  Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 7111 Registered: 02-2004 |
Looks like the only the 4th floor of the apartment building is badly damaged. Let us hope that the owner has insurance. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1426 Registered: 11-2003 |
I drove by there after hearing about it on NPR, the building was a mighty blaze this morning... It was smokey all the way over in Woodbridge | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 4949 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Yes, he said he was more concerned about the people who lived there who may have lost everything, and not to worry about People's Records because it will continue, even if at another location. | ||
Mbr Member Username: Mbr Post Number: 298 Registered: 03-2005 |
Speculation on the street was that it might have been the result of an eviction, or pending eviction. The firefighters got on the roof of the ABC Building and were able to prevent it from catching fire. That probably saved the building because the wind was blowing all the flames in that direction and there are only a few feet between the two. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 1846 Registered: 07-2004 |
I heard a rumor it was some guy who had barricaded himself in his room on the fourth floor. Unconfirmed. But, from what I heard, the new management was more serious about upkeep than the previous owners, who had allegedly played fast and loose with the books while letting the property deteriorate a bit. All rumors. We'll soon learn more, I'm sure. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11498 Registered: 12-2003 |
Can we get together and try to shore up those entrepreneurs, I know we cannot recover lost vinyl...but can we gather together to help them out and get Amsterdam restarted in another location?! I'd hate for that community meeting spot to go away from this dastardly deed... | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11499 Registered: 12-2003 |
JL, Didn't see your post...glad to know Peoples is going to survive. Cheers! | ||
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone Post Number: 178 Registered: 03-2007 |
I work for the company that put those new windows in....how sad! | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4519 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks for the pictures MDoyle. My heart and sympathies go out to the residents of that gorgeous apartment. It has to be a great difficulty to suddenly have their lives disrupted, possessions damaged or lost and have to find shelter elsewhere in the middle of winter. Hopefully there is insurance because it would appear from Mdoyles images to be restorable. The Galston on Michigan near the Senate Theater suffered far more damage during a restoration only to be resurrected.   Additionally, demand for housing in that area is good and will always remain solid due to the University and other stable institutions in the neighborhood. As for the vinyl it appears that the ground floors were not fire affected, beyond the obvious potential for smoke and water damage, so hopefully the records were not damage. | ||
Detourdetroit Member Username: Detourdetroit Post Number: 369 Registered: 10-2003 |
agreed lowell! buildings have come back from worse. deepest sympathy to our friends in the Forest Arms and to the businesses that were striving to make Detroit a better place. most reports indicate "arson", although did anyone else see the fox 2 report about attempted suicide? do those reports jibe? | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 1826 Registered: 07-2004 |
I heard that the guy on the fourth floor was about to be evicted so he barricaded himself in his apartment and decided to commit suicide by setting himself on fire. I heard this on the radio, AM 950. | ||
Brandon48202 Member Username: Brandon48202 Post Number: 215 Registered: 12-2004 |
What a shame! Someone please take some photos and post them here! | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2746 Registered: 10-2003 |
Look above for a link to photos that Mdoyle took earlier today.... | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11505 Registered: 12-2003 |
If it were arson, doesn't that make collecting on insurance difficult?! | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2450 Registered: 01-2004 |
I heard the barricade story from an EastDetroit firefighter who was listening to radio communications. | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 1829 Registered: 07-2004 |
If the story is true about the guy committing suicide with fire, then maybe that will make a difference. | ||
Macknwarren Member Username: Macknwarren Post Number: 7 Registered: 10-2007 |
I lived in apt. 307 in 1970-71. The building was filled with students, longtime residents with no connection to WSU, bohemians and SDS members. The manager, Mrs. Shanahan, would walk down the halls at night, jangling her big key chain. | ||
Themapman Member Username: Themapman Post Number: 239 Registered: 10-2003 |
