50 Monroe to get de-skinned?

[GVSUChris]

I'm very curious about this process. They seem to just be removing each corner of the three original buildings. 

[discgrab21]

This is so cool to me. I never knew that those buildings were just covers of the original buildings.  Will be interesting to see what the final assessment is form CWD

[joeDowntown]

This is seriously like opening a Christmas present. Can I buy tickets to come down and watch?!

Like I said in another thread, if they could re-skin ICCF/D.A. Blodgett building, they can do anything. 

And it looks like some pretty awesome materials on the east side of the building. From pictures, the west facade reminds me a bit of Kendall's building that faces Ottawa.

If someone said "they're pulling off another section right now" I would jump from my chair and speed across town.

Joe

[destijl]

I think I have more of the 'before' pictures that I can post. I'll have to dig though storage to find them, but I have a better scanner now..

[joeDowntown]

Would love to see old pics! Scan away. 

Not to be a dork, but I find this to be so exciting / fascinating. How many times can you add historic structures BACK to the streetscape as opposed to just weeping when you hear the words "urban renewal".

I hope they are as lucky with the rest of the building as they have been on the corners.

Joe

[x99]

I haven't gone to see this in person, but they appear to be cutting it out with a reciprocating saw or something.  Those don't exactly look like nice clean cuts where the material can just be put back up....

[sparky05]

Aaaah, Chic University of Cosmetology.

50 Monroe - 10.31.16 by Marc VM, on Flickr

Edited October 31, 2016 by sparky05

[joeDowntown]

1 hour ago, x99 said:

I haven't gone to see this in person, but they appear to be cutting it out with a reciprocating saw or something.  Those don't exactly look like nice clean cuts where the material can just be put back up....

Was thinking the same thing. If they hit a point where it looks bad, I don't know if there is really any turning back.

Joe

[GR_Urbanist]

Holy crap!

 

I had no idea this was actually happening. This is like archaeology!

 

Seems like an odd time to start.

[john_denver]

I assume they won't have a cost for the whole project until they see what is underneath?

 

[GRDadof3]

I would say there's no going back from this. Some of those cuts are right through the middle of the panels. 

If any project needed a camera to watch from my desk in my office, it's this project!!!

[GRDadof3]

12 hours ago, GVSUChris said:

I'm very curious about this process. They seem to just be removing each corner of the three original buildings. 

 

These two are so cool. Is that a sandstone arch? 

[walker]

8 hours ago, x99 said:

I haven't gone to see this in person, but they appear to be cutting it out with a reciprocating saw or something.  Those don't exactly look like nice clean cuts where the material can just be put back up....

Last Friday I ignored the closed sidewalk sign and was walking by when they were making the first attempts at tearing off the panels by the Chic Cosmetology corner.  I don’t know what the tool was they were using but their method looked pretty crude, not at all like a well thought out engineering project.  It looked like how I’d do it with inappropriate tools I found in my garage.  But looking at these later photos, it looks like they’ve got a system now.

I was headed to Elliot’s which I think may be the last business left in the building.  That’s a business I wouldn’t want to have.  It’s not like selling magazines, newspapers and tobacco products is a growing business anyway and now all the building tenants that used to stop by are gone and his parking out front has been messed up for months.  He’s still got the lotto machine though.             
 

[ironyisadeadscene]

1 hour ago, walker said:

Last Friday I ignored the closed sidewalk sign and was walking by when they were making the first attempts at tearing off the panels by the Chic Cosmetology corner.  I don’t know what the tool was they were using but their method looked pretty crude, not at all like a well thought out engineering project.  It looked like how I’d do it with inappropriate tools I found in my garage.  But looking at these later photos, it looks like they’ve got a system now.

I was headed to Elliot’s which I think may be the last business left in the building.  That’s a business I wouldn’t want to have.  It’s not like selling magazines, newspapers and tobacco products is a growing business anyway and now all the building tenants that used to stop by are gone and his parking out front has been messed up for months.  He’s still got the lotto machine though.             
 

