Broderick Tower to be Renovated?

[dnast]

Ah, didn't know that. That's for the info. Either way, I definately hate the mural.

[wolverine]

LOL, Baldy was telling me at the Tigers Game last summer about the blank wall on that building. I agree about the Whales, I don't understand how Detroit and fish go together. But I do think that side of the building needs something. If the wall was just painted a solid color, it would make the skyline look really blank. Perhaps a Detroit football or baseball player would do, since the building has a close proximity to the stadia.

[baldy]

The eco-artist that painted that, Wyland, has painted about 150 murals on buildings all over the world, and all of whales. I think Detroit was number 97 (edit, it's number 76), but I maybe wrong. The one in Detroit is just more prominent due to the lack of buildings, but if you look in any big city, you'll be sure to find his whale murals some where. The significance of Wyland's painting in Detroit is that he is originally from Madison Heights. Personally, I like the mural.

I'm surprised no one mentioned Cadillac Tower for buildings with one side with very few windows as it has the other notible mural in downtown. That is until the Monroe block develops!

[SNWEB]

LOL, Baldy was telling me at the Tigers Game last summer about the blank wall on that building.  I agree about the Whales, I don't understand how Detroit and fish go together.  But I do think that side of the building needs something.  If the wall was just painted a solid color, it would make the skyline look really blank.  Perhaps a Detroit football or baseball player would do, since the building has a close proximity to the stadia.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree 100%, it doesnt fit, but now its better than a blank wall. It adds depth to the pics of the place now

[SNWEB]

Some news!

According to Channel 4,

the city council and building owner approved draping the mural that Wyland created for the city.

Painting over the mural is not allowed/illegal but draping is fine. It will feature a GM add.

They did an interview with Wyland and he is a tad pissed and said he is gonna fight it.

Higgings is doing it for the $$$!

When this will be done is unknown

[dnast]

Okay, now why is it not allowed for the mural to be painted over?? If I own a building I should be able to at least make it look like it originally did. I'm sorry, but I like the nostalgia, but there are much better murals that could be painted on it. Not everybody likes whales; sorry Mr. Wyland.

[Allan]

Ugh....what am I still doing up? It's 4:30 AM! Anyway, here is an article about the disappearing whales from today's paper.

Ad may wipe out whales

Vote paves way for billboard over Detroit mural

November 12, 2004

BY CECIL ANGEL

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The Whaling Wall mural on the side of the Broderick Tower seen by thousands of baseball fans from Comerica Park in Detroit soon could be covered by a billboard with a General Motors Corp. ad.

Robert Wyland's 108-foot mural, painted in 1997 to draw attention to the endangered humpback whale, could be replaced with advertising, he said.

The Detroit Board of Zoning Appeals voted Tuesday to grant a variance to allow two new billboards downtown. One would cover Wyland's mural on the building on Witherell.

"They made sense for downtown and in the board's estimation didn't create a nuisance," Marvin Beatty, board chairman, said Thursday.

The ads will have restrictions, Beatty said, and would not involve liquor or cigarettes, among other things. "We put some pretty strict conditions in there to make sure the right kind of things went up," Beatty said.

Mary Henige, a spokeswoman for GM's Pontiac-GMC Division, said late Thursday the company will advertise one of its Pontiac cars on the side of the building.

Beatty said the board did hear concerns about covering the mural, but, "that ... was not brought to us convincingly enough to preclude us from going forward."

The decision outraged Wyland.

"We need to take a stand," said Wyland, who is legally known only by his last name. "I would file a major lawsuit if they did that."

The board's action becomes final 72 hours after the vote, which is today. Under board rules, Beatty said, the decision could be changed if members decide to change their votes before today's deadline. The billboard company, U.S. Outdoors, will still have to get city permits from other departments, including the Building and Safety Engineering Department, before any billboard can be mounted. Officials from U.S. Outdoors could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Under the federal Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, Wyland has the right to insist that his art not be destroyed, he said Thursday. The law protects some public art from being defaced or changed without an agreement between the artist and the building owner.

Several calls from the Free Press to the building's owner were not returned Thursday. Wyland said the owner did not return his calls, either.

"Since 1990, public art can't be removed without the artist's permission, and I'm not giving permission," Wyland said from his studio in Laguna Beach, Calif.

Because the ad company cannot paint over the art, Wyland said, it is simply going to place a billboard over the mural.

"It's really sad. I don't know what's going on," he said. "It would be like putting a billboard over the Spirit of Detroit."