Glad no one was seriously hurt, other than maybe the guy who started it. Sad though, such a great building with a high occupancy rate in the heart of a great neighborhood. | ||
Detourdetroit Member Username: Detourdetroit Post Number: 370 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks for helping to sort things out... Forest Apartments, 1905 Jacobethan/Anglo-Italian 4625 Second Baxter and O'Dell architects. Cost $67,500. Early Residents - William A. Nelson, draftsman, Great Lakes Engine Works. Arthur Crane, civil engineer. Henry C. Leonard, physician. John Weber, travel agent. Mauser765, photographer.  Temporary penthouse added 1945... | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 717 Registered: 04-2006 |
I saw i outside my window this morning at 8am! PEOPLES RECORDS and AMSTERDAM are so important to this neighborhood! I won't be able to bare it if they are gone! | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 3834 Registered: 10-2003 |
I wouldn't be surprised if the building came back condoized. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 11506 Registered: 12-2003 |
Andylinn, I DO so hope that you have been BEARING it all along...heh. Unless there is some sort of nudist thang happening in Midtown that I'm not aware of... | ||
Deteamster Member Username: Deteamster Post Number: 63 Registered: 07-2007 |
I live at the NW corner of Second and Forest. That building was at the SW corner. This is a huge loss for a neighborhood that has been on the upswing since I have lived here. After I went back to sleep, I had a nightmare that the whole block had burned and all of the neighbors were surveying the damages. Detroit's finest did an excellent job preventing that nightmare from becoming a reality. Still, I'm deeply saddened by this. We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 1848 Registered: 07-2004 |
speramus meliora | ||
Leoqueen Member Username: Leoqueen Post Number: 1833 Registered: 07-2004 |
I have seen worse brought back. Lowell's picture post gives me hope. If it can be it should be salvaged, rebuilt, to restore its historical status in the neighborhood. It would be a total shame if the entire structure was sacrificed, then replaced by the kind of condo architecture like the one going up now on Woodward next to the Whitney. | ||
Warsaw Member Username: Warsaw Post Number: 1 Registered: 09-2006 |
No! If Amsterdam and Peoples are gone, it's a huge loss for those of us who live in the neighborhood.. | ||
Birdie Member Username: Birdie Post Number: 11 Registered: 04-2007 |
this is terribly sad for all the residents. i hope amsterdam and peoples can stay! please please! i've been watching the fire from my window all morning and it looks like it is solely on the fourth floor and somewhat contained. i'm sure there is a lot of water damage, too, though. it sounds like brad hales has a good perspective on this. | ||
Mdoyle Member Username: Mdoyle Post Number: 335 Registered: 10-2006 |
"I think it will be a 100% loss," said Wayne State University Police Chief Anthony Holt. -Freep.com Glad to see such positive thinking from our great WSU officers. Im sure he had gathered enough evidence by standing on the street to call it a total loss. This is a HUGE building and I would say that less than 1/2 was gutted and the rest is water and smoke damage. I dont see them knocking down such a large building when the facade is nearly undamaged. I do suppose it all depends on insurance. | ||
Birdie Member Username: Birdie Post Number: 12 Registered: 04-2007 |
brad hales just sent this email message through the stormy email list: Friends, I am sorry to report that Detroit's Forest Arms apartment building was lost early this morning to a massive fire. The building is toast. Our new location is in the basement of my apartment, at 5835 Third St., just south of Antoinette. If anybody wishes to help out, how about sending a prayer out to the hundred or so people who lived there who are now homeless, and lost pets, and probably in a lot of cases, everything they owned to the blaze. People's Records will continue on without even really ever stopping. Unfortunately, I have to just about start over. Everything there is under about 4 feet of water. Literally. Also, if you have any photos of the old place, email peoplesrecordsdetroit@gmail.co m I think we may be having a benefit at the Bohemian within the next week or so; details to follow. So, if anybody wants to stop by the house on Third, Zac, Anibal and I are preparing the basement, and getting things ready for our newest incarnation. That's today. I don't think anything can be done at the store right now; it's going to take a whole lot of sump pumps to eventually get all the water out of that basement. 5,000 gallons A MINUTE were being pumped in. Phone calls don't really help right now; my voicemail is already full. Stop by the house on Third if you want to help. best, brad | ||
Chitaku Member Username: Chitaku Post Number: 1839 Registered: 03-2006 |
I've got some clothes and a winter coat I can donate. |
