  Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 5425 Registered: 10-2003 |
Almost daily I drive by an interesting Art Deco styled building situated next to the Stott and the parking garage. The building is facing State Street and has a yellowish facade. There is a "Franklin Properties" sign on it. I have never really noticed it before. What's the story of this building? | ||
Detroitsky Member Username: Detroitsky Post Number: 10 Registered: 06-2007 |
All i know is that it once was home to the Colonial Department Store. | ||
Dan Member Username: Dan Post Number: 1549 Registered: 10-2003 |
 This one? I love it too.... | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 662 Registered: 02-2006 |
GOD! Those would make some CRAZY lofts..... <313> | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1092 Registered: 10-2003 |
Someone have a picture of the entrance? A couple of years ago, there was a long thread on old buildings in downtown that included insurance maps that showed The Colonial Department Store. Anyone know where that thread is? | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 734 Registered: 06-2005 |
My map of downtown, from, I believe, the 20's, shows the Colonial Dept. store occupying the left half of the first floor. The right half of the first floor was the State Street side entrance to the Cunningham's Drug Store that fronted on Griswold. The Cunningham's seems to have wrapped around the David Stott Building. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1093 Registered: 10-2003 |
Reletively deep but narrow front window with a set back store entrance, right? | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1657 Registered: 04-2006 |
The Colonial Mechandise Mart... I used to go there and tell them Honest Hank sent me. The Colonial Merchandise Mart was a major sponsor of The Scene back in the early 1980's. It was a local dance show, but was able to somehow land acts like Morris Day, Prince, and Kraftwerk. | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 5428 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yeah, that's the one. You're right that it it seems as if the store wrapped around the Stott. One of my favorite buildings in the area. | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 466 Registered: 04-2004 |
That's an awesome building. I knew it was there, but never noticed it that much. | ||
Miketeevee Member Username: Miketeevee Post Number: 50 Registered: 07-2005 |
I worked there part time as a kid in the 80s and it was AMAZING! I wish I had photos. The first two floors were updated 70s style..but the upper floors had been untouched from the 30s! They were used for storage. I remember lots of glass and solid wood doors on cube-like offices.. old display cases of wood and glass.. cool old light fixtures.. the elevator with a crank lever. I felt like I was living in a Laurel and Hardy movie. I wonder what it looks like today. Hopefully it hasn't been stripped. | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1685 Registered: 11-2004 |
There was a thread about this building a few years ago. A couple of old forumers, ItsJeff among them, had some good insight about it. | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 2536 Registered: 10-2006 |
The building is L-shaped (behind the Stott Tower) in plan, however, the facade on Griswold was changed and no longer matches. (Message edited by charlottepaul on May 30, 2008) | ||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 6644 Registered: 10-2003 |
Douglasm - Here's the entrance:  | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3641 Registered: 10-2003 |
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Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 223 Registered: 12-2006 |
Great map! I'd forgotten about a lot of those stores. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1094 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks for the pix, Andrew. Are those brackets between the 1st and second set of windows that held the Colonial Department Store sign? | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 2253 Registered: 09-2007 |
"The right half of the first floor was the State Street side entrance to the Cunningham's Drug Store that fronted on Griswold. The Cunningham's seems to have wrapped around the David Stott Building." In other words, Rite-Aid is the other portion of the Cunningham's? | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 4148 Registered: 10-2003 |
The portion of the building that fronts on Griswold (with the remodeled facade) is on the site of the old Garrick Theatre, where Harry Houdini gave his last performance on Oct. 24, 1926. There should be a historical marker there. | ||
W_chicago Member Username: W_chicago Post Number: 36 Registered: 01-2008 |
I just walked passed this building today, and was wondering about it! And i thought to myself: wow, i want to live there! Defiantly one of my favorite mid-rise buildings in the city. | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 620 Registered: 03-2008 |
Hey Mike, What is that you are always posting? Are there updated current day maps available for purchase like that, that show the basic address listings and such for the CBD? That would really be something that would be nice to have. I know you posted those in other threads in the past. Unfortunately I never bookmarked them. I'm constantly looking at maps trying to figure out where properties and stores are located. Most of the time I am looking for vacant store fronts trying to find directions or doing basic planning (I'm working on business plans for stuff in the CBD right now). This might be common knowledge.... Sorry, I'm still new to the game. Old ones would also be nice so that I could have an idea of what the areas where originally planned as. I'd appreciate any help (or help from anyone else). I'll probably end up making one up myself, but would rather just purchase a copy. Does chamber of commerce have stuff like this? Sorry.... I'm still new. | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 629 Registered: 03-2008 |
City blue prints... LOL! | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 1389 Registered: 04-2005 |
I was searching the web for the David Stott, and found these pictures of someone who built it out of Lego bricks. It includes the building that this thread is about.  | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 1390 Registered: 04-2005 |
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Rjlj Member Username: Rjlj Post Number: 547 Registered: 11-2003 |
That is only half the building this thread is about. Looks like they ran out of legos. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6916 Registered: 08-2004 |
LOL... good eye Rjlj! It does look like he ran out... but actually his primary concern for this model was the Stott Tower itself. The builder of this masterpiece is Oakland Co. resident Jim Garrett whom I met several times, once at a PW Historic Theatre tour, and once at the NMRA Model Railroad Show at Cobo Center last summer. He's built some of the great buildings of Detroit. Because LEGO bricks have a height/length ratio of 6:5, building models with LEGO tend to create a tower taller than it actually should be. So his Stott Tower is only 31 stories, while the real deal is 37 stories. Jim Garrett (known among Detroit area LEGO enthusiasts as "DecoJim") has built some other stunning Detroit masterpieces. I love them all, except for the DIA model, which although nice, doesn't do the original justice: http://www.mocpages.com/folder .php/8777 Jim and other Detroit area LEGO builders now do an annual Christmas display at The Max. Jim has already done the Penobscot and Fisher Buildings. But when I asked him about doing the Guardian Building, Jim said that he has used up so much of the worldwide available supply of dark orange LEGO elements (not one of the more common LEGO colors), that there may not be enough of a supply available (from an online LEGO superstore known as Bricklink) of dark orange to do the Guardian Building. | ||
Jasoncw Member Username: Jasoncw Post Number: 512 Registered: 07-2005 |
If I had to guess, I'd say that the neighboring buildings were altered so that they'd fit on the lego base plates, which are of standard dimensions, and allow for a modular assembly of cities when people show up with a bunch of different buildings. I don't think it's because he ran out though. The Guardian Building would be great to see. Convenient color scheme too, off the top of my head all of the colors of the Guardian Building are colors legos come in. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 6918 Registered: 08-2004 |
Right you are Jasoncw, it was created to a standard module size. When the LEGO Train Club folks create a streetscape, they use the same module size (or multiples thereof). The LEGO color palette is much larger than most folks realize (although many of the colors were created for LEGOLAND models, and did not come in regular LEGO sets). In recent years the LEGO company has been selling off their excess model shop inventory of many colors... http://www.bricklink.com/catal ogColors.asp 6 years ago many of these exotic LEGO colors were just not available on the primary or secondary market. |
