Detroit, MI
VARIOUS RUINS - PAGE 2
Tiger Stadium. November 2010.
Dave and I spotted some folks playing ball on the field where Tiger Stadium
used to be. It seems to be an unofficial public park now, and the ballplayers
have even brought in wooden benches. I returned later to walk the bases myself
and to take some photos. Sparky Anderson, the Tigers' manager in the
championship year of 1984, passed away shortly before my visit. Ernie Harwell
was the Tigers' longtime announcer, and he also passed away this year.
Upon getting out of my car, I passed some frayed police tape along the fence
line and saw some bullet shells on the ground. In the rubble on the field, I saw
what appeared to be a shiny, rounded piece of debris - perhaps some fragment of
the building or its infrastructure. It was a bone.
After a decade-plus of abandonment,
the field was still in great shape!
On the mound, Tiger Stadium.
They left the flagpole in center field.
The demolition of Tiger Stadium was
completely and totally unnecessary. The city gained maybe a few dollars by
letting some politically -connected demolition firm walk of with scrap metal,
and the site will be yet another vacant lot in a city full of vacant lots.
Site of the Olympia, former home of the Detroit
Red Wings, on Grand River Avenue.
Scroll over the photo for a comparison image from
1986, shortly before the great old barn was demolished.
In the background of both images is the Lee Plaza, shown below.
(Alternate Image: Olympia Arena, 5920 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, Wayne, MI.
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress.
SOUTHWEST
FACADE, LOOKING NORTHEAST HABS MICH,82-DETRO,25-3)
Lee Plaza.
One of Detroit's grand ruins, and sadly sacked of
much of its ornamentation.
Styled after New York City's apartment hotels.
Lee Plaza.
Grand Army of the Republic Building.
A social hall for veterans of the Civil War.
Redevelopment proposals for this downtown castle have bogged own, leaving the
building abandoned. Yet it is well-secured, and only occasionally does a random
board come loose, allowing interior access.
United Artists Theater. Bird, get off his
head!
One block over from the more famous Michigan Theater stands the United Artists Theater and its adjoining office
building. Though decayed, the theater space is intact. Olympia Development, the
corporation run by the Ilitch family who own more than 150 properties in
Detroit and also own the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, own the United
Artists Theater. It was considered for parking space needed for the new Comerica
Park, and thus slated for demolition. It hasn't been demolished but was left to rot. The Ilitches won't
refurbish the UA Theater or any other theater it owns that currently sits
unused, as they already own the Fox Theater and don't need to create
competition.
Loyal Order of Moose.
The Highland Park police station (shown here), municipal
building,
and firehouse make a trio of unlikely abandoned buildings.
Highland Park Community High School.
Not abandoned, but I took a photo of it as a cool
piece of architecture. Nevertheless, this windowless specimen must be a
horrible place to encourage learning. A minimum-security educational facility.
View from the playing field behind the
Highland Park Community School.
A burnt-out apartment building, burnt-out homes, and-burnt-out vehicles line the
street behind the school.
This page copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Yasinsac.
All rights reserved.
Reproducing or copying photographs
without the permission of Robert Yasinsac is prohibited.
