Free Screening of "Beyond the Motor City" on Monday

"The old system hasn't died, and the new system hasn't been born yet," says one of the subjects in Beyond the Motor City. He's talking about urban transportation.

Beyond the Motor City is a critical look at the intersection between mass transit and the renewal of post-industrial Detroit. Director Aaron Wolf is best known for his documentary King Corn, which examined the terrible impact of federal agricultural policy on the American diet and on the small farm.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Citizens for Modern Transit, St. Louis is fortunate to be one of eight cities where Beyond the Motor City is being screened free -- Monday, May 17th at 7:00 p.m. at the Tivoli. Appropriately, this event falls in Historic Preservation Month. The role of public transportation in cities is often left out of the historic preservation discussion.


From the film's website:

Beyond the Motor City examines how Detroit, a grim symbol of America’s diminishing status in the world, may come to represent the future of transportation and progress in this country. The film explores Detroit’s historic investments in infrastructure—from early 19th-century canals to the urban freeways that gave The Motor City its name and made America’s transportation system the envy of the world. But it also reveals that over the last 30 years, much of the world has left Detroit—and America—behind, choosing faster, cleaner, more modern transportation.

In a journey that takes us into the neighborhoods of Detroit and then beyond to Spain, California, and our nation’s capital, Beyond the Motor City urges us to ask how a symbol of America’s urban decay might transform itself into a model of urban revitalization. Can we finally push America’s transit system into the 21st century?

Immediately following the film, there will be a panel discussion moderated by KETC’s Patrick Murphy with Congressman Russ Carnahan, director Woolf, and Citizen for Modern Transit’s Tom Shrout.

Yamasaki, Inc. Closes

The Detroit Free Press reports that Yamasaki, Inc. has closed. This is the end of one of modern architecture's most illustrious American firms. Founded by Minoru Yamasaki in 1959, the firm's name is found on the drawings for the ill-fated World Trade Center as well as many significant modernist designs.

The firm marked the departure of Yamasaki from the Detroit-based firm Hellmuth, Yamasaki & Leinweber, which Yamasaki had founded in 1949 with St. Louisan George Hellmuth and Joseph Leinweber. The three had worked together at Detroit firm Smith Hinchman & Grylls. Hellmuth, Yamasaki & Leinweber left a tremendous impact in St. Louis, designing the terminal at Lambert Airport (1956) and most of the St. Louis Housing Authority's projects from the early postwar era, including the Pruitt-Igoe project (1954). When the firm split, Hellmuth created the firm Hellmuth Obata Kassabaum in St. Louis, which went on to become the world's largest architectural firm and continues to be a giant among American firms.

Looking Back at Gateway Village

To some people, the current discussion about McEagle's "NorthSide" project has roots in a project proposed for the same area 13 years ago: Gateway Village. Like "NorthSide," Gateway Village involved a close relationship between a mayor and a private developer from outside of the city, proposed massive demolition, proposed eminent domain and large public subsidy. Unlike "NorthSide," however, Gateway Village never moved close enough to reality to disrupt the section of St. Louis Place it would have wiped out.

In 1996, Mayor Freeman Bosley, Jr. unveiled his grand plan for revitalizing north St. Louis: a 180-acre golf course and subdivision called Gateway Village that would use the Pruitt-Igoe site as well as the western part of St. Louis Place. The boundaries were Martin Luther King Drive on the south, 20th Street on the east, St. Louis Avenue on the north and Jefferson Avenue on the west. The plan called for building 781 new homes (priced out of range of most St. Louis Place residents) and a 9-hole golf course (designed by renowned designers Don Childs Associates) platted for very low density at odds with surrounding historic city fabric. Going against neighborhood sentiment in an area where he had tremendous political support, Bosley supported the acquisition of 209 residences and six businesses to clear the project site.

The developer behind the project, whose identity was unveiled after the first announcement, was Waycor Corporation of Detroit. Waycor's president was Don Barden, a wealthy Detroit businessman who has since gone on to become a major casino owner. At the time, Barden was the owner of television stations who had never developed a project on the scale of Gateway Village. Also in 1996, the Federal Election Commission determined that Barden has co-signed an illegal loan to a Detroit Congresswoman.

