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.


Sunday, January 24, 2010

71 Garfield

Garfield Manor at 71 Garfield has been converted into combined housing and studio space for artists. It will contain 20 residential units and 20 studios.  The complex is green.  Geothermal, solar and wind and water retention systems will reduce net energy consumption and the waste stream to near zero.


*Note* Please ignore the color differences in the brick. I'm not sure how much the difference is from clean up or from my exposure.

Gone

For a change, a few nondescript buildings got knocked down in Brush Park this winter.


Saturday, January 23, 2010

Whitewash

Rather than doing any substantial work on Film Exchange Building, the owner decided to dump a few hundred gallons of white paint on the building and call it a day.


Friday, January 22, 2010