56packman Member Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1122 Registered: 12-2005
| Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 3:29 am: | |
all different views of the same building, years apart with some changes to the structure |
Ja1mz Member Username: Ja1mz
Post Number: 17 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 5:00 am: | |
Looks like an old Michigan Bell office..like the one on Grainer?...near Gratiot? |
Royce Member Username: Royce
Post Number: 2118 Registered: 07-2004
| Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 9:22 am: | |
Definitely looks like its on one of the radial streets, Gratiot, Grand River, or Michigan. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 193 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 11:14 am: | |
Oh no, I can tell you you're way off. The Gratiot/6 Mile Bell station is pretty square and isn't directly cornering Gratiot but more so surrounded y N,S,E,W streets (Schoenherr, Grotto, Greiner, an alley). |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 194 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 11:15 am: | |
That looks like some building off Grand River judging by how it's structured into the landscapre. |
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 1089 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 11:35 am: | |
Grand River and the Blvd before a new skin? |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3190 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:19 am: | |
Detroit Edison's Chandler Substation, Conner & E Warren. Believe it or not, it's still there. |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 234 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:26 am: | |
I know the sign for the bill-paying customers are still there. That seems right. |
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen
Post Number: 2090 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:33 am: | |
Mikem: Can you be more precise on the location? I'm not seeing it in the aerial shots I'm looking at. Thanks. |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3191 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:34 am: | |
Maybe a ½ block south of Warren on the eastside of Conner? |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 235 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:35 am: | |
Right there behind the Popeyes Kathleen on Conner. |
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen
Post Number: 2091 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:40 am: | |
You mean that short building that is in the southeast corner of the intersection? I'm guessing that's where the Popeye's Chicken is. If that's the right building, what happened to the rest of it? If it's not, please be more specific. Thanks. |
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen
Post Number: 2092 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:41 am: | |
Well, maybe it's not that short. I think I'm just used to looking at all the skyscrapers!!! |
Urbanize Member Username: Urbanize
Post Number: 238 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:41 am: | |
IT's not WHERE the Popeyes is now, it's ext to it surrounded by an alley (or Popeye's drive thru) and a vacant lot on the corner of Eugene. |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3192 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 11:44 am: | |
Sorry Kathleen, I should have given you a little more help. After:
Before:
|
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen
Post Number: 2093 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 12:38 pm: | |
Sorry, Urbanize, I did't mean to imply this building was where the Popeye's is. I was looking at the aerial map and saw what I thought was Popeye's and was looking at the building behind it. Thanks, Mikem, for the two photos. It is way shorter than it was. I just wasn't sure how short I was seeing in the aerial view (using Windows Live Local). |
56packman Member Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1127 Registered: 12-2005
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 1:08 pm: | |
MikeM--as usual, you are da man! I didn't realize that they partially demolished the building. I've only been over there a few times and never had those pictures with me. Why did they demolish the upper floors? |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3197 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 1:21 pm: | |
I don't know why. My guess would be that it suffered a fire at some point and its main function was replaced by the outdoor Mack substation nearby (west side of Conner, north of Mack), although the Mack substation wasn't built until 1974, while this building was shortened sometime in the late 1950s. |
56packman Member Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1128 Registered: 12-2005
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 1:30 pm: | |
thanks Mike. The middle image in my initial post was taken in Nov of 1954 |
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 2837 Registered: 10-2004
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 1:39 pm: | |
Wasn't that building more of an office & payment center than an actual substation? The electrical part of that structure seemed pretty much confined to the outside. I remember seeing the DTE building on Livernois and Michigan as a visiting kid from Milwaukee during the mid 1950s being where people paid their bills and exchanged their burnt-out light bulbs for good ones. I think my parents cheated a bit and traded in some of theirs... |
Mikem Member Username: Mikem
Post Number: 3199 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 2:24 pm: | |
Like many of the other multi-story substations around here, it probably was filled with smaller transformers inside, rotary converters, circuit breakers, breaker panels, switchgear, communications gear, etc. Certainly it contained a few offices for the staff which operated the substation, possibly a district office for line crews or engineering staff, but the electrical equipment was not confined to the outside. Usually the first few floors were open in the center for ventilation. The bill paying was usually done at commercial offices. I don't have any record of this location ever hosting that function, but it could have had a payment drop box. |