  Oldestuff Member Username: Oldestuff Post Number: 85 Registered: 01-2007 |
Can anyone explain why the City hasn't torn down or fixed up or at least maintained the Book Bldg on 14th St. It is an eyesore at all times, the plywood has fallen off the windows, the PO personnel throw all their refuse in the area and it eventually gets blown to the front of the building. No one is ever there to pick up or inspect and why isn't it on the demolition list???? | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 329 Registered: 04-2008 |
Is this the only building in Detroit that you've noticed is in a state of disrepair? | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 539 Registered: 04-2004 |
^ Actually it's the worst. Words cannot explain how bad this building is. Although the mature forest on the third floor is a nice feature. I don't know why it's not on the demo list, probably because they drew the names of buildings out of a hat. (Message edited by wolverine on July 26, 2008) | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 2109 Registered: 07-2004 |
Because they are too busy trying to figure out how to replenish Kwame's defense fund | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 1018 Registered: 10-2003 |
It's not the Book Building. It's the Roosevelt Warehouse. Get it right, people. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 1503 Registered: 01-2007 |
Thanks for the clarification, Ed_golick. I was just talking about the Book Building today with some friends. Didn't one of our DYers shoot some photos from the building a few months back? I recall they were done from the upper floors, looking out on the city scape. Any one got the linkage? | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 3029 Registered: 01-2004 |
heres some old stuff: http://www.metrotimes.com/edit orial/story.asp?id=7130 http://www.detroitfunk.com/200 7/03/roosevelt_warehouse.html | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 1508 Registered: 01-2007 |
Wow, thanks Mauser765. One can almost see Oswald crouching there just before he shot Kennedy... | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 458 Registered: 12-2006 |
Are Book Depositories even needed anymore? Seems like a huge expense to store all that stuff centrally. | ||
Detroitstar Member Username: Detroitstar Post Number: 1263 Registered: 01-2006 |
I really enjoyed looking through the stacks upon stacks of books and other printed materials there. I even found a textbook that I used back in middle school in Lansing! Wolverine, I agree that the jungle on the 3rd floor is a pretty awesome scene. Some of those trees are a good 20 feet tall! Also, the roof is an amazing panoramic display of graffiti. | ||
Detroiterbychoice Member Username: Detroiterbychoice Post Number: 59 Registered: 04-2008 |
Ok where exactly is this building? Anyone have an address? I have been dying to go in there and take pictures, but I can never find it. | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 472 Registered: 12-2006 |
We used to call it the Book "Suppository". LOL It's on 14th, next to the train station. http://brnation.d2sector.net/d etroit/ue_detroit_public_schoo l_warehouse.htm | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 3030 Registered: 01-2004 |
Heres another set of pics, slightly more recent - these were taken during the St Patricks Day parade last year. http://www.detroitfunk.com/200 7/03/going_postal.html | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 3031 Registered: 01-2004 |
What I found inside I did not enjoy seeing. Hundreds of pounds of discarded personal records of school children going back 50 years. Thousands of rolls of microfilm, complete with psychological evaluations, SS#s, full names and family history. INSANE that this stuff was left in this building, and completely illegal handling of personal data. | ||
Gertrude Member Username: Gertrude Post Number: 102 Registered: 05-2005 |
Here is another look at this building. There is a link that explains some of the history of that building: http://www.sweet-juniper.com/search/label/Detroit%20Book%20Depository It is so emblematic of this city and this region. (Message edited by Gertrude on July 27, 2008) | ||
Detroitteacher Member Username: Detroitteacher Post Number: 1326 Registered: 06-2006 |
DPS doesn't need the building anymore because THEY HAVE NO FRIGGIN BOOKS TO STORE! I'd love it if there were an excess of books (maybe there is, teachers just don't know where they are). | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 476 Registered: 12-2006 |
It would make more sense to have books shipped directly to each school, wouldn't it? | ||
Leannam1989 Member Username: Leannam1989 Post Number: 23 Registered: 06-2008 |
Wow. Looking at pictures, I don't think I'd go in there. It's amazing what is left behind in those pictures: schoolbooks, records, footballs. Did the roof collapse because of the fire, or just because of neglect? You'd think they'd get the records out of there. Someone could just come along and steal all kinds of SS#s it sounds like. I guess Detroit figures nobody cares enough to look. What a shame this building has become like this. | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 541 Registered: 04-2004 |
That's an interesting question, Leannam There's a lot of burned materials, but the building itself didn't show a whole lot of fire damage, or even that much smoke damage. My best guess was the "smoked paint" just fell off exposing clean concrete. But the top floor has steel beams bent from the heat, and the reinforced concrete is actually bowing downward like the the underside of a bowl. It's unreal. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 935 Registered: 04-2006 |
while in there I found my #1 urbex treasure of all time: a pull down ceiling map of Detroit, about 5x5. I found 5 of them, ALL sealed in plastic. From 1975! The one I opened still has a spring loaded recoil, (once installed on your ceiling, you can pull it down, and it stays down, and then give it a little tug and it rolls back up!) | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 3119 Registered: 09-2007 |
