Guardian Building Bridge

Photo credit: Rob Saxon

Walking along Larned to work each day, I make it a point to gaze up. Towering over morning commuters is a skybridge that connects two of Detroit's most iconic skyscrapers: The Art Deco style Guarding Building and the International style One Woodward. The bridge's sleekly polished metal panels and rounded corners pays no respect to either style. And like a meat skewer, shamelessly pierces the skin of both buildings and connects their internal arteries.

Skybridge connecting One Woodward (left) and
The Guardian Building (right)
photo credit: Esoteric Survey

Each day I look up and the curious designer in me asks:

Why was the bridge placed so high?

On the Guardian side, the bridge inserts into a large slot cut into the building's southeast corner. The dramatic modification is increased by the corner's taper.  Because the bridge isn't perpendicular to the Guardian building's exterior, one can see the bridge penetrating into the building.  And because the bridge's east facade isn't flush with the Guardian's facade, the design gives the illusion that the opening isn't quite large enough.

The Skybridge inserts into an opening cut into
the southeast corner of the Guardian Building
photo credit: Roadside Architecture.com

On One Woodward's side, the bridge is almost perfectly centered on the north face.  The building's delicate skin is pierced with the precision of a needle. The bridge surgically connects into what appears to be a former public restroom, but there is no hint of how the bridge is supported.  The engineer in me wonders what amount of shear force would cause the bridge to break catatrophically from the face of the building. 

Skybridge connection to One Woodward
Photo credit: Rob Saxon

Using the internet to find documentation on the bridge proved difficult. But despite limited information, below is the story of two buildings and its mysterious skybridge.  I welcome photos or comments that fill in missing information.

1929
The story begins in 1929 with the construction of the 36-story Guarding Building.  Originally known as the Union Trust Building, it was designed by Wirt C. Rowland, who at the time was employed by Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. Known today as The Smith Group JJR, the historic firm is located on the building's 17th floor.  It was nicknamed the Cathedral of Finance and is particularly known for it's vaulted Lobby and pewabic tile decorated Banking Hall. After an award winning renovation, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

By I, Mikerussell
Photo Credit

By Michael Barera
Photo Credit

1958

In 1958, Minoru Yamasaki, in association with Smith, Hinchman and Grylls, is asked to design a headquarters for the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company (nicknamed "Michcon"). Michcon was created by the merger of four gas companies in 1937. And in 1949, The American Natural Gas Company or ANR became its parent company. This would be Yamasaki's first skyscraper and he would later use many of its design elements on in his more famous World Trade Center formerly located in New York City.  The new skyscraper became known as the ANR building. It would later be renamed One Woodward.

One Woodward Avenue
Minoru Yamasaki
photo credit

1972
By the 1970s, employees of both Michcon and ANR were located in both buildings. To ease movement between the two buildings, the Detroit based architectural firm Rossetti Associates, was hired to design and oversee the construction of a bridge.  More specifically, to design a bridge giving Guardian Building employees access to One Woodward's cafeteria (see citation).  The bridge was therefore located at the Guarding Building's 16th floor and at One Woodward's 15th floor. Quoting a former employee of ANR, "For several years, the company cafeteria was in One Woodward, so the skywalk was handy." (see citation)

1990s
By the 1990s, ANR had divested itself of Michcon and relocated its employees.  Remaining Michcon employees were relocated to the adjacent Guardian building.  The ANR building was sold and re-named One Woodward.  It's at this time that I believe the bridge is closed.

Khalil Rahal, Interim Director of the Wayne County
Economic Development Corp., walks across the unused bridge
Photo credit: Glenn Triest

2000s
Michcon is reorganized as the MCN Energy Group.  In 2001, the MCN Energy Group merges with DTE Energy.  One year later, DTE Energy sells the Guardian Building to a private real estate investor: The Sterling Group.

In 2005, David Shock commissioned a proposal to convert the skybridge into a bar.  Three designers at M1/DTW, Christian Unverzagt, Kristen Dean and Emily Kutil, complete the design. Below are photos borrowed from the proposal.  The design is reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I can almost feel myself floating weightless through the space.  Go to this link for additional photos.

Photo credit: M1/DTW

Photo credit: M1/DTW

Photo credit: M1/DTW

In 2007, The Sterling Group sold The Guardian Building to Wayne County. To this day, David Shock continues to work on gaining the County's support for his skybar proposal (see article in Curbed Detroit).

