Thursday, February 04, 2010

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Winter at the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor

The extension to the former Tricentennial State Park and Harbor is now open.




North Woodward Garden Block Development (Updated)

Restoration and redevelopment are speeding along on the west side of Woodward between Mack and Warren. The C. Howard Crane designed Garden Theater (1912) will be returned to is original use as a theater and the Blue Moon Building will be renovated to house a restaurant. Gone are several blighted buildings on the block. A new, three-story building containing retail and commercial space as well as a 300-space parking garage will rise to take their place.

Monday, January 25, 2010

The Caille Brothers Building

In 1888 the Caille Brothers invented and patented coin-slot devices which resulted in establishment of penny arcades. The brothers moved from Saginaw to Detroit in 1895 and worked out of this factory to establish their slot machine empire. 500 people worked there and it was the largest plant in the world for manufacture of coin controlled machines. Later they expanded their product line to include other items such as marine motors, scales, and the conveyor belts used in grocery stores. The Caille Brothers Company maintained branch offices in New York, Chicago and Paris. The Building has been transformed into phase two of the Lofts at New Amsterdam.