Trouble in Detroit
The Book-Cadillac Hotel, Detroit
Credit: Friends of the Book-Cadillac
Oct. 8, 2002
Dear Preservation 911,
It is with a great sense of urgency, faith in the power of reason and education, and, most importantly, hope for the future, that I write you today.
The City of Detroit is faced with the daunting task of deciding the fate of several large, older structures located downtown. Although many vacant historic properties in the central business district are still privately owned, the city has controlling interest in several of the greatest, among them the former Book-Cadillac Hotel, built in 1924.
Now a new administration, under the leadership of a young, optimistic mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is eager to continue with the ambitious building program of the last few years. Downtown Detroit has seen, or is in the process of realizing, numerous large-scale projects, including the construction of two new stadiums, three casinos, a new corporate headquarters for General Motors and Compuware, and a new Campus Martius, a park where Kennedy Square and earlier, City Hall, once stood.
Unfortunately, if recent news articles are any indication, it seems that the Kilpatrick administration is on the verge of omitting a key ingredient to successful urban revitalization: the promotion and rehabilitation of landmark structures.
In October 1998, the former Hudson's department store building was torn down in the name of progress. Within the span of a minute, Detroit dismissed its opportunity to redevelop over two million square feet of space in what was a structurally sound, historically significant, and unique building. Now, four years later, the site sits empty, awaiting a developer, atop 2,000 unused parking spaces fashioned out of the former building's sub-basement levels—all at a cost of over $50 million taxpayer dollars (the original estimate for site redevelopment had been initially placed at $12-$15 million). By razing the Hudson's building, the city of Detroit failed to allow developers access to many state and federal tax credits that could have covered up to 65 percent of the cost of rehabilitation. What's wrong with this picture?
With this image in mind, the Kilpatrick administration must be reminded about Detroit's history of demolition—all too often, nothing has come of nothing. Detroiters have but to look about them: the Tuller Hotel site, on Grand Circus Park; the Monroe Block; and of course, Hudson's.
Out of the hard lessons of the Hudson's debacle, the Friends of the Book Cadillac Hotel (http://www.book-cadillac.org/index.html) are trying to raise awareness and understanding about the basic economic sense of rehabilitating landmark structures.
We recognize landmarks such as the former Book-Cadillac Hotel not merely for their architectural and historic merit but for their potential as sustainable assets to the future of this city.
If Detroit is to truly progress as a city, its leadership must evolve. The former Book-Cadillac, closed since 1984, does not need to be a "dinosaur" if it is seen for what it truly is and could be again: a fine structure with great urban character, highly versatile and historically significant. Expensive to restore? No doubt. But as has been proven again and again, bringing these buildings back pays off in the long run. Reused and revitalized landmark structures can serve as in-place anchors for urban revival, inspiring the present with the past. If developers and lending institutions see former "eyesores" being remade, then surely they would be much more likely to develop the multitude of already vacant parcels surrounding them.
The Book-Cadillac and other buildings like it could be remade as premier facilities for the benefit of Detroit. In this era of restricted funding and city budget deficits, why spend money continuing to erase the collective cultural history of all Detroiters, a history that instead could so easily be promoted, sold, and used to the city's long-term advantage? No other city in the world would contemplate such wholesale destruction. Is this the best Detroit can do? Please do your part to fight for our city.
Many thanks,
Michael Carroll
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