 
Tkelly1986
Member
Username: Tkelly1986
Post Number: 418
Registered: 01-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:08 am: |    |
Of the many demolitions Detroit has seen over the last 50 or so years, which one is the most regrettable, thus which do you wish never happened. Also, which made the least sense, in terms of the building not needing to be demolished or it would have been better to hold on a little longer in hopes a developer would come forwards.
For the first question my response is Hudson’s and for the second, I say Wolverine Hotel. |
Gmich99
Member
Username: Gmich99
Post Number: 252
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:11 am: | |
City Hall |
Chuckjav
Member
Username: Chuckjav
Post Number: 169
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:14 am: | |
Everything destroyed by construction of the Jeffries Freeway - wrecked the fabric of Detroit's Glorious West Side.
Those Rat Bass-Turdz! |
56packman
Member
Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1811
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:16 am: | |
City hall (thanks Gmich)
Hollywood theater
Hudson's (but would anyone be doing anything with it or would it still be empty ?)
Chene mansion/Little Harry's (thanks a lot Anita Baker) |
Detroitplanner
Member
Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 1432
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:25 am: | |
Hermann Gardens (ok, maybe not) |
Mackinaw
Member
Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 3749
Registered: 02-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:32 am: | |
Any demolition where no plan was in place for the redevelopment of the site (that's most of them).
Hudson's followed by the Madison Lenox were two of the most egregious. |
3420
Member
Username: 3420
Post Number: 142
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:37 am: | |
Hudson's, Statler, & Madison-Lenox. |
Waz
Member
Username: Waz
Post Number: 208
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:48 am: | |
Lindell AC  |
Gazhekwe
Member
Username: Gazhekwe
Post Number: 740
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:52 am: | |
Verne's, I still miss them. |
Detroitsuperfly
Member
Username: Detroitsuperfly
Post Number: 64
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 10:53 am: | |
Hermann Gardens? LOL!
Post of the day!
Lindell AC, indeed! In evey city I've lived in, I've looked for their version of the Lindell AC. There was only one. |
Fury13
Member
Username: Fury13
Post Number: 2524
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 11:01 am: | |
Majestic Building
The group of 1870s-1880s buildings that once comprised the Monroe Block
City Hall
Tuller Hotel
Flame Show Bar
Fortune Records |
Detroitsuperfly
Member
Username: Detroitsuperfly
Post Number: 67
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 11:04 am: | |
606 Horseshoe Lounge |
Iheartthed
Member
Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 1751
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 11:17 am: | |
Paradise Valley. |
Detroitsuperfly
Member
Username: Detroitsuperfly
Post Number: 69
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 11:19 am: | |
The Kress |
Fury13
Member
Username: Fury13
Post Number: 2528
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 11:22 am: | |
Hastings Street, from Jefferson to Harper |
Dds
Member
Username: Dds
Post Number: 383
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 11:44 am: | |
I'm surprised nobody has said Slumpy yet, with all of the weeping that went on for days about that place, and the fact that it's picture has been on the forum homepage for weeks. |
Barnesfoto
Member
Username: Barnesfoto
Post Number: 4234
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 11:59 am: | |
City hall, the Monroe Block, Little Harry's |
Detroithabitater
Member
Username: Detroithabitater
Post Number: 48
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:00 pm: | |
the southern half of Corktown |
Norwalk
Member
Username: Norwalk
Post Number: 127
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:07 pm: | |
Grandma's House |
Downtownguy
Member
Username: Downtownguy
Post Number: 69
Registered: 07-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:14 pm: | |
Little Harry's. Anita Baker should have gone to jail for ignoring the law and having that torn down. But, at least we have an IHOP in its place. |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2031
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:22 pm: | |
Yeah, my grandma's house too, Norwalk. Good pick. I'll also go along with old City Hall, even though it was really falling apart due to lack of proper maintenance. |
Catman_dude
Member
Username: Catman_dude
Post Number: 229
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:24 pm: | |
Slumpy was a different story, Dds. It wasn't originally intended to be demo'd but it was after the fact apparent that it was waaay beyond repair after her face fell off this past winter. So her demolition was like putting an extremely ill pet to sleep. Much weeping but it had to be done for her sake. |
Expatriot
Member
Username: Expatriot
Post Number: 2
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:28 pm: | |
City Hall I must agree, because it was done to construct a parking lot and marked the beginning of the decline. |
Viziondetroit
Member
Username: Viziondetroit
Post Number: 1131
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:29 pm: | |
"Little Harry's. Anita Baker should have gone to jail for ignoring the law and having that torn down. But, at least we have an IHOP in its place."
^^^^^
Deja Vu a'la pizza pizza |
Margaret
Member
Username: Margaret
Post Number: 203
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:53 pm: | |
my wonderful old house on Lakewood Avenue, and most of Lakewood from Kercheval to Jefferson. sob... |
Waz
Member
Username: Waz
Post Number: 209
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:55 pm: | |
Assuming City Hall were refurbished and left open, I can only assume there would be complaints by now that it is too small and inconvenient for staffers, a la Police HQ. Speaking of which, I haven't heard any comments lately about new police digs or more complaints about the current facility.
The old City Hall looked like a beautiful building (I never saw it in person). I would like to have seen it retained from an aesthetic standpoint, but it had probably outlived its usefulness from a functional standpoint.
Out of curiosity, does anyone know of other large cities that still use their "original" city hall, AS a city hall? |
Danindc
Member
Username: Danindc
Post Number: 3420
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 12:58 pm: | |
^Offhand, I can think of Cleveland (1906, designed by Daniel Burnham), New York, DC, and Philadelphia that still use "old" city halls. Philadelphia's City Hall is probably the most comparable to Detroit's old City Hall.
CAY Bldg is a POS, in my opinion. |
Fury13
Member
Username: Fury13
Post Number: 2533
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 1:07 pm: | |
Philly's City Hall is a jewel and the story of its construction (went on for decades due to corruption) is fascinating. Chicago's City Hall/Cook County Building goes back to 1911, I believe.
San Francisco's City Hall is something to behold. It was built right after the big quake of 1906 to replace an almost-new building that crumbled in the disaster. |
Scottr
Member
Username: Scottr
Post Number: 792
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 1:15 pm: | |
As for the most regrettable, City Hall, Hudson's, Statler, Tuller, Madison-Lenox, and certainly a few others that i'm forgetting. Does the Michigan Theatre count?
when it comes to 'made the least sense', statler, Madison-Lenox, and everything in the Comerica parking lots along woodward (even the ones that were moved were better off along woodward, IMHO)
(Message edited by scottr on October 04, 2007) |
Gazhekwe
Member
Username: Gazhekwe
Post Number: 744
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, October 04, 2007 - 1:17 pm: | |
It could have been a visitor center and museum, a la Waterworks in Chicago. It would have been beautiful. Funny thing about Detroit, history is never really important. Is it the new model every year philosophy? |