  French777 Member Username: French777 Post Number: 24 Registered: 10-2006 |
Are there any new plans for redevelopment of the Hotel Lee Plaza? I saw some pics on Forgottendetroit.com . | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 37 Registered: 11-2006 |
Nope. Scrappers have enjoyed it though. | ||
Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua Post Number: 867 Registered: 01-2004 |
That thing has got to be in terrible shape. I'd think it would probably just have to come down. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 712 Registered: 12-2005 |
That's what the city will say when they finally get around to it. Forget the fact that it is structurally overbuilt to last centuries, and that even if left to nature would stand for another 400 or so years. The common battle cry is "It's been all scrapped out, they took everything". With the exception of the copper roof, everything the scrappers took you have to pay someone to remove and trash in a restoration. So you are that much ahead with the Lee plaza. If someone cared. It is a shining beacon for all coming into downtown via the Jeffries as to the city's ability to manage properties. | ||
Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua Post Number: 868 Registered: 01-2004 |
It'd sure do my heart good to hear that there is a plan to save this thing, but can it really be structurally sound with the weather beating it for so many years? I don't mean to be a skeptic, I'm just trying to be real. | ||
Rsa Member Username: Rsa Post Number: 968 Registered: 10-2003 |
actually, sad to say, it might be beyond saving. i went to the rfp walkthru a few months ago and took a look at it. brick veneer is held to the structure of a building with metal anchors poured into the concrete in between the brick, span the 1 inch air space, and fasten to the structure. since all of the windows have been removed from the lee plaza, water has been able to get into that air space in between the structure and the brick. this has rusted a significant amount of the metal anchors. to safely and properly restore the building, the entire brick facade would have to be taken off and rebuilt. [to see the results of what i'm talking about, take a look at the clifford elevation of the currency exchange (united artists office portion) building.] it could be done, but at an expense that might not make economical sense. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 713 Registered: 12-2005 |
well, knowing that now, it's probably a goner. Kwame's buddy will take the demo job. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1389 Registered: 05-2005 |
is everyone new around here?! | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 2063 Registered: 12-2004 |
To echo what Rsa said, when the Housing Commission was looking to sell the property earlier this year, they commissioned a feasibility study that was shared with all would-be developers. That study concluded that it was not economically feasible to rehab the building. And that was BEFORE its roof was stolen. There are simply so many problems with that building. Lots of damage caused by scrappers. Its brick fascade is in danger of falling apart. The elevator shaft would pretty much need to be rebuilt. And the list just keeps going. | ||
Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 3279 Registered: 10-2003 |
Reading what rsa and fnemecek write is so sad that it almost make me sick - it's like listening to a death sentence of a good friend being read. Lee Plaza is such stunningly beautiful architectural work of art - a giant gleaming sculpture. It as if the DIA dumped Rodin's Thinker in a alley and let the elements and scappers have at it. Here is the Queen of the Boulevard in June, after her roof was stripped, yet still replendent in the sun and such a contrast to the dreary Northwestern HS across the street.  We hear a lot of venom about destructive graffitists, and rightfully so, but so little about this slow motion and ultimate act of destruction. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 4688 Registered: 10-2003 |
So, are we going to see the city demolish it, or do you guys predict they'll let nature take its course until it simply collapses in on itself? It's such a shame it's just that far outside of New Center for it not to be a feasible project. If it were just a bit more east it would have a better chance of being saved, because the internal structure is still intact. | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 41 Registered: 11-2006 |
I'll fix it. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 1238 Registered: 01-2004 |
"internal structure is still intact." Yeah, but take in to account that the water now pours right on top of the building and flows downward through the structure. A few years of that and it will get some structural issues. Also, there is some damage to the structure due to very diligent scrappers. Example, in the stairwells concrete walls are dug out to reveal copper pipe and wire - all the way up and down. This thing has been so abused. | ||
French777 Member Username: French777 Post Number: 27 Registered: 10-2006 |
it looks just like the PLAZA HOTEL/CONDO IN NYC!!!!!! | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 4464 Registered: 11-2003 |
The lions are in facades of new condos in Uptown District, Chicago. They stole six of them. The rest of them are in storage at the Wayne County Sheriff. jjaba. | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 241 Registered: 02-2006 |
What a shame!313 |