Whatever his inexperience and lack of ties to St. Louis, Barden gained the confidence of Bosley, Jr. and Maureen McAvey, the director of the St. Louis Development Corporation. Unlike today, where McEagle is unveiling its own plans, in 1996 Bosley and McAvoy did the public relations work for the developer. In August 1996, McAvoy released a study by Don Childs Associates that predicted that Gateway Village would be feasible and successful. The city paid the architects $38,000 for a study that championed a project in which they had a financial interest.

The study predicted that Gateway Village would precipitate "a return to living in major metropolitan cities" and that it would "act as a catalyst to revitalize the area." The Greater Pruitt Igoe Neighborhood Association, which is now defunct, rose up against the plan to safeguard the 209 homes sought for condemnation and demolition.

In October 1996, the city government requested a $8 million grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development toward the project. The total project budget was $127.5 million, an amount fairly low for such a large area. The low cost was indicative of low density construction and low construction standards. Of course, $8 million was not the only handout sought by Waycor. Waycor wanted an additional $35 million in public financing. Waycor would not commit any of its own capital unless it could secure public money first -- also different than the current situation.

The feasibility study commissioned by the city outlined the path toward development, with step one beings "complete agreement with Waycor." That step was removed after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discovered that the city had commissioned a development feasibility study that not only recommended a certain developer but indicated that an agreement was already being created.

The Greater Pruitt Igoe Neighborhood Association sent a letter to HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros asking that he deny the $8 million grant request. Shirley Booker was one of the authors of the letter and very active in organizing St. Louis Place residents. Vernon Betts was one of a few St. Louis Place residents who gave favorable comments about Gateway Village to the press, but the majority of residents were opposed.

Bosley's response to the Greater Pruitt Igoe Neighborhood Association's letter is classic and timely: "It's unfortunate that a small group now want to try and thwart the one thing that can work."

In development, there always seems to be "the one thing that can work" -- what the person using that phrase wants to do.

An aldermanic election for the Fifth Ward, where the project was located, came in spring 1997. Veteran Alderwoman Mary Ross was retiring. In the race to succeed Ross, Democratic candidates April Ford-Griffin and Loretta Hall supported Gateway Village, and John Bratkowski was adamantly opposed. Ford-Griffin, whose support was for the project was not staunch, won the seat. At the mayoral level, Bosley lost the Democratic primary to Clarence Harmon.

Even before he took office, Harmon announced his plans to pull city government out of the Gateway Village project. On April 4, 1997, the Post-Dispatch published an article entitled "Harmon: 'Dead Stop' for Golf Course Plan," that covered the mayor-elect's opposition to a project that would lead to the dislocation of city residents. McAvey retorted that the project would bring the middle class back as well as retail for low-income residents.

Harmon's move coincided with HUD's denial of the city's request for funding. Shirley Booker explained neighborhood opposition well. Residents wanted development, she said, "just not a golf course. We can't keep existing with all this vacant land. The Lord didn't mean for it to be like that. It's a waste."

McAvey clung to Gateway Village, though, telling the press that no one would be able to develop St. Louis Place without large public subsidy and amenities provided. Her tenure would end shortly thereafter. Ford-Griffin learned a few lessons from Gateway Village and spearheaded an often rocky but productive community-based planning process leading to the Fifth Ward Master Plan, published in 2000 although not fully adopted by the Board of Aldermen.

Harmon, of course, showed little leadership on development issues, but his decision to pull the plug on Gateway Village allowed for the kindling of small-scale development on the near north side. Many leaders learned very little from the Gateway Village experience and continued to bemoan the lack of a large scale plan for the area around Pruitt Igoe. Bosley, Jr. himself is now a backer of the McEagle project, seen occasionally accompanying Paul J. McKee, Jr. at meetings.

One of the problems with the Gateway Village debacle and the resulting Fifth Ward Master Plan is that there was no strong legislative result. The threat of a large-scale plan in the Fifth Ward remained because there were no basic protections against that mode of development. Zoning and land use recommendations were never implemented as law, historic districts and sites were not identified and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and redevelopment zones that would have broken the ward into smaller pieces were not created. The Fifth Ward's biggest problem in recent years is the large amount of vacant city-owned land -- quite a big prize to lure developers. Without safeguards against large scale projects, the ward has been left vulnerable to the supersized visions that Gateway Village illustrated.