Elliot's used to carry "The Hockey News" so I used to go over there to get my copies frequently. Haven't seen in there in years,  so if I need my snack fix downtown, I just go to Zellers now.

[ctpgr34]

8 hours ago, walker said:

Last Friday I ignored the closed sidewalk sign and was walking by when they were making the first attempts at tearing off the panels by the Chic Cosmetology corner.  I don’t know what the tool was they were using but their method looked pretty crude, not at all like a well thought out engineering project.  It looked like how I’d do it with inappropriate tools I found in my garage.  But looking at these later photos, it looks like they’ve got a system now.

I was headed to Elliot’s which I think may be the last business left in the building.  That’s a business I wouldn’t want to have.  It’s not like selling magazines, newspapers and tobacco products is a growing business anyway and now all the building tenants that used to stop by are gone and his parking out front has been messed up for months.  He’s still got the lotto machine though.             
 

I believe Townsquare Media is still in there too

[joeDowntown]

Drove by today and they had a bit more of the building ripped up. You can also tell that they've gutted a lot of the interior. On the Northeast side of the building, looking through the newer window system, you can see outlines of other windows. So I think they've demo'ed the drywall etc. that squared these off. Looking closely, you can see there is some damage where they chipped at the stone to put in the metal "brackets" for the facade, and at the top of the pic it looks like they hacked off some cornice work, but it looks to be a pretty awesome facade. 

On the south side, you can see where they weren't even bothered to pull down some of the metal trim. 

Joe

[RegalTDP]

5 hours ago, joeDowntown said:

Drove by today and they had a bit more of the building ripped up. You can also tell that they've gutted a lot of the interior. On the Northeast side of the building, looking through the newer window system, you can see outlines of other windows. So I think they've demo'ed the drywall etc. that squared these off. Looking closely, you can see there is some damage where they chipped at the stone to put in the metal "brackets" for the facade, and at the top of the pic it looks like they hacked off some cornice work, but it looks to be a pretty awesome facade. 

On the south side, you can see where they weren't even bothered to pull down some of the metal trim. 

Joe

I used to be skeptical of this project, but now that it's happening I'm fascinated.  It's like watching a metamorphosis.

 

Edited November 3, 2016 by RegalTDP

[kevin8gr]

Here's a photo I have from 1982 parade looking down towards 50 Monroe. I hope if they do take off all the siding that the north sides of the buildings will look better than in this photo.

[GRDadof3]

26 minutes ago, kevin8gr said:

Here's a photo I have from 1982 parade looking down towards 50 Monroe. I hope if they do take off all the siding that the north sides of the buildings will look better than in this photo.

I've seen those sides before. That's probably why they "skinned" them to begin with. The SW side of 50 Louis used to be pretty rough though. 

[joeDowntown]

I think the chances of those sides being cleaned up, but pretty hidden by development will be pretty high. That parking lot is begging for redevelopment.

Joe

[andrew.w]

I would suspect that the atrium between the buildings is staying in some form, and it looks like a more regular grid of windows may have been cut into the sides during the recladding, so I'm guessing that it will look better than that, but still clearly look like the side of the building. Very excited to finally see this happening.

[ctpgr34]

SOme good old pics in this article- http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2016/11/long-hidden_century-old_buildi.html#incart_river_home

Cummings says they are investigating.....what do they do if they find it isn't do-able?  Total re-skin?

Edited November 4, 2016 by ctpgr34

[SupercityGR]

I am surprised TGI never relocated 

[ctpgr34]

TG they didn't 

[x99]

The original photos of the Helmer building in the mLive article are great.  It's always amazing to me how beautiful they used to make buildings... just because it was pleasing to the eye as you walked around. We think a lot of the old buildings today are fairly ornate, but the decorate elements left on the cornices and rooflines of many are often just a shadow of what was originally built.  If only they could put it all back...