"It's not the Book Building. It's the Roosevelt Warehouse. Get it right, people." ^lol.  | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 480 Registered: 12-2006 |
Here's another situation that highlights the disrespect the government of Detroit has for its people. Somebody should call the DA or the press about this. Or maybe the Dept. of Edu., a.k.a., the Feds. It's their money, too. And if they know, why isn't anything being done? This is way beyond "dropping the ball". A couple of yrs. ago, Walgreens got into big trouble with the Harris Co. (Houston TX) DA. Somebody left an anon. tip (probably an employee) that they were chunking pharmacy records in dumpsters out back at several locations. Shoulda seen the look on people's faces when reporters came up to them in their own driveways, and handed them their medical info, SS#, credit card & medicare numbers, address and all. What's to stop people from walking into that warehouse and getting some SS#s to sell? Probably rakes in more than manhole covers, and and a lot less heavy. So exasperating! | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 936 Registered: 04-2006 |
well, SS numbers are a liability, not that it makes it any better, but there are similar records at Broderick, Wurlitzer, Meyer Jewelery, Metropolitan - and were similar records at fort Shelby, etc... I remember I was going through some folders at Fort Shelby, and found employment records. It had ALL kinds of personal information, even criminal history. Under race, it allowed for one letter, normally either W or N. Holy shit did I find that a wake up call and rather offensive. These were busboys in the 1940s, 1950s... so if they were young, they're still alive... Somewhere... and I could know what crimes they committed, and what their SS numbers are. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 937 Registered: 04-2006 |
well, SS numbers are a liability, not that it makes it any better, but there are similar records at Broderick, Wurlitzer, Meyer Jewelery, Metropolitan - and were similar records at fort Shelby, etc... I remember I was going through some folders at Fort Shelby, and found employment records. It had ALL kinds of personal information, even criminal history. Under race, it allowed for one letter, normally either W or N. Holy shit did I find that a wake up call and rather offensive. These were busboys in the 1940s, 1950s... so if they were young, they're still alive... Somewhere... and I could know what crimes they committed, and what their SS numbers are. | ||
Leannam1989 Member Username: Leannam1989 Post Number: 24 Registered: 06-2008 |
It's a shame those kids never got those books still wrapped in plastic. I'm guessing they survived the fire, just not the 20 years of rain, snow and vegetation? You'd think DPS would have, in 1987, at least gone through there to see if anything was salvageable, then demolished the building if necessary (if rebuilding was too expensive than building a new place). It seems irresponsible just leaving that stuff there, especially SSN, psychiatric reports. It kind of reminds me of Hashima Island (Gunkanjima). It's an abandoned island off the coast of Japan. Same situation there. They just left. I saw a video walking through it and there were old TVs, typewriters, old saki bottles. The hospital had medicine and medical records. Travel to Hashima is currently prohibited, but there are all kinds of pictures online. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H ashima_Island (info) pictures: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/saiga/y uji/gallary/gunsu/gunsu-html/0 2.html http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/ 593 (in English) Video: http://www.videosift.com/video /Abandoned-Japanese-Island English subtitles Here's a gallery of photos of abandoned places in Japan. It's all in Japanese though, so if your computer is like mine and just gives "‰ö‚µ‚•sŽv‹c‚ª‚¢‚Á‚Ï‚¢" which can't really be translated, you'll have to use your imagination. http://home.f01.itscom.net/spi ral/research.html There's a creepy old abandoned theme park there also. The last few galleries won't load on my computer, though. | ||
Barnesfoto Member Username: Barnesfoto Post Number: 5293 Registered: 10-2003 |
I'm amazed that nobody has mentioned Matty Maroun, Vampire. He's owned this building for years. In most cities, if you own a building but leave it with all the windows broken out and open to trespassers, eventually the city will inform you that you need to repair and secure the building, or face fines and demolition of the building with a lien for the demo costs on the property. However, if you are a billionaire who is the only private owner of an international bridge in world, (or maybe one of two) and you own such a building and contribute millions of dollars to the Kilpatrick Family's campaign funds, you can do whatever you want. This building and I go way back, as I lived nearby for years and once after the 1990 Dally in the Alley, some friends and I went in and had an impromptu dance party on the roof. We didn't know was that at the time a, neighboring building housed a convent. The "neighbors" called the police, who arrived just minutes after we left, finding no evildoers, but a warehouse full of books. At the time, the DPS still owned the building and was making noise about how they had no books and were short of other school supplies. The building was filled with books and very usable school supplies. Most of that stuff is still there, but 18 years of rain leaking in has reduced it to pulp. The cops who went in looking for us were very observant and took note of the stacks of books and school supplies. Authorities were notified and the Free Press published a story that was critical of the DPS... I still remember one line of the story: "Police were called to the building after a large group of people was sighted having a party on the roof". Barnesfoto, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. (Message edited by barnesfoto on July 28, 2008) | ||
Gumby Member Username: Gumby Post Number: 1751 Registered: 11-2003 |
quote: I am sure the N stood for Negro which was the accepted vernacular at the time. |