Detroit City Council Members Play Structural Engineers

If you think that the preservation system in St. Louis city government is screwed up, count your blessings. In Detroit, the City Council just passed a resolution calling for the emergency demolition of the landmark Michigan Central Station. The resolution comes after the council has done the following: not conduct a structural assessment of the building; not consult the building's owner about plans for redevelopment; not implore the building owner to redevelop or sell to someone who will; and, most important, only get interested in the building's plight after the mayor made a move.

Strange priority for a City Council that is having a hard time dealing with a $300 million municipal budget deficit.

Although the building is owned by billionaire developer Manuel Moroun, Mayor Ken Cockrel, Jr. had requested federal stimulus funds for demolition work that could cost around $3.6 million. Since Michicagn Central is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, federal funds for demolition will entail a Section 106 demolition review that could complicate the mayor's plans. (Michigan Central Station dates to 1913 and was designed by Warren and Wetmore with Reed and Stem.)

The Council's resolution directs the owner to pay for an emergency demolition, attempting to use a 1984 ordinance that gives the council discretionary power to take down "dangerous" structures. Council President Monica Conyers, perhaps America's most self-serving urban politician, opines that the building should have come down years ago. Despite years of decay, Michigan Central Station is not unsound and clearly not dangerous in any legal sense. Check out Forgotten Detroit and see for yourself. The old station has great reuse potential!

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen has never passed a similar resolution, despite its many redevelopment ordinances that override preservation review. Then again, the St. Louis of today is a city where many aldermen are often the first in line defending the economic value of our landmarks. Thank goodness for the Missouri historic rehabilitation tax credit and the paradigm shift it allowed!

Detroit Park Sale Plan is Hasty

The administration of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is proposing selling off 92 of the city's 367 parks. Most of the parks on the sale list are pocket parks and small playgrounds, many of which are surrounded by vacant lots and some of which are in severe disrepair. Kilpatrick seems to think that some of the park sites would be ripe for new development. The plan raises the issue of public space planning in deindustrialized cities. The amount of park space in Detroit reflects peak density that has not existed in decades. Does the city need so much park space when so much of the city itself is green ghetto land?

Maybe not. Detroit is seeing redevelopment right now. Kilpatrick's interest in selling the parks shows confidence in their having some market value as lots. The city has shrunk, but as it grows it may need the parks. While there are many of the 92 parks that probably will never be useful, there are some that are useful now and would be useful in neighborhoods where infill construction will lead to higher density. Staking out public space now will ensure that neighborhoods don't lack amenities that belong to all residents.

Detroit might consider holding off on a massive sale, and releasing the parks one by one after further community input and investigation of development activity. Perhaps some parks should just be mothballed -- infrastructure demolished and grass planted. One thing we learn from cities like Detroit is the inherent power of a vacant urban lot. From the vacant lots will spring the development of the future -- and public space needs to be part of that.

Detroit Ruins

Photograph by Nicole Rork for Detroit Ruins. Used with permission.

I want you to look at a website of photographs of abandoned places...

I already sense the disinterest.

Well, hear me out. I want you to look at Detroit Ruins.

I want you to see how Nicole Rork offers a tour of the ruins of Detroit, Gary and a few other cities through images that are at once prosaic and beautiful. I want you to notice that she provides short histories of the places she documents, with accurate information and links to other sources. Rork captures the vividness of faded colors, the brightness in dark rooms and the larger world in confined spaces. She's a bit of a conjurer -- taking shots with views wide enough to suggest that life in some form is lurking right outside of the frame of the still scenes she documents. Perhaps she is confronting that force somewhere while her camera takes its picture. Perhaps not. Does it matter? The subject matter itself gains a new life through her gaze.

I want you to look at Detroit Ruins.

Detroit Could Follow St. Louis

According to this article from the October 27 Detroit News, Detroit could learn some lessons from St. Louis on how to finance urban reinvestment, especially projects that reuse historic buildings.

911 outage in Detroit today

911 has been out of service for hours today in Detroit--especially bad news for a city that only gained control of its dangerous, destructive tradition of arson-filled Halloweens ("Devil's Night") in the past few years. Read more about the outage at FOX 2 Detroit.

Thanks to Xtina Lloyd for the tip.