Beatty said if there is a question about a billboard over the mural, the board would address it.

The mural is part of an art project Wyland began in 1981 to paint 100 Whaling Wall murals across the world. So far, he has painted 91. Wyland, a native of Madison Heights, has 36 art galleries, but none in Michigan.

If the variance is granted and the mural covered up, Detroit could lose a valuable piece of outdoor art that was given to the city for free, he said.

"I get hundreds of letters a year about the Detroit wall," Wyland said. "A lot of people volunteered to make this happen, and now they're trying to destroy it. It sends a really negative message that art isn't important at all and advertising is."

Wyland hopes to have his art project complete with his 100th mural painted on the Great Wall of China in July 2008, he said.

"I have very strong feelings about the ocean, and I want to be instrumental in trying to preserve it," he said.

Beatty said the site of the other billboard is the Checker Bar and Grill at 124 Cadillac Square.

The board rejected two other requests that were presented, he said.

Contact CECIL ANGEL at 313-223-4531 or [email protected].

[Allan]

It turns out that Witherell Corp.'s offices are in the Ramada Plaza Hotel. I feel like going over there to give Higgins a piece of my mind. Not like it would do anything though, lol.

It makes so much sense that Kales developers want to develop the Broderick next, but I just can't see that happening simply because of Higgins' attitude. He whines that because the city is begining to enforce their building codes that he cannot afford to improve his building. Give me a break!

Maybe the Kales developers should look at the Park Avenue Building across the street. It is an Albert Kahn building - definately worth preserving. If the Kales and Park Avenue were renovated the area might start to come alive again, especially with the Iodent renovation up the street.

[SNWEB]

It turns out that Witherell Corp.'s offices are in the Ramada Plaza Hotel.  I feel like going over there to give Higgins a piece of my mind.  Not like it would do anything though, lol.

It makes so much sense that Kales developers want to develop the Broderick next, but I just can't see that happening simply because of Higgins' attitude.  He whines that because the city is begining to enforce their building codes that he cannot afford to improve his building.  Give me a break! 

Maybe the Kales developers should look at the Park Avenue Building across the street.  It is an Albert Kahn building - definately worth preserving.  If the Kales and Park Avenue were renovated the area might start to come alive again, especially with the Iodent renovation up the street.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow Allan we shoudl go down there sometime if you know what I mean

[SNWEB]

FALSE!

I emailed the developers. Here is the response. It isn't all bad news though:

"Sean,

We have not purchased the Broaderick but are very interested in working with

the owners to develop apartments to lease in the tower. It does appear to be

going forward along with the rest of The Grand Circus Park area.

Thanks for your interest.

Sincerely,

Aaron Reel"

[Mojo]

Interesting news, I wonder how much property they're talking about when they say "...the rest of The Grand Circus Park area". There's no shortage of property in the area for sure.

[Allan]

I would not be surprised to see them do the Park Avenue Building and Whitney Building in the near future. Broderick Tower can't sit there vacant forever...I doubt it will be vacant for much longer.

[Allan]

I've heard that Hines is the group trying to buy the Broderick from Mike Higgins, and that there have been offers presented from both sides. I guess time will tell if any of this actually goes through....

[Allan]

I just got done talking to one of the bartenders at the Tavern on the Park about an hour ago, so here's a little update.

While the bar was set to close, it will remain open. They have volunteers lined up to tear down the dropped ceiling in the bar this week to restore the mezzanine back to its original condition. The ceiling will go up a lot higher than it does now, so it should look pretty cool. Over the weekend someone stole 37 bottles of top shelf liquor, but the person left his license at the scene, so he got busted. Also, Mike Higgins has a company who is willing to invest in renovating the building; however, the process has been stopped by the city. So there is good news tonight!

[Mojo]

"Also, Mike Higgins has a company who is willing to invest in renovating the building; however, the process has been stopped by the city. So there is good news tonight!"

Who's the company that wants to invest in the Broderick? How come the city stopped the process?

[Allan]

The bartender told me that she forgot the name of the company, but would check and let me know when she finds out.

[Jonzo]

Well this is great news! If they could get Grand Circus Park back to the vibrant exciting part of the city that it used to be, just imagine what could happen...... Also in the mural from the penthouse, why does the city look so much bigger? Is it just that there were more buildings and less parking lots?

[Mojo]

Good Detective work Allan. I know this is a long shot, but would the company be starting work on the building this year?