In 2012, Dan Gilbert's Rock Ventures purchased One Woodward.  The building is renamed Fifth Third at One Woodward in 2014 after Fifth Third Bank agrees to relocate it's headquarters in the building.

In 2018, the bridge is outfitted with lights making it a "floating bar of lights".  Designed by artist Phillip K. Smith, III and facilitated by the Detroit's Library Street Collective Gallery, the bridge is adorned with shifting colored lights. In the words of Smith,

"By day, the Skybridge will continue to be seen as its historical self within the architecture and massing of downtown.  But by night, it will become a beacon for the beauty, creativity, and innovation of Detroit."

"Floating Bar of Lights" designed by Phillip K. Smith, III and facilitated
by the Detroit's Library Street Collective Gallery
Photos Credit: Lance Gerber 

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Wikipedia, Guardian Building, Website.

Wikipedia, One Woodward Avenue, Website.

Discuss Detroit, Guardian Building Skybridge, Website.

Tsai, Janis, "The Surprising Link Between Detroit's One Woodward Avenue and the Original World Trade Center," Daily Detroit, Sept. 14, 2015.

Michigan Modern, Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building, Website.

McGeen, Denise, Historic Detroit, One Woodward Avenue, Website.

"A 7 Year Fight for the Guardian Building's Tube Bar Proposal," Curbed Detroit, March 12, 2012.

DTE Energy, A History as a Natural Gas Utility, Website.

Funding Universe, ANR Pipeline Co. History, Website.

M1/DTW, United Bar, Website.

DeVito, Lee, 'Detroit Skybridge' will turn into 'a floating bar of light' this weekend', Detroit MetroTimes, August 22, 2018.

The First Detroit River Tunnel

So you want to take the tunnel to Canada?  Sure, there's the tunnel for cars that opened in 1930.  But did you know that 20 years earlier the cities of Detroit and Windsor were connected by a train tunnel?

Map locating Detroit's vehicular and rail tunnels.
photo credit

Opened in July 1910, the Michigan Central Railway tunnel connected passenger and freight rail traffic between the two countries.  The tunnel eliminated the 12+ hour wait for rail cars to be ferried across the river. Instead, rail traffic can pass through the 1.6 mile long tunnel in minutes.  On the US side, trains enter south of the Bagley Avenue bridge just past the Michigan Central Station.  On the Canadian side, they enter just north of Wyandotte Street (parallel to Wellington Avenue) in Windsor.

Ferry carries rail cars across the Detroit River circa 1900
photo credit

The tunnel was the first built without compressed air.  It was constructed using an engineering method known as Immersion Tube.  The method is cheaper and faster than boring into the Earth and is simple in concept:

• Dig a 13 foot deep trench in the Detroit River bottom
• Float bulkheaded sections of the steel tunnel tube (263 feet (80 meters) long) into place
• Sink the sections into the trench with weights
• Align the new section with the previously sunk section
• Drain the water between the sections
• Seal the connection 
• Backfill the trench and connected tube sections with concrete
• Pump the steel tubes dry
• Finish the inside of the steel tube with 1.5 feet (50 cm) thick concrete 

the Stages of Immersion Tube Construction
Image Credit (figure 4)

Steel tubes being floated into place along the Detroit River
photo credit

The Detroit River Tunnel Company built the tunnel for $8.5 million.  It was constructed under the supervision of the New York Central Railway's Engineering Vice President, William J. Wilgus.

Seven workmen operating machinery while building
the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel, 1907.
photo credit

Beginning in August 1992, the tunnel's north tube underwent a $27 million enlargement to permit the passage of stacked container railcars and multilevel auto carriers railcars.  Rivaling the engineering of the original design, the enlargement involved the removal of a portion of the concrete ceiling, floor and sides. The link below contains a video describing the history of the tunnel as well as details of the expansion project:

CP Rail Detroit Windsor Tunnel Enlargement

The tunnel today continues to handle an annual volume of approximately 400,000 railcars.

Entrance into the Detroit side of Michigan Central Railway Tunnel
photo credit

Closer detail of Detroit side entrance.  Note that the left
tunnel's ceiling and side walls have been modified to
accept taller and wider rail cars.
photo credit

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Gleit, Jon, "The Detroit River Tunnel Few Have Seen: The Michigan Central Railway Tunnel", April 12, 2016, Detroit Historical Society.