World Series

In how many academic debates on urban decline is the worst American case posed as a tossup between St. Louis and Detroit?

Now that's the World Series tossup, and things have changed as the nation's eyes turn to the baseball teams of these two cities. Both cities remain bleeding buildings, businesses and residents, but they no longer come close to their mythic no-man's-land images (they never did, truth be told). St. Louis has started a modest population gain, and both cities are seing major reinvestment in their downtown areas. While smaller than Detroit, St. Louis is probably the leader of the two in demonstrating how to rebound from heavy population loss and deindustrialization.

Overall, though, I'm delighted that these two comeback cities are now getting the world's attention. Maybe this can help erase those negative myths further.

Coincidentally also about the Detroit area: Novi, Michigan!

Yesterday, I happened to meet someone from Novi, Michigan, which sent me on a little bitty nostagia trip.

Novi is a suburb of Detroit, near another suburb named Farmington Hills. My maternal grandparents moved to Farmington Hills when it was still farmland, and stayed for decades as sprawl sprang up around them. When we visited my grandparents when I was a kid, we'd often go shopping at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi.

Novi has one of my favorite place names of anywhere outside of St. Louis. Though it was actually concocted very early on by a resident of the township trying to come up with a short name, the popular myth (which I really like) is that the town was named after its historic 1871 rail depot, which they claim was the sixth stop out from Detroit: "NO. VI." Not true, but nonetheless very charming.

Detroit Continues to Erase Itself

The city of Detroit has begun demolition of the Motown Building, where Motown Records had its offices for a few years (recordings were made elsewhere). This is another installment in the city's near-complete effort to take the Detroit out of Detroit prior to the Super Bowl later this month.

Protecting Perception

In order to make downtown Detroit look cleaner to the middle class who will be attending the Super Bowl, the city government will be removing the lovely marquee of the vacant United Artists Theater, built in 1928. The city also plans to clean all of the attached office building's windows of the intriguing Mayan-style graffiti that an unknown artist painstakingly painted onto the many panes. The graffiti is far more interesting and pretty than blank glass, and also does more to make the long-vacant building seem lively. Open, empty windows will accentuate the abandonment.

I wonder what will become of the marquee. Hopefully it will not turn up in an unscrupulous Chicago salvage shop, as Detroit's architectural treasures often do. A more likely fate is the scrap yard.

What will the cleaning and marquee removal really accomplish? Random crime will be rampant on game day, and has nothing to do with the marquee and graffiti. Superficial actions like this will do nothing to protect people from muggings. Then again, in the name of major league sports, anything can be done so long as it makes suburban fans feel better.

Very Glad to Be Back Home in Mild Weather Land!

It's snowing in St. Louis. Now, I finally concede that St. Louis is experiencing winter.

Though it's been almost a year now since my at-long-last return to StL from Chicagoland, I remain acclimated to Chicago winters. So to me, this ain't cold. With the exception of the period when we had no heat in our house, I have not yet felt the cold unshakably deep down in my bones, which was always the feeling that signaled the start of real winter to me in Chicago. I stand by the often-open front door of the grocery store where I work and get asked, "Aren't you cold?" all day long, but ....well, no, I'm not cold. And I'll knock on wood before I type this (knock, knock), but in Chicago, you never really know it's winter until your car breaks. Yes, there are a few inches of snow on the ground right now in StL, but I'll eat my hat if they last four days. In Chicago, you look at the same snow for four months, and it gets gray and icy and hard, and what little exposed pavement there is gets this sickly pale look from so, so much chemical road salt.

(Shiver, shiver!)

My attitude may also be a result of what I used to always hear my mom say about St. Louis winters when I was a kid. Every winter, without fail, she would complain and complain that St. Louisans don't know how to drive in snow. (For the record, she grew up in Detroit, and spent several years living in Nova Scotia.)

For a Detroit-born child, or someone who's spent recent winters in Chicago, this isn't bad. But both of us had the luxury of living in homes with heat--something thousands of St. Louisans don't have--so that had a bit to do with our words as well. I guess it's all relative. If you've seen worse winters, this is bad, but if you're used to StL's otherwise warm climate or you don't have a warm place to stay, I can see how this could be overwhelming. And if you've never seen winter before, well.... Our four-month-old kittens were pretty impressed when we opened the curtains for them to look outside this morning.

