  Masterblaster Member Username: Masterblaster Post Number: 91 Registered: 03-2005 |
Someone in another thread stated that the Grande Ballroom is being demolished by a church. Is this true? There are plenty of vacant lots on Grand River and everywhere else in Detroit to build a church. Why pay the cost of demolition if you could just buy a couple of vacant lots instead (it would be cheaper)? | ||
Chuckjav Member Username: Chuckjav Post Number: 185 Registered: 09-2007 |
I have a better idea: Everyone get together, pitch in money....purchase the vacant Fine Arts wing at Mackenzie High School - call it The New Grande Ballroom. | ||
Detroitsuperfly Member Username: Detroitsuperfly Post Number: 74 Registered: 07-2005 |
Tear it down. Its worthless. It can't be restored, so why leave it up to remind you of how awful it is? | ||
Karl_jr Member Username: Karl_jr Post Number: 94 Registered: 06-2007 |
I agree, tear dat schitt down. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 570 Registered: 04-2006 |
preservation! PRESERVATION. | ||
Jnot Member Username: Jnot Post Number: 13 Registered: 01-2007 |
i seem to remember even Tom Wright, who used to manage the Grande, saying that the structure is beyond repair. I'd love to see the Grande Ballroom restored more than anyone, but i think this is one we just have to let go. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1819 Registered: 12-2005 |
If you want to restore it, you have to have a use for it when the restoration is complete and you have to have money to restore it and endow the operation of it. Somehow I'm not envisioning the aging hippies that saw the MC5 there ponying up cash like the MOT faithful have. | ||
Davetroit Member Username: Davetroit Post Number: 30 Registered: 03-2007 |
I posted about the Grande demo in the other thread. I heard this directly from the demo contractor. quote: I thought exactly the same thing. So, when I saw the "Future home of blah blah blah Church" painted on the bld a year or so ago, I figured that this must mean they were renovating the building, tho found it hard to believe that a church would go to this expense, when new construction would likely be cheaper. While it is sad to see it go, I think that it goes in the same category of Slumpy as just too late. | ||
Viziondetroit Member Username: Viziondetroit Post Number: 1133 Registered: 11-2003 |
..... all you preservationists... please provide some funding sources as well as a business plan on how it will support itself for the next 10 years. | ||
Oldoak Member Username: Oldoak Post Number: 22 Registered: 09-2007 |
There has been an ongoing effort to buy and restore the Grande Ballroom for several years. The church outbid the group and the group (FOG - Friends of the Grande) then started a petition to have it designated a historical site. http://www.petitiononline.com/ grande05/petition.html It came up to vote recently with the State of Michigan and I have contacted one of the members for more information as I noticed that mention in the other thread. Personally my feeling is that whatever can be taken out should be (such as the bar, etc.) and have the ballroom re-located to a more viable site. (I like Eastern Market as a thought.) Have not personally been inside (I know Lowell has) but my understanding is yes, it is beyond restoration for any reasonable amount of money. Plus, even fully restored, getting people to attend any shows in the area would be a hellava endeavor. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 573 Registered: 04-2006 |
Oldoak, you make a good point... i bet for a fraction of the cost, you could move the significant parts of the structure... I kind of blasphemously wonder if you could move the bar/stage/wall of signed names/ornamentation from the outside to the gold dollar site... and make a "Grande Gold Dollar Ball Room"... - naw, that's just stupid... nm... thinking outloud here... | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 929 Registered: 11-2005 |
Personally my feeling is that whatever can be taken out should be (such as the bar, etc.) Oldoak, there is nothing like that still inside. The last time I was inside, there was an old fridge and stove upstairs on the second floor and random garbage downstairs. If there was a bar on the second floor, it's long gone. | ||
Oldoak Member Username: Oldoak Post Number: 24 Registered: 09-2007 |
