A Look Inside the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ New Outdoor Adventure Center

The Detroit Free Press recently covered a sneak preview of the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor's latest attraction.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140622/BUSINESS06/306220065/DNR-Globe-RiverWalk-Roxbury-DEGC

Shell Game

All that was left intact from the Globe Trading Company building.

August 2013

As it Stands

This is all that remains of the Globe Trading Company building.

Outdoor Adventure and Discovery Center

Demoliton work has begun on the largest section of the Globe Trading Company building as it begins its transformation into Michigan's Outdoor Adventure and Discovery Center. The center will be the latest addition to the William Milliken State Park and Harbor when it is completed some time in 2014.

The complex was constructed in phases between 1892 and 1900. It served as the home of the Detroit Dry Dock Company, Dry Dock Engine Works and the Detroit Shipbuilding Company. The Boblo Island ferry boats St. Clair and Columbia were both constructed there, and a young Henry Ford worked at the engine works as an apprentice machinist.

Plan B for Globe Trading Company Complex

William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor has received a $25,000 grant from Coca-Cola, the American Parks Foundation and the National Park Foundation. The money will be used to turn the Globe Trading Company building into a 17,000 square-foot play area.

Instead of converting the space into market-rate condominiums and retail space, the building will contain a rock climbing wall, playscape, obstacle course and a state-of-the-art archery range.

It remains to be seen where the additional funds needed to complete this project will come from.

*UPDATE*

It turns out that the plan only calls for a portion of the building to be used for the playscape. A private developer will develope the rest. M-Bike.org has posted a few renderings of the  building developed by the DNRE.

Globe Trading Company Building To Be Redeveloped

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the Globe Trading Company Building in River Town is to be redeveloped into a $15 million dollar residential and retail complex. Mark Wilcox, who has also renovated Rinnell Place Lofts and the Carola Building, will convert the 146 year old complex into 45 market-rate condominiums and 10,000 Sq. feet of retail space.

The National Park Service’s Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) project has produced these documents detailing the history of the building:

Narritive

Illustrations