The Ren-Cen as seen from the 19th floor of the 500 Tower.
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The Ren-Cen's historical neighbor.
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U of D Dowling Hall is across the street.
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Downtown D-Town as seen from Riverfront East.
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The Globe Trading Company, which once housed Detroit Dry Docks and Detroit Dry Dock Engine Works. Its future is uncertain and the need has arisen for it to be restored or demolished to make way for future riverfront development.
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Across the street from the Globe, in what is now St. Aubin Park, is this memorial, which reads "On this site, under the waters of St. Aubin Park's visiting ship dock, remains the 1892 Detroit Dry Dock's, Detroit Dry Dock no. 2. One of the largest on the Great Lakes. It measured 378 feet in length. The Detroit Dry Dock Company constructed and repaired freighters and passenger steamers. This model shows the freighter, The Pioneer, that was completed in 1892...
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During construction, the steel hull was manufactured in Wyandotte, Michigan and was towed into the drydock. a "Caisson Gate" was sunk into place at the river's edge. Water was then pumped out of the area while workers labored to install decks, cabins, masts and the engine. The company's foundry and machine shop was located across Atwater Street to the north." |
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Dry Dock Engine Works did not originate in this building - it was located in a long gone site on Atwater for 20 years before moving into the Globe. Henry Ford trained as a machinist at Dry Dock, where he worked as a young apprentice from 1880 to 1892.
According to book "The Ford Century," he saw his first combustion engine built here. This shaped his life as an engineer, and eventually led to him to production of internal cumbustion engines in automobiles.
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All that remains of the former Dry Docks is St. Aubin Park's visiting ship dock. Click here to read the Free Press article on the Globe and the Dry Docks.
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The Ren-Cen in stark contrast with the Globe Trading Co. George Jackson Jr., CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. says, "We're not going to let it stand for year after year, inhibiting investment and development." Guess what George, by tearing it down, you automatically inhibit investment and development.
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The Ren-Cen as seen from Globe Trading Co.
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The Ren-Cen as seen from a gutted, decayed old warehouse.
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Here's the other side of that gutted, decayed old warehouse...yeah, but the Globe must be torn down first, right?
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The cement silos must go, too, to clear the way for...?
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Another angle of the cement silos.
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The Windsor Casino as seen from across the river.
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Chene Park.
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The Soup Kitchen Saloon was a great jazz venue.
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The Rhino Club... was this another great jazz venue?
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The recently closed Woodbridge Tavern was a Pop-Rock-Punk venue.
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Nestled between a closed restauraunt and the former nightclub called the 'Spot' is Spacely Sprockets.
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Speaking of the 'Spot' here it is. (Still in use as a parking lot).
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Another large abandoned structure, Northern Engineering Works.
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Is Lafayette Tool & Die still in business?
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The 4 star Omni Hotel. Anyone know what this building was in its former life?
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The former Parke Davis Pharmaceuticals is now the 'Stroh River Place'.
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Another section of Parke Davis which has been transformed into lofts.
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The INS office on Mt. Elliot and Jefferson.
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The East Riverfront Tour to be continued on a second page...Stay tuned!!
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