If people are truly interested, please visit this site: http://www.thegrandeballroom.c om/FOG_Public.html Here is the reply from someone in talks with the church who owns the Grande: According to the dialogue from the church, their intention is to use the building as the sanctuary for their church. I cannot imagine they have the money to renovate the building. I assume today's regulation require the installation of an elevator for handicap access. The alley way in the back of the building makes an exterior addition of an elevator impossible (nor does any wiring remain). I know there is no sprinkler system (or for that matter the pipes to support a sprinkler system). Yet the church implies the continued use of the building. Leo Early tells me there is to be a meeting of the members of the F.O.G., and the members of the Church. Tentatively, it is to be held at the end of October. At the last meeting, around eighteen members of the Church showed vs. three members of the FOG. The church wants to know who the FOG is, and what the members represent. They view all of us as non-residents of Detroit who, once again, are attempting to pry the treasures of the city from the true residents. The R word, and the inherent suspicion of the unknown, needs to be overcome. There has to be an in person representation from the Grande folks at the next meeting. (mrlits@mac.com) and his further reply: I wish I had better words to communicate my feeling, that the most historic event that could come from the Grande is two disparate sources working together for the common good. | ||
Leob Member Username: Leob Post Number: 100 Registered: 10-2005 |
Hi All, The Friends of the Grande hope to meet with The current owners, the Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church and representatives from the city this month. The process of nomination to the national registry is already well along, and the church has just recently been notified. Their approval is required. We hope to help them understand the process and likewise write them into the history of the Ballroom. My present understanding is the Church wishes to use re-use the building and not raze it. They have our support. Leo Early Friends of the Grande www.thegrandeballroom.com | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 1980 Registered: 01-2004 |
http://www.detroitfunk.com/200 6/10/grande_ballroom.html The first floor is practically liquefied. The ballroom level is pretty crazy, but its possible to restore/recreate something out it. The roof is falling through in most places, which has severely damaged most of the ceiling plaster work. Theres enough details left in the plasterwork to restore and recreate. The hardwood floors are garbage. I wish somebody could do something for the Vanity. That one is pretty rough too. | ||
Oldoak Member Username: Oldoak Post Number: 28 Registered: 09-2007 |
Dear Leo, the word is that the church is scheduled to demo the Grande. If I were in your shoes I would keep a watch to get film of the demo...probably a Saturday or Sunday morning, done before anyone can say anything about it. Check out slumpy. | ||
Leob Member Username: Leob Post Number: 101 Registered: 10-2005 |
Oldoak, Please contact me directly @ webmaster(at) thegrandeballroom.com Thanks Leo | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 272 Registered: 07-2007 |
Church's don't pay property taxes, correct? Is this why there are all sorts of churches in all these storefront buildings? | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1170 Registered: 11-2003 |
Oldoak wrote, "...the word is that the church is scheduled to demo the Grande." Whose word is it? What's the source? I'm certainly not saying it's feasible to restore the building, but it gets tiresome to read stuff like "the word is that..." and "rumor has it," and we're supposed to take it all on faith. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1380 Registered: 12-2003 |
Why do churches buy white elephant buildings that would take millions of dollars to make habitable? Wouldn't it be more cost effective to go build from scratch somewhere? | ||
Oldoak Member Username: Oldoak Post Number: 31 Registered: 09-2007 |
Because of what happened to slumpy and knowing how hard this group has worked over the years I felt that this should be brought to light. I'm sorry it gets tiresome to read stuff such as the origin of this post. I do not say take it on faith -- I say perk up to the possibility, it has happened before. | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 24 Registered: 08-2007 |
For those who long to have a Grande experience without the cheap nostalgia that surrounds it should check out the Bohemian National Home, 3009 Tillman. It's a smaller, more intimate atmosphere than the Grande. The people who attend are there for the music. The performance spaces are a former reading room which probably seats less than 100 or an upstairs theater with a stage that could handle several hundred. I haven't heard of anyone having any trouble in the neighborhood. 3009 Tillman is a block north of Michigan, a few blocks east of West Grand Blvd. There's a myspace web site at http://www.myspace.com/bohemia nnationalhome |