DetroitBlog Thoughtfully Covers the Loss of a Small, Vernacular Detroit Building (or, "Why don't I recognize the neighborhood I grew up in?!?")

The November 17th post at detroitblog is a wonderful piece about a small, three-story vacant 1890s building being torched and subsequently wrecked. Even though I have no direct experience with the building that I can remember, and I don't know the area, I still find this essay deeply saddening. To any St. Louisan, the theme of the slow-but-terribly-steady disappearance of a post-industrial city's vernacular architecture should be familiar. Little disappearances like this--a fire here, a demo there--happen every day. One thread is pulled out, and it goes unnoticed, but suddenly tapestry of blocks and streets and neighborhoods are visibly unwoven. I can only think of a handful of demolitions in my neighborhood that have happened in the last year (one of which is happening right now), but somehow over the years, Old North has gone from one of the densest areas of St. Louis to an area where many blocks have vacant lots outnumbering buildings. It happens one by one, piece by piece, with buildings like this little one on Henry, between Cass and Clifford in Detroit.

In a similar vein, and also good reading: an earlier and more elaborate detroitblog post on the history and decay of a common Detroit row house, and an update showing what that same rowhouse looks like when it's engulfed with overgrowth during the warmer months.

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Wondering about analogous disappearances in St. Louis? Check out EoA's pages on 2652 Geyer, Dummitt's Confectionary, 19th and Farragut, 1854 N. 39th, Florissant Center Apartments, 914 Madison, Chouteau Avenue row houses....the list goes on. Or, if you really want to learn about disappearances in vernacular architecture, walk down a block in Hyde Park, or any other city neighborhood, for that matter.

Sigh.

An Open Letter to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick: Could "Repair-to-Own" help the displaced residents of NOLA? by Xtina Lloyd

Xtina Lloyd wrote this article about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's offers of hospitality and shelter to people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. A lot of the questions Lloyd asks about so many people entering Detroit at once are the same questions I'd ask for St. Louis. Generosity to people in such dire need is important, and both Detroit and St. Louis have been ravaged by the loss of residents over the years, but if we don't have many resources to offer the people who are already here, what resources do we have to encourage newcomers to settle here in the long term?

I'm also intrigued by Lloyd's description of the Repair-to-Own program, which the city of Detroit uses to get abandoned buildings fixed up and occupied. A low-income person gets a home, and the city has one less burnt out shell to deal with. St. Louis's Land Reutilization Authority would do well to start a program like Repair-to-Own, to encourage urban homesteading and reuse of the buildings they acquire. Neighborhoods like Soulard and Old North St. Louis are a testament to what urban homesteading can do for the city. Unfortunately, I don't think any of us have to look too far for an example of what the LRA's current hoard-it-until-it-collapses policies do to city blocks.

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An Open Letter to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick: Could "Repair-to-Own" help the displaced residents of NOLA?
by Xtina Lloyd

I never thought the day would come when I have something nice to say about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Most of you know that Detroit is in the middle of a financial crisis, and Kwame's administration has been plagued with a variety of scandals and issues surrounding mismanagement. This morning when I heard that Kwame had a plan for helping the people in NOLA displaced by Katrina, I about cringed for I wondered WHERE in the world would this money come from?

...but not a dime of his plan would come from the city's cashflow -- here is what he's pulled together, check it:

1. Michigan Dept. of Community Health Region II Director has promised supplies and funding for an examination center to be established once the people arrived to do physicals and triage the sick/injured to local hospitals (St. John's, Henry Ford, Oakwood and Beaumont ALL have said they will take on the sick). Region II is also putting a call out for nurses to work at the examination center.

2. The Caldean grocers have signed up to provide food. Meijer, Kmart and other major food and clothing distributors have made him promises of food and clothing until they can receive government assistance. I am sure that DHHS (formerly the FIA) will expedite the processing of Bridge Cards (formerly Food Stamps) and Medicaid and help them with FEMA paperwork processing. So this means that FEMA will be giving money into the State's Medicaid fund to cover this. assured...

3. Kwame lined up 2500 hotel rooms at various locations in the city to be used for no cost until end of December. See, Detroit's hotel capacity is at 50% from October thru December anyhow -- so the hotel owners have said they can put out the space. There is only one drawback to this plan -- we have the superbowl coming up in January, so the folks have to be moved into housing or relocated once again.

