Architectural Icons in Downtown Detroit

 For Sparky's 75th birthday, what a better way to celebrate 3/4 of a century, than to visit some beautiful Art Deco architecture in downtown Detroit on a recent visit to Sparky's sister and brother-in-law, who live in Ferndale? Sparky's middle brother, Rich, flew in to see us, which was great! First, we had dinner at Los Galanos in Mexicantown, for a belated birthday dinner. It was wonderful!

Sparky LOVES Mexican street tacos with LOTS of cilantro.

Here we are with Sparky's sister, Lyle, and her husband, John, and Rich, my brother on the far left.

the girl with the Detroit earring

Detroit is really amazing in that the city is trying to revitalize itself and doing a fabulous job of that. Although you see pockets of poverty and abandoned housing in many places, you see the renewed visions of city planners popping up all over right in the middle of all that. Sparky is not very knowledgeable about Detroit, but she appreciates the amazing murals, the cool buildings, the architectural features, the history behind them and the bright spots all over town. 

On Saturday, we headed up north for a drive to St. Clair, to a restaurant on the St. Clair River, where freighters pass by regularly. It was called the River Crab Blue Water Inn. You can sit by the river at the waterfront tables. The day was cloudy, but the food was fantastic, and we saw THREE freighters while we ate. (We did take our time, the atmosphere was so great and the company of Sparky's family so wonderful.) The staff said that was very unusual to see three freighters in the time frame we spent while we were there. The restaurant even printed a special happy birthday, personalized message for Sparky, on the paper menu we received. 

John, Lyle, Jeannie (Sparky) and Rich

And before we knew it, it was Sunday. We decided to visit three architectural locations for a quick Sunday tour on our own. 

First, we visited the Guardian Building, 43 stories high, built in 1928, and nicknamed the "Cathedral of Finance", commissioned bythe Union Trust Company. It is located at 500 Griswold Street, Detroit, in the financial district. It was designed, built, and erected by Michigan contractors. 

It's a blend of Native American, Aztec and Arts and Crafts influence. There were custom Pewabic pottery tiles installed along with many breathtaking accents and architectural features. Sparky walked into the entryway and just couldn't stop exclaiming, "WOW! Oh, WOW!" Forty artisans worked on painted murals, ceilings, tile work, and stained glass in the vaulted lobby.

Check out the elevator doors!

One of the coolest parts of the bank lobby is the enormous Michigan wall map. It's hand painted and highlights Michigan farming, manufacturing and mining industries.

The marble comes from all over the world...Numidian marble from Africa, for starters. The office corridors and restrooms are lined with Tavernelle marble from Tennessee. It's a national historical landmark and is currently home for the Bank of America. How would you like to work in this environment??!!!

Next, we visited the Fisher Building....It's at 3011 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit....in the heart of the New Center, and is open 24 hours a day. It was built by the Fisher Brothers, ("Body by Fisher"), in 1928. It's 441 feet high and has fancy marble, painted ceilings, mosaics and lots of brass and bronze. Some of the finest craftsmanship in the Art Deco style can be found here. More than 40 kinds of marble from all over the world were used to build a shopping and entertainment center as a gift to Detroit from the Fisher brothers.

The planners used symbolism here to express wealth and power of the United States at the time...for example, eagles with wings outstretched. There are handpainted barrel vaulted ceilings. On the walls are 26 lunettes (arched windows), there are fluted marble pillars, the floors are Italian marble, and the mosaics are 10 feet tall.

There were different patterned painted ceilings in the different hallways. It was amazing to see this!

It would be wonderful to take an official tour, but for just a quick Sunday visit, we had to make do. There is so much more history behind these buildings!

Michigan Central Station

Our last stop was the Michigan Central Station...It is a Beaux Arts style with some Art Deco features. The history is long behind this building but briefly, it was an abandoned station left to crumble for over 30 years. Ford Motor Companty eventually became involved and invested almost a billion dollars to restore it because it represents the rise and fall and rebounding of Detroit. In the 1990's, trespassers and looters stole brass fitting, copper wiring and decorative marble from the columns and bases. Graffiti tags, some as high at 15 feet tall "decorated" the walls along with paintball splats- remnants of regularly scheduled paintball matches inside the station!

Millions of gallons of water were pumped out of the basement, 29,000 Gustavino tiles were restored in the Grand Hall. A quarry in Indiana was reopened after being closed in the 1980's to quarry limestone to replace 600 tons of damaged limestone. With all the restoration in place, the planners thought to preserve a little of the past.

They saved a graffiti block!

Many expensive methods were involved to recreate and reassemble damaged windows, trim and architectural features. They used 3D scanning technology to recreate architectural details lost to weather exposure and vandalism. 

The main waiting room was designed after an ancient Roman bath house. There are bronze chandeliers, 68 foot marble columns, and 14 marble pillars set against the walls. Three thousand, one hundred tradesmen, 1.7 million hours, 300 miles of electric cable and wiring 5.6 miles of plumbing and almost a billion dollars to bring it to today's glory. If you go visit the station, you can see many placards explaining and showing the previous condition of the train station and how it was renovated. It's fascinating to read.....

The center is currently being used for conventions, formal events, and development of new tech, and placing companies who are looking towards the future.

The day was rapidly drawing to a close, and Sparky had to fly back home to Indiana....Thank you, Lyle and John, and Rich, for a wonderful birthday weekend celebration!