Demolition of U of M's first "highrise"

[wolverine]

I was in Ann Arbor today and passed by the Business School. Demolition started a lot sooner than I though. The entire back portion of the building is now gone. The tower is still standing and I'm not sure when that is coming down.

I took some pictures of the carnage but they are on my cell phone. When I get them uploaded to the computer I'll post them. For now, here are a couple past and future photos.

Taken this past year: (the orange building)

Here's what the new building will look like:

Here's a helpful model that gives a sense of what is getting built

What I like about this project is that the business school, or the entire superblock that it sits on will be a bit more united. The new building is definitely interesting, and the facade appears to be made of high quality materials. I also like the way this will fill the entire block. Heightwise, it's not quite as tall as the original structure which kind of sucks, but the entire building overall is much higher than the original complex, which had an average height of 3 floors. I'm not sure how many floors it will be, hopefully it has moved past the 5th floor syndrome the plagues the University of Michigan. The building getting torn down is 9 floors, the new one at most might be about 6 or 7.

You can visit the history of this building on my U of M Campus Development website. It appears it has become a little run down lately, lol...

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~ifmuth/project/busadmin.html

[MJLO]

Wow that's not that bad of a building. But you say what's going in is going to be more Unifying, good news. What has become rundown lately? The website. or U of M's campus?

[wolverine]

The old one wasn't all the bad. Actually, the front facade was a lot cooler, while the back was a bit messy looking architecturally. But I have faith the new building will be awesome.

[LA Dave]

The old one wasn't all the bad. Actually, the front facade was a lot cooler, while the back was a bit messy looking architecturally. But I have faith the new building will be awesome.

Wolve, I hated that building. I thought it was the ugliest structure on campus, with the possible exception of the aluminum siding addition to the back of the law school library (check it out -- it is supposed to be demo'd when they rebuild the Law Quad) or maybe the Fleming Admin Building.

I like the fact that U-M has basically a four to five story "feel." A few small high rises (Hatcher Library addition, the Dental School, etc.) are fine, but the lower height allows more light, air and expansiveness to the campus, which is none too spacious in the first place.

[Aaron]

Here's the view from Tappan Street as of today, 7:30 PM.

[wolverine]

I think it should be imploded, it would be far more fascinating.

LA Dave, it's never been one of my favorites. I did kind of like the powerful appearance it had at the front of the building, as well as the terracing effect as it went off. But yeah, I'm not losing much sleep over it coming down.

Aaron, was the lecture hall gone? Before I headed off to Detroit that evening, the walls were still standing, but the roof was smashed in.

[LA Dave]

Implosion -- that would be fun!

[hood]

I'd imagine they would want to implode a building like that. It seems safer than tearing it down with a wrecking ball, easier too.

[MJLO]

i'd still like to see a high rise or to makes it's way into Ann Arbor. But I do love me some U of M campus.

[mgman]

I like the tower. Nobody else does but what can I say. I would have saved the overhang in the front with the lettering on the front, I always thought that looked cool. Are they adding space with the new design or is it just to upgrade the facilities? I would think that they would want more space but who knows.

[wolverine]

Well, probably none of this would have happen without that 100 million dollar donation being dropped on the b-school. According to that department's website, the current facilities do not offer a suitable educational environment. There is also a lack of space.

So basically, the building is innefficient, and in order for the b-school to continue being the nation's best, this building has to go.