Detroit, Michigan

Michigan Avenue









Campus Martius



Cadillac Square







^^ City Hall













Campus Martius again









Michigan Avenue





Woodward Avenue















Campus Martius







Ren Center, Jefferson Avenue



Brush Park :nono:



^^ Masonic Theatre

August 2010

First we begin at Washington Blvd and Michigan Avenue

Washington Boulevard







^^ St Aloysius



^^ Book-Cadillac Hotel, Now a Westin. Built in 1924.









^^ State Street











^^ Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue

Capital Park








Griswold Street





Campus Martius/ John F. Kennedy Square





^^ Woodward Avenue

Campus Martius/ John F. Kennedy Square







^^ Cadillac Square











^^ Woodward Avenue

Woodward Avenue.









^^ Woodward Avenue and East Grand River Avenue













^^ Clifford Street

Woodward Avenue

^^ Thanks bud!

Grand Circus Park

















^^ Madison Street















^^ Woodward Avenue







^^ Central United Methodist on Woodward Avenue

















^^ Washington Blvd











^^ On the right is the former site of the Statler Hotel. I firmly believe it's destruction was a terrible mistake.



^^ Corner of West Adams Street and Park Avenue.

West Adams Street









Heading back down Washington Blvd again.





^^ Washington Blvd and Clifford Street









^^ West Grand River Avenue and Washington Blvd











^^ State Street and Washington Blvd





^^ Michigan Avenue and Washington Blvd









St. Aloysius

God is in the details!















Book Tower, Washington Blvd

The centre of Detroit is a classic example of many U.S. cities - wonderful heritage of early 20th c. 'scrapers etc but hardly anyone in the streets hence a somewhat dead atmosphere. Hopefully this will change in the future as there is so much on offer in these cities.
Very good photos of a once great city.

Thanks guys. I'm happy ya'll enjoyed my little tour. But stay put because I got more on the way! I think Detroit is a victim of it's own success (The automobile givith and the automobile takith away!) as well as being the victim of racial tension and poor playing on the part of local, state, and federal officials. Unfortunately not much can be done. Many older white detest Detroit and the population which lives there. Although young people, including my friend Zack who drove me around seem to take a better view of the city. However, unfortunately some areas like the ones I saw on the Eastside are lost. I remember when we were driving over by Packard, it was difficult to tell whether we were in a large city or out in the country. Also, as with Devils Night, arson is still an issue.

Eastown Theater, Harper Avenue.

The Eastown opened in a largely residential area on Harper Avenue near Van **** at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 1, 1931, with the movie "Sporting Blood," starring Clark Gable. Advertisements in newspapers at the time declared the theater’s opening as the “dawn of a new entertainment era” and invited Detroiters to “thrill to the glory of Detroit’s newest, finest Palace of Happiness.’” The ads also proclaimed the theater’s opening as “the most glorious event in the history of east Detroit.” Business owners and merchants in the neighborhood pitched in by decorating the surrounding streets for the grand opening.

With 2,500 seats, it was comparable in size and elegance to most of the downtown theaters. The Eastown was built solely for “talking pictures,” and when it opened, admission was 15 cents for afternoons, a quarter for evenings and 35 cents for Saturday and Sunday evenings. Children got in any time for a dime. Patrons would get dressed up for a night at the movies, and uniformed ushers would guide them to their seats.

The complex was built for the Wisper & Wetsman movie chain, one of the largest independent operators of movie theaters in metro Detroit at the time. It was designed by architect V.J. Waier, who used a blend of classical styles for an interior that was mostly Baroque. It is his only known surviving work in the city. The building was constructed between 1926 and 1930 and featured a 6-foot-high lit dome in the auditorium with a gold-gilded ceiling. The lobby featured imported marble with a wide, elegant marble stairway flowing into the mezzanine. Like those theaters downtown, the Eastown featured office space and stores, but it also had 35 apartments. In addition, it had the grand Eastown Ballroom, with large arched windows, a band shell and an oak dance floor. Up to 300 people could dine there on fine linen and elegant china or attend weddings and banquets.

http://www.buildingsofdetroit.com/places/east