Rosa Parks Transit Center

[RustTown]

The Onion is a fake newspaper that talks crap about everyone. It's a satire, and often with very funny stories.

[hudkina]

That particular story was stupid. The setup was all right, but the punchline seemed like it was written five minutes before it was supposed to be turned in...

[dtown]

i suppose that after checking it out a little there are some pretty funny stories on there, the only 2 that i had seen before i checked it out today were that one posted above, and that said Detrot was being sold for scrap. I liked their story about Mark Prior, that was pretty funny.

[tapezord]

the detroit sold for scrap one is not only funny, its partially true

[dtown]

^ ive gotta disagree with you on that one.

[RustTown]

No, it really is. Scrappers do big business in Detroit which is exactly why there was that whole fiasco about the Lee Plaza Lions ending up on some new housing in Chicago a few years back. Not to mention the entire copper roof of the Lee Plaza being scrapped and no one made even a peep, not even the newspapers.

[Allan]

Fisher Body 21 is also being dismanteled by scrappers. They tore down the old metal shed things in the back, and are now mining all the metal out of the interior.

I've explored countless abandoned buildings where scrappers have chiseled out gargoyles and other architectural details. There is even a renovation project downtown that has had problems with people trying to steal the original mailbox almost every night!

[wolverine]

Sometimes I wish GM would just buy Fisher 21 back from the city and market it. Appears the city can't do anything, or is just not trying hard enough with these properties, including Lee Plaza

[Allan]

Haha, buying anything from the city is difficult at best. The city is not a real estate agency...it can't market abandoned properties very well at all. They don't even really try most of the time. You'd think that they'd want to get a lot of these places back on the tax roles, but it doesn't seem that way sometimes.

[dtown]

No, it really is. Scrappers do big business in Detroit which is exactly why there was that whole fiasco about the Lee Plaza Lions ending up on some new housing in Chicago a few years back. Not to mention the entire copper roof of the Lee Plaza being scrapped and no one made even a peep, not even the newspapers.

i had heard about scrappers in Detroit, i didnt disagree about their being scrappers, i was disagreeing with him about it being funny. i really didnt think it was funny.

[RustTown]

Haha, buying anything from the city is difficult at best. The city is not a real estate agency...it can't market abandoned properties very well at all. They don't even really try most of the time. You'd think that they'd want to get a lot of these places back on the tax roles, but it doesn't seem that way sometimes.

But, many cities have departments that run like real estate agencies. The fact of the matter is, though, I guess city government feels it has bigger fish to fry like keeping on the lights, and it really does. I can't wait for more reform in city government to bring them up to par with other city governments. Detroit's city government is now becoming known for its ineffectiveness and wasteful habits.

A bright spot, though. The other day, I'm not sure if anyone else caught this, the new city clerk has been successful in purging the dead and repeats from the registered voters roll in Detroit. It's been reported that she's done more in a few months than Jackie Curry (former clerk) did in her MANY years in city government. I love those type of stories, as I've often heard that working with the city of Detroit can be very difficult in many departments.

[Michi]

You guys more in "the know" may have to verify this, but the other day while driving behind the Lee Plaza, I noticed what appeared to be more decrative ornamentation being carved out. If I remember right, they are square with the detail in them being circular (like a flower or something). To get to it, it looks like the brickwork of an entire lower window sill has to be destroyed in order to get to the art piece.

I would be interested in going by again to see if more have been taken because when I noticed it, it looked like only one was taken. If the intent is to take them all, that would leave a pretty well-destroyed lower-backside of the building.

[BarGal]

...If the intent is to take them all, that would leave a pretty well-destroyed lower-backside of the building...

Maybe it's one of those architectural detail poachers stealing pieces to sell or for souvenirs.

[Allan]

The scrappers have been hard at work at the Lee Plaza over the past several months...let's just say that they certainly didn't stop at the roof! The new fence does nothing other than obscure the scrappers as they go in and out of the building. Of course, the Detroit Housing Commission has never once completely secured the building. It's been wide open in the same location for at least 7 years now. The Detroit Housing Commission is in bad shape though, although it's better now that the Federal Government took over the agency. Still, it's a mess, and likely one of the reasons why it's taking them so long to get anything done with the building.

[dtown]

Any progress on this yet?

[Jin Kim]

Any progress on this yet?

[RustTown]

We'll know when they start, because I'm sure there will be another announcement. The only thing that was ever planned was the ceremonial groundbreaking which doesn't always coincide with actual construction (and especially in Detroit, it seems).

[dtown]

Whyd they bother having a ceremonial ground breaking if they arent going to actually do anything?

[RustTown]

Groundbreakings are photo-ops for politicians, businesspersons, and community leaders.

[statedude3]

Groundbreakings are photo-ops for politicians, businesspersons, and community leaders.

[RustTown]

I didn't say it couldn't make them look bad, I was simply explaining to those that don't know that ground breakings in no way assures a speedy construction schedule, if construction, at all. I've seen it hear in Lansing when the Capitol View Building broke ground. It was expected that there'd be a speedy construction, but the project was then put on hold for a few years, and that was for a largely private sector development.

I suspect this one is taking so long for the same reason the Port Authority is taking so long: it's being built using federal and state money. In fact, the Rosa Parks Transit Center is being funded entirely by federal and state dollars if I remember correctly. This is significant, because government projects usually move slowly, as there are more hoops to jump through, and the loads of requests the government gets means months wait at a time before your project gets brought up for review, approval, and then appropriations.

[splbrgmi]

I still think it's sad to where this thing is going. It should have been further from Downtown, maybe outside of the main circle. Time square should have been another park development like Capitol Park. They are moving it outta there to clean up that place, but they are moving the mess it caused with it. Time square is still the heart of downtown, and its' sad to see it become another stop for the homeless and prostitutes like capitol park is today. (and this right here is not my complaint, I've heard what people said about it, I've never been into capitol park personally) for the better.

[statedude3]

As of right now "this thing" is actually going nowhere.

[rbdetsport]

(and this right here is not my complaint, I've heard what people said about it, I've never been into capitol park personally) for the better.

[hudkina]

Capitol Park isn't the nicest area in Downtown though. Hopefully that will change once they start redeveloping the surrounding buildings and maybe redo the park itself.