[Allan]

I've heard that the first floor facade will be covered with advertisements, hence the exterior lighting. Still, why did they choose to paint the plywood red, of all colors?

[Lmichigan]

Allan, I was just going to add that if they were going to cover all of their properties with adds I wouldn't mind the boards. lol But yeah, the red is probably the most tacky color they could have done. Maybe they thought it would match the red that's already on the building?

[Allan]

This actually looks like paint left over from the Blenheim Building.

[Jin Kim]

UGH... what a waste.

Re: UA fencing...

Allen, it makes sense that they'd put the fence up in preparation to take down the awning.

[Allan]

Some gray paint went up on the lower boarded up windows of the UA today. That still doesn't explain the fence though. The fence is actually installed into the sidewalk, making it a rather permanent fixture, which is leading me to believe that we will see significant work of some kind here in the relatively near future.

Everyone says demolition, but the fence does not encircle the entire building - just the front. I am unaware of any renovation plans; however, they are in the process of doing some cleanup work on all the properties. Who knows with the Ilitches though? They are the type of people who can fly under the radar to do whatever they want.

[wolverine]

Maybe it's to keep people out to prevent new paint from going up on the windows. Certainly they would have seen from MCS that fencing is absolutely useless when it doesn't circle the entire property.

Allan, it appears a window is open on the second floor of the Fine Arts. When we explored that place over the summer, didn't I tell you to close it. Shame!!!

Oh, and it's quite amazing how stable the Fine Arts looks from the outside. Too bad the inside is a horrible wreck collapsing into the center of the building. I bet those workers nearly had a heart attack when they saw the floors sloping 30 degrees into a gaping black hole.

[Allan]

Close the window in the Fine Arts? It was closed when we went through it...it just had the glass missing. I do remember that the window frame finally fell apart on one of my visits, but I think that was after I went with you. They've taken down the fire escapes now, forcing those who want to get in to take more creative routes.

[Jin Kim]

I took some photos of the site while I was out for lunch.





There was nobody working on the site today (though there was a back-hoe just around the corner at the former AAA building site) . The site looks like it'll be completely street level once they dump about a couple dozen truck load of soil.

Here's a photo of the back-hoe digging up where the AAA building used to be.



What's the plan for the AAA site? I'm assuming whatever they're doing is in preparation for the Super Bowl. Seems odd of them to dig a hole when they could leave it filled. Anyone have a clue?

Also, there was a street sweeping truck going around the job site which now has a thin layer of mud all around it. I don't know why they don't just wait until the job site itself is ready for a clean up.

[edit] fixed links to the images.

This post has been edited by Jin Kim: 11 January 2006 - 12:56 PM

[Allan]

I'm not sure what they are doing at the AAA site. Maybe they just enjoy digging holes.

[Allan]

Well, it looks like I was right about the Fine Arts Building. I was expecting a corporate advertisement, but it is an advertisement for the building.

"The Fine Arts Building at Historic Grand Circus Park. Mixed use Opportunities Available"

It's nice to see that the Ilitches are finally going to unload some of the property that they don't really have much business owning. Shouldn't they just be advertising the facade for the Fine Arts, though? It's not much of a building anymore.

[Lmichigan]

I'd be kind of embarrassed to show off that property to a developer.

[Jin Kim]

The satellite photo of GCP area released with Today's Illitch announcement showed the entire block between Clifford and Park colored as city owned lot. Does that mean that the owner of the 4 story building that caught fire as Statler demolition began sold it to the city?

Anyone with some info on status of that particular building?

[Allan]

The city was trying to get it, but the owner wouldn't budge until the legal issues between Homrich & him were resolved. I'm not sure if the owner finally sold to the city, or if the building was colored purple by mistake. My thinking is that if the building was owned by the city that it would've been brought down by now.

[hudkina]

I'm sure they can save the facade of the Fine Arts Building and attach an entirely new structure to it. They did it to a smaller facade in Plymouth when they demolished an old building they left the original facade still standing (supported by I-beams). I'm sure they could easily do the same thing with the Fine Arts Building. By doing this, they could keep the historic nature of the building, but also offer modern amenities. I don't know how much more expensive it would be to save the facade, but I think the Illitches owe it to the preservationists to save what little they have left.

This post has been edited by hudkina: 12 January 2006 - 11:58 PM

[andrew69@ltu]

hudkina, on Jan 13 2006, 12:56 AM, said:

I'm sure they can save the facade of the Fine Arts Building and attach an entirely new structure to it. They did it to a smaller facade in Plymouth when they demolished an old building they left the original facade still standing (supported by I-beams). I'm sure they could easily do the same thing with the Fine Arts Building. By doing this, they could keep the historic nature of the building, but also offer modern amenities. I don't know how much more expensive it would be to save the facade, but I think the Illitches owe it to the preservationists to save what little they have left.

I would realy like to see the facade saved (and sometime before in collapses in with the rest of the building) and it wouldn't as much of a hassle to work around the facade durring demolition and construction if the temporary supprot structure was placed on the outside as in te example.

[wolverine]

I'm guessing the temporary supporting structure for the facade would have to be on the exterior. Doing anything in the interior would be a fatal mistake.

I agree it must suck when showing this place to developers.

Now if you'll follow me, we have a.... oh well, never mind.

[Jin Kim]

Just an update for those of you who haven't been to downtown recently, the Statler lot has been filled with dirt up to the street level a few days now. The fencing around the lot still remains, and they put up some wooden panels that surround the People Mover columns. The 4 story burned out building still remains where it was.

[WBG4]

http://www.demolitio...f_the_month.php

Look what made pic of the month

[Zissou]

Wow what a depressing website.

[hudkina]

Wow. I can't believe there is actually a "demolition enthusiasts" website...