Lee, Ardelia, "The Other Detroit River Tunnel No One's Told You About", July 9, 2016,  Daily Detroit.

Moonlight Towers

Photo Credit

Above is an amazing photo of Southeastern Michigan tweeted by Astronaut Shane Kimbrough.  The cities of Detroit, Toledo and Cleveland are visible. The white glow of Detroit's new LED street lights clearly distinguishes the City.  

The blog below was written in December of 2012.  It describes Detroit's place in history as one of the first major cities to install street lights, or "moonlight towers" as they were called in the 1890s.

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There are over 85,000 street lights in Detroit and over half aren't working.  It was recently announced that a new Detroit Lighting Authority would be created in an attempt to make long over due repairs.

PLD Street light installed

at DHC's Emerald Springs

Despite their condition, have you ever stopped to notice the various designs?  I recently witnessed the installation of street lights at three Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) developments.  Surveying a few nearby streets quickly reveals quite a few selections ranging from older incandescent pendants to the typical white yellow glow of cantilevering low pressure sodium lamps.

Street light found in
Detroit's Harmonie Park

Street light found on
Gratiot Avenue





 













Doing a little research, I discovered that Detroit was one of the first cities to electrically light its streets.  The early solution was found in engineered structures nicknamed "Moonlight Towers".  Extremely bright lamps known as carbon arc lamps were hung from towers more than 150 feet in height.  Between the 1890s and 1910s, more than 120 towers illuminated 21 square miles of Detroit. Part of the system was sold to the City of Austin, Texas in 1895.  Today, one can still find 15 of these original Detroit towers illuminating various Austin neighborhoods.  Pictures can be found by going to this link: Andy Mattern Photography.

A moonlight tower  standing
in the foreground of Detroit's
Old City Hall circa. 1900
Lycurgus S. Glover



A working replica of a
 moonlight tower located in Zilker
Park, Austin, Texas built in 1967
Larry D. Moore CC BY-SA 3.0

The demise of Detroit's tower lighting system was caused by chiefly two developments around the turn of the century.  First, new construction technology enabled buildings (otherwise known as skyscrapers) to be taller than the towers.  Taller buildings meant less effective light distribution.  Second, the development of incandescent lamp technology. Though these early arc lamps were in fact more energy efficient than incandescent fixtures, they in comparison had poor light distribution patterns (including flickering), generated greater amounts of noise and heat (sometimes even sparks), and had shorter life cycles.

As we move into the second decade of the 21st century, street light technology is again improving as cities make the transition to cutting edge, energy efficient LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology.

Learn more about Detroit's early street light system by reading this article in Low Tech Magazine.

Fire House Commute

I've gotten used to a long work commute over the years.  And I've found it easier to enjoy the journey rather than to stress about the time and traffic.  Twenty years of zigzagging through local streets , searching for new short cuts, I've stumbled upon architectural gems. And every now and then, I'll pass a building that peaks my curiosity so much, it forces me to do some Google research. Recently, my research focused on two historic Detroit Fire stations.

FIRE HOUSE 22

Fire Station 22 in 2012
Photo Credit

Fire House 22 in the late 1890s
Photo Credits 

Built in 1895, Engine and Ladder House 22 sits at 6138 Michigan Avenue just east of Livernois at Military Street.  It was designed by Detroit architects Donaldson & Meier.  It was remodel in 1923, which may have been when its hose tower was lowered in height.  The tower was where fire hoses were hung to dry to avoid them from molding

The view just inside the apparatus doors of Engine 22
Photo Credit

Holes at ceiling where fire poles once existed.  The poles were removed
in the 1980s to prevent ankle and foot injuries
Photo Credit

 Within its almost 90 years of service, the station made the transition from horse-pulled fire apparatus to vehicles.  Closed in 1983, it briefly re-opened in 1991 as a Spanish Restaurant, Casa de Espana. Today, it sits vacant.


ENGINE 4-3

Formed in 1865, Firehouse 4 was located on 18th near Howard Street (Ste. Anne's Catholic Church can been seen directly behind).  Also designed by Detroit architects Donaldson & Meier, the station was disbanded in 1976.

