Re: Merlin inspection building question
Posted by Steve203 On 2014/5/24 21:36:38
You have a point about the what-if-they-waited to build the Edsel Ford past Packard. Hard to say what whoever would have said whatever had there been no presence at all in that building.
Actually, while it was harder for the engineers, on reflection, it was probably cheaper to go around the north end of the plant, as they did, because, to go straight through would mean, first buying the buildings from Packard or whoever owned them, then tearing them down, and as you said, those old Albert Kahn factories don't like to come down.
iirc, the Ward book says the entire East Grand complex was sold for $750,000.
<i>I never viewed Willow Run as an urban expressway-no matter what they called it. It was a highway combined with a parkway and then edge-of-city streets... pretty much out of town and out in the open. More like a would-be interstate, but too short to really go far.</i>
From the old photos, the Willow Run in the 50s looked a lot like US 23 does now between Upper Sandusky and Delaware, Ohio: four lane divided highway through farm country, with intersections with lightly traveled local roads.
In the first photo, you can see the streets in the subdivision at the bottom of the frame have intersections with the Willow Run, just before it turns north past the Kaiser experimental building and on to the bomber plant and a junction with Michigan Ave. In the second photo, Hannan Rd has an intersection with the Willow Run.
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Actually, while it was harder for the engineers, on reflection, it was probably cheaper to go around the north end of the plant, as they did, because, to go straight through would mean, first buying the buildings from Packard or whoever owned them, then tearing them down, and as you said, those old Albert Kahn factories don't like to come down.
iirc, the Ward book says the entire East Grand complex was sold for $750,000.
<i>I never viewed Willow Run as an urban expressway-no matter what they called it. It was a highway combined with a parkway and then edge-of-city streets... pretty much out of town and out in the open. More like a would-be interstate, but too short to really go far.</i>
From the old photos, the Willow Run in the 50s looked a lot like US 23 does now between Upper Sandusky and Delaware, Ohio: four lane divided highway through farm country, with intersections with lightly traveled local roads.
In the first photo, you can see the streets in the subdivision at the bottom of the frame have intersections with the Willow Run, just before it turns north past the Kaiser experimental building and on to the bomber plant and a junction with Michigan Ave. In the second photo, Hannan Rd has an intersection with the Willow Run.
Attach file:
(293.11 KB)
(156.60 KB)
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