  Krawlspace Member Username: Krawlspace Post Number: 336 Registered: 04-2004 |
So I noticed that the plant is wide open in several places along the Boulevard frontage, and no one is guarding the main gate. Looks to have gotten much worse in the past few months. Any info? | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1916 Registered: 12-2005 |
Well, the complex is for sale, Burger Easton would be happy to talk to anyone about it. The case with the city has finally been settled; the city lost their eight-year battle to do a land grab. During the city's period of control they allowed the rampant vandalism and scrapping, no one will ever admit to it, but I think it's plausible that since they want the complex demolished they are helping the cause along by looking the other way while the place is trashed. The security guards that were there 24/7 were paid by the city of Detroit to keep the former owner out and to deny him his due rights as a property owner. That's all they were there for. The wanton destruction that has happened over the last eight years has occurred on their watch. It will undoubtedly fall one day, hopefully the folks from the Packard proving grounds preservation group will be allowed to salvage the two doorways and the radiator crests from the overpass tunnel--I think that's all that could be reasonably asked at this time. The complex was a quiet, under-utilized place under the previous owners, stable in most places and a great place for reasonably priced storage. The backroom dealings of the Archer administration have never been questioned in the media--they acted as stooges for a predatory industrial real estate speculator and the demolition company owned by his son, working fast and hard (with the help of someone high up in Lansing) to get and use Brownfield superfund monies doled out at the discretion of the state under the pretense of a potential development that was never substantiated. I would tread lightly there these days; the absence of law enforcement makes it a risky place these days. | ||
Krawlspace Member Username: Krawlspace Post Number: 337 Registered: 04-2004 |
I agree with you about the risks involved. For this reason I posted here instead of broadcast the absence of security in the main forum. I was really shocked to see the current condition. It was always reasonably open to trespass, but the condition now is insane. The doorways you mention are wide open, and I seem to remember "1909" over one of them, which I think is gone now. The "Packard" stone is still there however. So with the city's loss of the law suit, they just pulled the security? And what of the "owner" Dominic I think? Where is he now? If you have any pull with your proving ground guys, I would hustle to get what you can now. I'd be happy to lend a hand if some kind of permission could be granted. Going in without permission is not as risky as removing concrete door frames on the Boulevard. Any suggestions? | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1293 Registered: 12-2005 |
56packman, On the "Gone, but not forgotten restaurants" HOF thread, you mentioned that you once played the organ at the "Farm House" restaurant in Hazel Park. My parents were trying to identify one of the girls in their old school photos and while they can't remember her name, they remember that her parents owned the "Farm House". What was the owner's family name? | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1923 Registered: 12-2005 |
Mary and Fran--that's all I'm remembering right now, I don't know if I ever knew their last names!--the paychecks were from the Farmhouse restaurant. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1297 Registered: 12-2005 |
Thanks for the names! I'll run them past my folks and see if that helps jog their memory to get at their last names. I enjoyed more than a few business lunches at the Farm House back in the early 80's when some of my tooling designs were placed at a job shop in Hazel Park. | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1762 Registered: 08-2006 |
I've got a few Farmhouse matchbooks in my collection. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1301 Registered: 12-2005 |
Do you know if the matchbooks happen to indicate the owner's names? | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1765 Registered: 08-2006 |
No, don't think so, but down the street at the Country Boy they'd probably know. I was talking one day with the second generation owner Shirley Hammond, who said she worked at the Farmhouse as a teenager. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1302 Registered: 12-2005 |
Thanks for the tip! | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1766 Registered: 08-2006 |
Yeah, Shirley is Roy Sparks's Daughter. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1925 Registered: 12-2005 |
Mikeg--the Farmhouse was owned by Fran and Mary Trambusch. They have both since passed away. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1304 Registered: 12-2005 |
Thanks a lot! I'll pass that on to my parents and update the photo caption. |
