  Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 84 Registered: 08-2007 |
Anybody back there in Detroit know if Ham Heaven is still on Congress near St. Andrews Hall? Maybe somebody can tell me who owns it. THANKS | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1383 Registered: 12-2003 |
Nope, hasn't been there for some time. | ||
Formerspringgardener Member Username: Formerspringgardener Post Number: 66 Registered: 07-2006 |
Sorry Stinger4me, it's now a parking lot just like a few other locations around the city. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 192 Registered: 08-2007 |
The demolition of the Hudson's building did in Ham Heaven. They didn't cover up any of the vents in the building and when that huge dust cloud came it swallowed up Ham Heaven and the place never re-opened. I watched the demolition from the top of Comerica Building parking structure and Ham Heaven was right at our feet. My car was ruined as well; I never considered that I had to change the air filter after it was hit by the dust cloud. There was a fine dusty powder over everything inside that car, and once I got home I vaccuumed the thing out, but never even thought about the air filter...the engine overheated and warped the block. Anyway, I imagine the same thing happened to HH. Since I was looking down onto HH I noticed they didn't cover their roof vents, in contrast to The Checker and a few other places, and that huge 9 story tall cloud rushed across Monroe, Cadillac Square, and BOOM. HH never opened again. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 85 Registered: 08-2007 |
Anybody out there know the lady or couple who operated it? | ||
Spacemonkey Member Username: Spacemonkey Post Number: 228 Registered: 03-2006 |
I ate there once. I had a really good ham sammich. PS: That is sad, but hilarious, about the Hudson dust ruining the place and your car. What an unforseen bummer. | ||
Russell Member Username: Russell Post Number: 43 Registered: 11-2003 |
Ham Heaven was once owned by my Greek friend's parents. They retired and sold it to a cousin. They are in their late 80's I believe and live in one of the Grosse Pointes. | ||
Whithorn11446 Member Username: Whithorn11446 Post Number: 156 Registered: 03-2007 |
Ham Heaven was a somewhat popular place with Greyhound employees when the terminal was on Congress. | ||
Scuzzleb Member Username: Scuzzleb Post Number: 1 Registered: 06-2007 |
I miss their grilled cinnamon rolls. Mmmmmmm. | ||
Sirrealone Member Username: Sirrealone Post Number: 37 Registered: 01-2007 |
Who'd be responsible for the damages in that case or something similar? Not so much to the car, because I think they tried to warn people off from being in proximity, but what about businesses that were affected? Had they been told measures to take to avoid damage to their facilities, such as sealing off their ventilation systems? Did the Ham Heaven people just ignore them? Or were surrounding businesses to the demolition on their own as far as figuring out what needed to be done? | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1441 Registered: 04-2006 |
I could have sworn that Ham Heaven was shut years before the Hudson implosion... Maybe I'm getting old. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 193 Registered: 08-2007 |
I was driving a really nice old lady car, a Chrysler - K for Krappy thing - that was chromed up like halloween whorehouse. So, I watched the implosion, snapped off a couple of rolls of film as that cloud grew like a tidal wave. I never imagined it would get to me and neither did the people around me. We all just froze, then someone turned, we all joined in a panic sprinting to the glass enclosure in front of the elevator bank. Some Security guards where there to keep the spectators out, but much to their credit, they saw the error of following those orders, and let us inside. The cloud enveloped the parking structure in an eerie cement colored blob and for several minutes we stayed inside that glass womb, everyone breathing through their t-shirts and hankies. Of course, all the cars were covered with dust, as was the entire CBD, I used a snow scraper/brush to clear the windows and crept out through those dust covered streets. I got home and hosed off the car, vacumed the interior and drove arond for about a week when all of sudden the old whorehouse ride just died. The mechanic called me later and screamed at me for packing the radiator, air filter and engine compartment with dirt. Once I got there he showed me the damage. It was pretty impressive, that Hudson dust had packed the engine compartment, fused itself to every bit of grease and the raditor was more impacted than Supergay on a Sunday morning; so, next time you're going to see a building implode, park a year away and walk in. I've always wondered how many other folks suffered the same fate as I. If Ham Heaven had half the dust I had in that egine compartment, I could easily understand that cleaning up the inside would have been impossible. | ||
Johnnny5 Member Username: Johnnny5 Post Number: 615 Registered: 06-2005 |
Just consider it a blessing that you had a K car last until 1998/99? I remember running from the same dust cloud, it made it all the way down Woodward until the wind at Jefferson carried it away. (Message edited by Johnnny5 on October 12, 2007) | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 88 Registered: 08-2007 |
I heard a woman named Gina (or Georgina) owned it. She would be in her 50's not 60 and she is Greek. | ||
Taj920 Member Username: Taj920 Post Number: 259 Registered: 01-2004 |
I have the same recollection that Detroit Planner has about Ham Heaven. I think it was gone before the demo. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 93 Registered: 08-2007 |
Before owning Ham Heaven I think Gina owned a cleaners at Custer & Woodward in the new center area. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 198 Registered: 08-2007 |
below is a link to a restaurant review in the detroit free press from 1997 http://ae.freep.com/entertainm ent/ui/michigan/restaurantResu lts.html;jsessionid=30217B1AAF42DC1C4D 0D80EC26E88698.prodapp14_ae_01 ?restaurants.sort_by_name=h&re staurants.sort_by_name.SEARCH_ TYPE=BEGINS&newSearch=frogstar & |
