the "General Motors" lettering on the roof... were they added later? | ||
Onthe405 Member Username: Onthe405 Post Number: 40 Registered: 11-2007 |
I find it interesting that GM never found it appropriate to come up with something more aesthetically inspiring than that drab, stubby block-shaped building with generic neon letters on the exterior. IMO, among Kahn's weakest work. As a 9 year old, I even remember asking my Dad why the Fisher Building was so much more stylized & ornate than the HQ of a corporation with influence all over the world. Other than the thousands of lost jobs and subsequent economic malaise for Detroit, IMO there's little to feel nostalgic about with regard to the building on Grand Blvd. Look at Chrysler as well. Architecturally, there are few peers to the fabulous NYC skyscraper bearing their moniker. Detroit, by contrast, had the lovely Highland Park complex as the world HQ. There are numerous other unique buildings in Detroit that would have been much more worthy of a GM HQ: for example, doubling the height of the tower portion of the Fisher Bldg. would’ve made a stunning landmark, or something along the lines of the Guardian Building. RenCen is OK. The location is unparalleled, but it hasn't aged well--a dated hand-me-down complex that will never be considered an architectural classic. Chrysler Auburn Hills & Ford Dearborn are even blander than that. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 475 Registered: 12-2007 |
I disagree with you Onthe405. I think the GM Building is a beautifully detailed structure that would fit in very well had the area around it been more developed. Had the Fisher building been completed the way it was designed...my lord, the current Fisher was merely a bookend with a much larger tower to be in the middle. There was an image of what Detroits skyline would look like had ALL the high rises that were on the table at one point been built. Simply stunning to see what Detroit would have...and should have been. Simply Amazing. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1333 Registered: 11-2003 |
One end of the GM building had the letters installed in 1955; the other end had them installed in '59 or '60. The building originally was to be called the Durant Building after GM's president, but he was kicked out before completion. But not before the letter "D" was carved in various places on the stone near the top of the building. Instead of Cadillac Place, the building should have been named the Durant Building when the state bought it. Durant doesn't have anything in Detroit named after him. Sure, the GM Building doesn't have the over-the-top decor that the Fisher and Guardian do. But it's a dignified, classic-looking building with somewhat restrained ornament, that evokes the no-nonsense nature of the important headquarters work that went on there. It certainly has more ornament, and more marble, than most anything built in the decades that followed! | ||
Jrvass Member Username: Jrvass Post Number: 540 Registered: 01-2007 |
From my understanding, it was designed purposefully to maximize the ratio of offices to windows in the days before air conditioning and mandatory suits & ties. |
