Packard Forum Index » General

Heavy equipment arrived on site today to start clearing debris. Pix on the Arte Express FB page.

facebook.com/packardplantproject?ref=stream

I just saw this article on the Detroit News web site:

Packard Plant News

-Chad

I heard it on the radio, and it's the best thing for the site. The preservation of a portion of the Proving Grounds is a more meaningful historical site than the sprawling carcass of the factory.

I went up to the Proving Grounds for the open house yesterday. Yes, I was aware that I was walking through buildings and on concrete that had been trod by Jessie Vincent.

Having the actual headquarters building preserved, however, could provide an experience like the Auburn Cord Duesenberg museum in Auburn. Walking through the spaces, restored to their appearance decades ago, where Macauley built the company, and Nance made desperate efforts to keep it alive would add to the experience.

I like the Studebaker museum in South Bend. The architecture of the building was designed to resemble some of the old factory buildings. It would have been better if the timing had worked out so they could have occupied the original Studebaker HQ building, which still stands, with it's mural on the walls and door knobs with the "S" logo on them.

New build just isn't the same as when the building itself is an artifact. Pix are the Studebaker building, built in 1909

Attach file:

---

  (39.82 KB)


  (48.58 KB)

Work done over the last couple days: removal of parts of wall that had been collapsing into Concord St due to scrapper's removal of roof trusses.

Attach file:

---

  (85.60 KB)

Didn't all the wood paneling and stuff get stripped out of the executive offices a few years back?

For those of us who have not seen the Packard Plant except on GE street view . . . . .

Is this new owner actually in there with enough heavy equipment to make a dent in the rubble?

It looks to me like it is pretty much a gutted shell.

How much of the original plant will remain?

I can visualize my 1954 Cavalier rolling across the bridge on Grand Boulevard on its way to final assembly.

Jim

Didn't all the wood paneling and stuff get stripped out of the executive offices a few years back?

I have seen "urban explorer" videos that showed some wood paneling still in place. People on the FB page are asking if bricks will be available for purchase. The response from the company was maybe in the future, after the site had been cleaned up some and made more safe to walk around.

20+ years ago, when the old Comiskey Park in Chicago was torn down, the demo crew stood down for a weekend and fans were invited in to grab souvenirs, like bricks. The Chicago media reported the fans tore the place apart more in a day than the demo crew had in a week.

Is this new owner actually in there with enough heavy equipment to make a dent in the rubble?

It's the start of a process. First order of business was removing the unstable parts of the top floor that were falling onto Concord, or could fall onto work crews who would be clearing rubble at ground level.

Here's a video report from the local news.

wxyz.com/news/region/detroit/demolition-and-rehab-begins-at-the-packard-plant

I can visualize my 1954 Cavalier rolling across the bridge on Grand Boulevard on its way to final assembly.

I wonder how far apart it was on the line from this beauty I saw at the Gilmore last summer

Attach file:

---

  (68.98 KB)

I think the key phrase in the newspaper article is:

"Dozens of smaller businesses worked out of part of the plant until the late '90s. Then the city foreclosed on the property and the facility began to be torn apart by scrappers and vandals."

This seems to be the way Americans operate. Banks for example, don't work with owners of distressed loans to mitigate losses because their "professional" personnel are lazy and would rather write off assets to the detriment of the borrower and lender alike. In return they receive huge bonuses for rotten performance. The government in Michigan would rather create a giant slum full of welfare and drugs than reward people who work and pay taxes with reasonable loss control.