Super Bowl vision: Neon city with full storefronts

[rbdetsport]

http://www.freep.com/realestate/renews/super11e_20050411.htm

Detroit has a plan. The city will be so beautiful the week of the Superbowl. Neon lights and signs shining throughout the city. Hopefully, all of the vacant storefronts will be occupied on Woodward with either temporary or permanent stores. This article about the superbowl is just for you Allan . Just Playing around.

[wolverine]

I'm thinking that after this happens, building owners will love the lighting so much, that they will keep it. I can't wait to see this. Detroit has so many architectural gems, that it's going to be so beautiful. I will be downtown next year during the Superbowl, and I will definitely be snapping a bunch of pics.

Allan, as far as I'm aware, the electricity works in pretty much most of the abandoned buildings downtown. (the broderick, Whitney, etc) I wonder if they would be willing to turn the lights on in all the floors during the Superbowl. It may be a crappy attempt at fooling people the buildings are occupied, but I think it would look really cool.

[rbdetsport]

It would really light up the city if the lights were turned on. I hope to see those photos Wolverine.

[Allan]

That would be ok with things like the Whitney or Vinton Building, but not some of the more dilapidated buildings, like Broderick or Book Cadillac. There is only some electricity up to the fourth floor of the Broderick...not sure about buildings like the Lafayette or Pick-Fort Shelby. The only reason the Whitney has electric service is because of the DPM station & the antennas on the roof.

[SNWEB]

Also Allan the Whitney is being watched so they may have the power on for the guards.

Pretty much none of the abandoned buildings have power including the Lafayette and Pick-FS

[Aaron]

I'm still thinking this is a good thing. Even if the juice is shut off and storefronts vacated after the Super Bowl, it'll at least have gotten people thinking about them again, and maybe even a little longterm action will spill through. It's better than them just sitting as they are now.

[Ramcharger]

It's really eerie sitting in Comerica Park and watching Detroit's skyline disappear into the darkness when the sun goes down.

[dnast]

I'd like to have the lighting and temporary storefronts just to see what downtown could be like after several more years of reinvestment. It would also be nice if the stores stuck around for another week or two just to see what kind of crowds could be maintained. But that's just wishful thinking.

[Allan]

As bad as it might look to see the skyline disappear after dark, it would look even worse if the city decided to light up the buildings around the park, since they are mostly abandoned. The Whitney is probably the one abandoned building that could get away with turning the lights on inside to make it look occupied. Depending on when the Broderick renovation starts, there could at least be work lights inside. I'm not sure when that is going to start, but I do know that people from Hines, Inc. have been visiting the building more frequently (every week or two).

1001 Woodward had lighting on the edges for the opening of Campus Martius. The Stott Building has a nice lighting scheme too, but I have not seen it turned on in probably three years. Book Tower had lighting on the entire upper part of the building a long time ago (1920s-1940s). Turning it on today would not be a good idea, since it would just highlight the grime on the exterior. I'm not sure where this Guardian Building lighting we were promised is, haha. Comerica Tower might be able to do something, but I'm not a lighting expert, so I don't know what would look good.

As for retail in the city...apparently the city has been meeting with Macy's to try and convince them to build a store downtown. I'm not going to hold my breath, but if the city can convince one big retailer to move to the city, others will follow.

They have some things tenatively lined up for the new retail in the Opera House garage. Also, Mezzanine furniture store from Ann Arbor is supposed to open this summer in the Kales Building.

[dnast]

Glad to see that a furniture store is coming. It's a good sign that residents are moving downtown. And I'd be really surprised if Macy's set up shop downtown, but then it's not like Detroit hasn't surprised me before. When Comerica Park and GM's purchase of the RenCen came about, I didn't expect everything that followed (even though the pessimists in us all - myself included - seem to forget how far downtown has come).

[rbdetsport]

If the city keeps working for it, they will come.

[Zissou]

Ive seen these renderings before. I think adding exterior lighting to Detroit's skyscrapers is a key part of Detroit's revitalization. Detroit is thought of as a dark crime ridden city and people dont usually wanna stick around there at night. If the city becomes a brighter more inviting place after the sun goes down it would encourage people to move down there. I hope the lighting becomes permanent on most of the skyscrapers, especially Comerica Tower. That building, besides maybe the Penobscot, is the best building down there for exterior lighting. With its recesses it would become the focal point of the skyline. I think its a huge mistake not having that building lit up.

[dtwjim]

i love exterior lighting. there are so many buildings in chicago that do this and it looks so cool.