Lafayette Building about to meet the wrecking ball (Detroit, Ann Arbor: how much, hotel)

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Lafayette Building to be leveled | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903270362 - broken link)
Preservationists rally for Lafayette Bldg. | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990327072 - broken link)
Petition to save the Lafayette Building Petition

Where do you stand? Demo or not?

[renter8319]

don't know, i read some of the comments at the bottom of your second link. a lot of them made valid points.

[michiganalum]

Demo...put a park there until someone is interested in developing it...there are many other vacant buildings in better shape that need attention. Lafayette is an eyesoar.

[Dexterguy]

I would agree that the buidling is in very bad shape and all. But nothing is ever going to be built in that spot. At least not for years to come.

I say no to demo....for now. If they had someone that was ready to redevelopment the site, I would say start the next day. But that is not the case here.

I am just tired of seeing a downtown full of gravel fields! That's not the way a downtown should look!

[enigmaingr]

While I'm all for historic preservation, I think tearing this building down is in the city's best interest.

I'd love to see the city offer tax incentives for a developer willing to preserve it but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

For the foreseeable future, I think Detroit, and many other midwestern cities, need to consider tearing down many abandoned houses and buildings. Detroit was built to support a population that no longer exists and will not reach that level again for a very long time.

Youngstown, OH is in the lead with this initiative. Tear things down and provide green space. I'd rather see green than blight.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Demolition of the Lafayette Building has begun.

Fences spell the end for Lafayette Building | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com (http://www.freep.com/article/20090814/BUSINESS06/90814039/1320/Fences-spell-the-end-for-Lafayette-Building - broken link)

[Coldjensens]

"Vacant lots . . . . . vacant lots .. . . neeeed moooore vacant lots filled with weeds and rubble. . . . vacant lots. . . . . (drool). . . ."

(Council Mantra - delivered in a zombie like voice).

Once thing is guaranteed, once it is gone, it will never be restored. Bit by bit, detroit is destroying its charm and the very thing that could make it an attractive and desireable city one day. Even if it is eventually replaced with someonthing other than a vacant lot filled with rubble, it will be a bland building with no charm or interest or architectural value whatsoever. They cannot affod nice architeture these days and pretty much most of the architects who now how to do it are gone. Welcome to the world of catalogue cut out architecture.

If they tear down enough of the charming architecture, evnetually it will make sense to just abandon the City altogether, flatten what is left and make Ann Arbor the principal city in Michigan. A lot of people probably think that is a good idea already.

[City of Motor]

I went to American Coney Island just today. It was fenced off and people were going in.
Someone with a marker wrote "F*ck YOU ART HATERS" On the linen-type sheet covering the fence. It was a beautiful building, even after it was abandoned...wait.
Here in Detroit, buildings aren't abandoned, they're "art projects".
I thank Tyree for that.
R.I.P. Lafayette-ey!
[CENTER][/CENTER]

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

"Vacant lots . . . . . vacant lots .. . . neeeed moooore vacant lots filled with weeds and rubble. . . . vacant lots. . . . . (drool). . . ."

(Council Mantra - delivered in a zombie like voice).

Once thing is guaranteed, once it is gone, it will never be restored. Bit by bit, detroit is destroying its charm and the very thing that could make it an attractive and desireable city one day. Even if it is eventually replaced with someonthing other than a vacant lot filled with rubble, it will be a bland building with no charm or interest or architectural value whatsoever. They cannot affod nice architeture these days and pretty much most of the architects who now how to do it are gone. Welcome to the world of catalogue cut out architecture.

If they tear down enough of the charming architecture, evnetually it will make sense to just abandon the City altogether, flatten what is left and make Ann Arbor the principal city in Michigan. A lot of people probably think that is a good idea already.

I completely agree, how much more demolition can you do in downtown until it's not a downtown anymore? The definition of a downtown is a dense populated area with flourishing businesses and developments. Why is everyone in Detroit so quick to tear down everything they can?

First the Hudson's Building, then the Statler Hotel, then Tiger Stadium, and now the Lafayette Building...and that's just the big demolitions...I can't even begin to name off the dozens of smaller buildings demolished downtown in the past 5 years or so.

[Chicago60614]

What a beautiful building! I feel bad for central Detroit, it has some serious issues. I can't believe how many empty lots there are around downtown, as well as abandoned buildings. I can't even think of a single empty building in downtown Chicago except the old post office and then the old cook county hospital west of downtown. They're keeping the buildings in reasonable shape though while they wait to sell them to developers.