Also, there is a trailer outside of the Metropolitan building with the name Colansanti (Company website http://www.colasanticorp.com/frameset.htm ) on it. I know this is some type of construction company, but I haven't seen any workers or anything. Has there been any word on this building?

[SNWEB]

Mojo are you sure it isn't for the YMCA?

[Mojo]

Mojo are you sure it isn't for the YMCA?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Barton Malow is the contractor for the YMCA project.

[Allan]

City council had a six hour meeting this past week specifically to discuss Broderick Tower. The city wants the building torn down because of the whale mural on the side and the religious symbolism of it in the Roman Catholic church. The city wants to put a new city-county building on the site, since the current building is more than 50 years old. The city can only take the building if the Tavern on the Park fails another health inspection, since all of the taxes and everything are paid on the building.

The city is trying to work with Mike Higgins to get it renovated, however. They want to get the ball rolling, since the building is one of the biggest "eyesores" around. Mike has owned the building for 20 years, and purchased it for $54,000 after David Broderick died. He basically went behind his colleagues' backs to get the building. After Broderick died, all the tenants had to move out, but Mike tried to find new tenants once he got the building. Unfortunately that never really happened. The building emptied out almost entirely in 1983, although Mike did manage to sign a few leases with people, so the building did not become completely empty until 1985. Mike lived in the penthouse of the building until 10 years ago, when the city finally told him that it was uninhabitable.

Mike owns 75 properties around the world, most of which are older buildings that are difficult to get insurance for. He is currently in Paris trying to sell one of his hotels. He is trying to unload all his international properties so that he can concentrate on his U.S. properties.

Wyland paid Mike $3 Million to paint the mural on the side of the building in 1996. He had planned to invest a portion of that money into the Broderick immediately, by replacing all of the windows, so that at least the elements would be kept out. However, right after he got the $3 Million, the city slapped him with a bunch of fines, and all the money ended up going towards paying the fines. More recently, Mike would have been paid $2 Million to put an advertisement over the mural. The advertisement would have been electronic. When it was on, the advertisement would be visible. However, when it was off, the whale mural would have been clearly visible. Wyland did not like this idea, and threatened to sue, since the mural is considered public artwork. Mike's lawyers decided not to take any chances, since they felt that Wyland had a fairly strong case against them. Mike hopes that selling his foreign properties will get him enough money to make some improvements to the building.

Mike has lost a lot of money. He pays out roughly $6 Million per month in lawsuits related to the Ramada hotel alone. Mike has said that the only reason he even has a roof over his head right now is because he has a small house in Indian Village and the taxes have been paid off for the next 15 years. Otherwise he would be living on the street.

The bar manager at Tavern on the Park runs the bar out of the goodness of his heart. He does it simply because he does not want the building torn down. He loves the building, and actually has family connections to the building. At the same time, he says that running the bar was one of the worst decisions he's ever made, simply because of the amount of cash he's put into the place himself. He pays for many of the improvements to the building out of his own pocket. It is almost impossible for him to make money, especially with the thieves stealing the liquor. He said that he will be happy just to break even once all is said and done. He was thinking of moving to Pittsburgh, but has so much time and money invested into the Broderick that he doesn't know if he's going or not.

Basically, it all comes down to this:

If the bar on the first floor stays open, the building will remain in Mike's hands, and Hines will begin a renovation in about one year.

If the bar gets shut down again due to code violations, the city will take the building, and will ultimately demolish it because of the religous symbolism of the mural, and a new city-county building will go up in its place.

As a side note:

The city is currently being sued by the owner of the Hughes and Hatcher Building. The city allowed it to be demolished and they didn't own it! All of the taxes had been paid on the building, and the city had no right to take it. Just what the city needs...another lawsuit. What next? In recent weeks we've learned that Kwame may not have actually won the election because many of the west side precincts went uncounted...we've learned that Kay Everett might not be dead...and of course the whole red navigator thing. It's always a new story in the D.

[SNWEB]

Interesting story.

I still don't like Higgins. If he doesn't have money, he shouldl have sold off some of the buildings a LONG time ago. Something just doesn't check out.

What source is this from?

[dnast]

Interesting. I hope something good comes out of this.

[Mojo]

If he purchased this building for only $54k, he could surely make a killing in profit from selling the thing.

[Jonzo]

What a mess. Whale mural or no whale mural, bar or no bar, it has to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. I've just about had it with them.