4. FEMA told Kwame they would give him $200,000 to be used towards transporting people to Detroit. But he said in a live news interview this morning that he heard horror stories from people regarding bus transportation of these people -- so he is speaking with some of the airlines at Metro Airport, working on trying to get some fees lowered so that plane vouchers can be used to fly them up here.

2500 rooms. Let's say that each room holds 4 people only -- that is 10,000 people. Ok, Kwame -- this is a good thing you are doing, and I will give props to you for it. But, things to ponder:

1. Jobs -- we don't have them for our own people.

2. Are you going to push that these people relocate here? Or is that going to be a requirement for them to be able to come to Detroit? If so, what about those abandoned houses and the ones confiscated by the police? They aren't generating tax revenue -- fix 'em up and work out a way to give them to these people if they want to stay. Or get them on the "Repair to Own"** program, contact the builders unions and companies like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. and get the materials donated. See if FEMA might give some $$$ towards this sort of arrangement as well.

3. I heard no mention about education for the children in your interview this morning -- with the recent closure of so many schools in Detroit, can the city handle such an influx of students? Since no mention of where the hotels are located, I am assuming that you are spreading this out so that these children can attend school somewhere in the Metro area or outlying areas within Wayne County?

4. Transportation -- have you made arrangements for these people to get around once they get here?

5. Protection -- you have just laid off 150 cops and more are to be gone after Labor Day. Wayne County and Oakland County both have sent today members of the Sheriff's departments and police officers from local communities to head to NOLA to help bring peace and to do search and rescue (i.e. go around and mark the dead on the doors & rein in the violence). During the time they [the displaced people] arrive, some show of force is going to be needed to help direct people and keep things calm at any intake/examination center. Who is going to do this? Or are you going to call "The Wolverine Queen" (*laugh* this is my term for Gov. Jennifer Granholm) and have her call up a National Guard unit to help?

I am not trying to belittle the actions you are taking in the least -- I think its wonderful. But Kwame, you have made no mention if this is going to be temporary or are you going to push for long-term relocation of these people?

...inquiring minds would like to know.

**More on the "Repair-to-Own" program:
The program was created in 1997, spearheaded by MaryAnn Mahaffey as another attempt at blight-busting city-owned properties. Participants are required to live in the home while the repairs are being done (either by the participant or they can have a contractor help). Unlike the now defunct Nuisance Abatement Program (NAP), the participants are only required to live in the home for one year. At the end of the appointed time, the participants can purchase the deed to their home for $1. A new list of houses available is supposed to be generated every three months. Applications for the Repair to Own Program can be made through the Planning & Development Department at (313) 224-6389.

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Xtina Lloyd is the curator of Project X. Her creative work is online at starknakedanarchy.com. You can contact her at xtina.lloyd at gmail dot com.

Detroit: Old, dirty and green

The Greening of Detroit

Another story from Detroit.

In today's issue of the Detroit Free Press comes this article: Finding Beauty Among Ruins: Explorers brave danger inside abandoned urban buildings.

The article uses the term "urban spelunker" in place of the more widely prevalent term "urban explorer," but otherwise does a good job of profiling young people from Detroit who explore abandoned and restricted places.

I'll refrain from my usual critique of the "urban explorer," but suffice to say that while I explore abandoned places, I do not see myself as an "urban explorer." Read my essay Narrating Abandonment for my position.

Before you even get a chance to catch your breath: The likely demolition of Detroit's Statler Hotel

What's happening with the Century is by no means an isolated incident.

In downtown Detroit, the stately and finely designed Statler Hotel, which dates from 1915, is probably about to be demolished. Its most likely replacement is--say it with me now--a parking lot. People cite civic improvement, especially in the name of improved image and improved parking for the upcoming 2006 Superbowl. Apparently, having a few more parking spots and one less abandoned building in a city known for abandonment during one lousy, one-day one-time football game is more important than the PERMANENT loss of history and architectural beauty. That ain't comin' back folks. That hole in the ground is forever.

Read more about it and sign the petition at Save the Statler.

The Statler Hotel page at Forgotten Detroit has an excellent history of the Statler, along with comprehensive photos.