Detroit Photo of the Day

[baldy]

I took this on Tuesday around 2:00. I was playing hookie from work that day (personal day actually). We also went on the Ford Field tour which was cool.

[Jonzo]

WHOO!! 102-71!!!!!

[wolverine]

Awesome game! I'm keeping my new avatar up, it's helping

I've done the Ford Field tour a few times myself. I did a research project on the stadium for one of my classes. The people there were nice and let me go to more behind the scenes areas not covered on the tour. Perhaps you guys could try using the "I'm an architecture student" line to see more of the stadium. The only parts we couldn't go to were the roof catwalks and the Ford Suite, which no one had a key to.

Edited June 17, 2005 by wolverine

[Zissou]

It sounds like an interesting tour. Ive pretty much sat in every area. Where else does it take you?

[Michi]

I took this on Tuesday around 2:00.  I was playing hookie from work that day (personal day actually).  We also went on the Ford Field tour which was cool.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cool. I was there not much after...like around 2:30 or 3:00 passing by on my bike.

[wolverine]

The tour will take you to:

The Main concourse with the Detroit street theme

The Warehouse atrium

Club Levels, and a club suite

Conference rooms for parties, gatherings, and meetings and such (suprisingly affordable)

Press levels, and several significant rooms

The basement which includes the visitor's and Lion's lockerooms

And finally, the field.

For my research project, they took us to more parts of the warehouse and the mechanical penthouses. They then took us inside where the hotel was supposed to go. We also saw some of the hidden utility corridors and storage rooms, and space that was not developed yet. Stuff that would not be that ineresting to the masses, but more for architecture students.

[Zissou]

Well then thats right up my alley. Id love to take pictures of the place from on the field. They didnt give you guys a football to play around with did they?

[Michi]

On the tours of FF, do they give you any information on future tenants? Hotel? House of Blues?

[wolverine]

Zissou - You're really not allowed to throw anything when you are down there, although there was some kids that were tossing a foam football last time I did the tour. In fact, letting anyone but players and stadium personel participate in any physical activities (throwing balls, running, tackling) on the field is against their insurance policy.

Michi - They only mentioned the house of Blues was potentially going in (this was awhile ago). According to someone who called in to ask about the hotel, they were still in the planning stages. Nothing that will surface by the time the Superbowl comes around.

[Zissou]

Well that sucks. I was hoping I could score a TD.

Perhaps that House Of Blues would come with a hotel. Ive stayed at the HoB hotel in Chicago and it was nice.

[rbdetsport]

I would much rather see them put House of Blues on Woodward. Maybe they could build the hotel and HofB at the old Hudson's site. That would be awesome for a major development to come out for that site. I am getting tired of those steel rods coming out of the ground.

[SNWEB]

June 19th, 2005

The Guardian Building's retail promenade

[baldy]

All this talk about Ford Field, so I'll post some pictures

Welcome to Ford Field

View from up top. To the left is where a hotel would go. The story the guy told me is that every thing is ready, the just need a chain to sign up. Then they will design the floors to their liking. Right now, they're just large open floors which I'm sure will be put to good use for the superbowl.

Down on the field, which is a very unique and soft artificial surface

Looking up towards the stands

[Michi]

Can you imagine how much rooms would have gone for if the hotel was up and ready for the Super Bowl? D'zaam!

Is that little cafe thing at the Guardian Building Prominade open yet? Last time I was there, they were just setting up. I liked their logo, that matched the Guardian's.

[Zissou]

Isnt the Guardian usually much brighter than that? Last time I was in there, probably December, the place just glowed on the inside.

[Allan]

The Guardian Lobby really does glow, especially at night.

I think the Rowland Cafe is open now. The last time I was in there Christopher told me that they are planning to reopen the restaurant in the basement again later this year, but he couldn't give me any details. I have a feeling that it is going to be an upscale restaurant of sorts.

[SNWEB]

Indeed the promenade is brighter, its just that they turned off those crappy new lights that were installed in the ceiling because I came in there at 10 PM and had to be let in lol. It gave it a nicer look though, very Gothic.

The cafe is open.

[baldy]

June 21, 2005

The Stuberstone building on Cass in Midtown. Like many of the buildings in the neighborhood, this was once an automotive showroom, but like many of these, it has been recently converted. There is a Concentra Medical center on the ground floor and the upper portion is lofts.

[Zissou]

From the pictures it looks like a unique building that would be cool to have a loft in. Do you have any more pictures that show the whole building?

[baldy]

@Zissou: sorry, I didn't get any pictures of the entire bldg. It is very deep on the lot, with a parking area on the side.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

This pictures are from the courtyard of the Charles Lang Freer mansion (1890) on Ferry Street in the cultural center. Freer made his fortune making railroad cars with his partner Colonel Frank Hecker (house next door on the corner of Woodward and Ferry st).

The house is really in 2 parts connected by the room which goes over this archway leading into this little courtyard. It is my understanding that it served as entrance for the horse and carriages.

Here's the inside of the courtyard.

Freer was quite the art collector and the room on the left of this picture is the famous Peacock Room which was designed by James Whistler and contained his collection of Asian artwork. Freer specified that his collection, in its entirety, be donated and it is now the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His collection was so large, that when it was donated, it filled several boxcars!

(unfortunately I did not take any pictures from the inside or the front)

Edited June 26, 2005 by ebaldy

[Zissou]

Cool pictures.

Does anyone know why he wouldnt donate the art to the DIA or another Detroit based institution?

[baldy]

It might be because it's too big of a collection and the Smithonean is a national museum which would give his collection more showing value. Also, the DIA wasn't built until 1927, athough, I don't know what, if anything existed before that. I don't know exactly when it was donated, but I think it has to be around 1910 or something, so there might not have been anything locally.

[Allan]

The old DIA was much too small to hold a collection of that size. It was located over on East Jefferson. It was Romanesque in style, and looked kind of like a castle. If my memory serves me correctly, it was constructed in the 1890s and demolished in the 1960s.

An Early View

After the turret roofs had been removed

[RustTown]

I can't think of many other cities of it's age who have lost more medium to smaller buildings like this. Something like this would have been reused in just about any other city. And this was before Detroit really started to decline.

[SNWEB]

yeah it looks like a cool little building.

I have an old postcard of it. It was red brick