Thank you for that bit of clarity. If you read various internet forums you see over and over again the ubiquitous, undefined "they" that "should save that building". I've been involved with saving a few buildings. I'm involved with two right now. I can tell you this. The world, the US business community and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lunch Bucket American don't care about old. The above parties really, really like *NEW*. Everything is stacked in favor of *NEW*. Financing for a *NEW* project? no problem, come right in. Zoning change to convert a potato field into a cookie-cutter plastic-covered home development of *NEW* homes? No problem, come right in.
Want to preserve and restore a historic building? Whoa-There's asbestos in there. They don't make that material any more. We can get that wood, but it's $85 a board foot. You touched the building, so now it has to conform to modern ADA specifications.
The historic buildings that remain and are in good health are that way because they have friends. Friends in high places, that can round up the usual suspects and get some money coming for projects, run interference with the city, and in general make things happen. I was the person who connected the Packard Proving Grounds team with my former boss, Dick Kughn. I went to the annual banquet for Motor City Packards in 1999. John McArthur was the speaker, and his report was grave. Ford Motor Company had started to parcel out the PPG property and had obtained a demolition permit for the water tower. Once the water tower was gone there would be no fire protection for the historic buildings and they would come down soon afterwards. John and Neil Porter were trying to get though to someone high up in Ford Land Development. They were stalled at the secretary to the third man from the top.
These secretaries are the gatekeepers, and they weren't sympathetic. I sat there saying "I know how to fix this". I approached John after his speech and said "John, you need to talk to Dick about this, he and Wayne Dorian (head of Ford Land Development) go back to the mid 60's" John was astounded that I knew the name. i told him that I had met Wayne on a few occasions.
I gave John Dick's home phone # and told him to call at 10:00 AM on Monday. 9:00 AM I got to Dick's house, briefed him and Dick was onboard. John Called at 10:00, Dick had me sit in on the call.
Dick talked to John for a moment, then put him on hold, had his admin call Wayne's office. After a moment of pleasantries with Wayne's admin we had Wayne on the phone. Dick said "Wayne, I have John McArthur here from the Packard Foundation, we have to talk about the proving grounds" A couple of button strokes and we had Wayne, John McArthur and Dick together. In five minutes of talking we had the demolition permit cancelled, an understanding forged about the donation of the 5 acres the historic buildings were on, and the sale of 8 additional acres, all of which came to pass.
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ScottG wrote:
Quote:From what I have been told, the neighborhood around the former plant is such a high crime area that it is literally like a war zone.
No neighborhood, in any city, could survive the level of financial and social disinvestment that the former Packard plant represents. The factory didn't fall apart because the neighborhood became dangerous. Indeed, the neighborhood suffered because of the deterioration allowed to beset the plant.
Certainly, historic preservation is an absolutely critical part of creating thriving communities and maintaining our shared cultural heritage. But when we allow our cities to become museums...little more than destinations for tourists seeking the ruins of America's industrial past...we fail in creating a livable future and succeed only in crafting an eloquent epitaph that locks future generations into a perpetual state of social and economic stagnation.
It's beyond time to tear down what remains and give the residents a chance (and a lot of real estate) to create something positive in their community.
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