Engine 4
Photo Credit

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Sources:

Catch 22, Nailhed.com, July 2008.

Old Engine and Ladder 22, Detroiturbex.com,

Detroit Firehouses, Youngstownfire.com Forums.

The Detroit Salt Mines

On March 5, 2017, developer Dan Gilbert unveiled his vision for Detroit's historic Hudson site. A vision brought to life by New York based ShoP Architects in partnership with local architects Hamilton Anderson Associates.  Located on the original site of Hudson's Department Store, once the second largest department store in the nation, the site has remained vacant since the original building was imploded in 1998.  The proposed mixed use complex would give Downtown Detroit an infusion of contemporary architecture and insert into Detroit's skyline its tallest building.

ShoP Architects' proposal for Detroit's Historic Hudson site

Photo Credit

While I researched ShoP Architects' design, I stumbled upon another Hudson site proposal.  A design proposed in 2013 by Chicago based Moss Architecture.  Entitled the Saultbox, the building's swooping curved roof and seeming chiseled out center and entry points are inspired by Detroit's Salt mines.  A firm know for its environmentally friendly buildings, the Saultbox mimics the organic shape of the mines, and features two sustainable design elements: a green roof and stormwater recycling.

Moss Architecture's proposal for Detroit's historic Hudson site entitled: Saultbox

Photo Credit

It was the mention of the Detroit Salt Mines that again grabbed my attention.  And with one or two Google clicks, I quickly learned that some 1,100 feet below Detroit, within an area measuring roughly 1,500 acres, is some 100 miles of tunnels dedicated to the excavation of salt.

The Detroit Salt Mines encompass an area equal to roughly 1,500 acres

Photo Credit

The City of Detroit sits above one of the worlds largest deposits of salt.  Known as the Michigan Basin, the salt is a remnant of an evaporated ocean that existed 400 million years ago.  The band of salt stretches east to Lake Huron and south to Ohio.  The salt was buried by glacier movement that created the Niagara Escarpment.

A truck carry salt travels along one of the 100 miles of tunnel roads

Photo Credit

Springs helped Native Americans first discover the existence of the salt.  Detroiters discovered the salt in 1895.  In 1906, The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company began constructing a shaft down to the salt deposits. Dealing with difficulties, such as pockets of hydrogen sulfide gas and hundreds of feet of stone, the company went bankrupt before even reaching the first salt deposits.

Construction on the first mine shaft began in 1906.  This photo of the shaft entrance was taken in 1974.

Photo Credit

In 1910, the re-organized Detroit Salt Company completed the first shaft.   When ownership transitioned to the International Salt Company, 8,000 tons of salt was being mined a day.  In 1922, in order to increase capacity, construction began on a second shaft.  With its completion in 1925, the first shaft would be dedicated to hauling men and equipment into the mines.

Rock salt being picked up by a power shovel circa 1957

Photo Credit

The International Salt Company closed the mine in 1983, but in 1985, it would re-open under the ownership of Crystal Mine, Inc. In 1997, the Detroit Salt Company, LLC. took over ownership. Finally, in 2010, the Detroit Salt Company was purchased by The Kissner Group.  Today, the mine remains the areas largest supplier of ice melter products.

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Sources:

Detroit's Salt Mines: City Beneath a City, Detroit News (Michigan-History), January 2, 2016.

Detroit Salt Company Website, The Kissner Group.

Torem, Emily, Moss Architecture Blog, The Moss Proposal for the Former Hudson's Site in Detroit: Saultbox, August 15, 2013.

Lynch, Patrick, Arch Daily News, ShoP Unveils Plans for Detroit's Tallest Tower on Historic Downtown Site, February 24, 2017.

Fabricius, Karl, Scribol.com, The Giant Salt City 1200ft Beneath Detroit, June 29, 2010.

The Forgotten Derby Winners

On freshly drained swamp land, in an area formerly known as The Grand Marais (The Great Swamp), two Detroit race tracks were opened in 1894.

1894 map of what was the The Grand Marais (The Great Swamp) between Connors Creek and Fox Creek.  The map shows The Detroit Driving Club to the west and the Detroit Jockey Club to the east

photo credit

The Detroit Driving Club, owned by Daniel J. Campau, the grandson of Detroit co-founder Joseph Campau, would remain open until 1919.  It would be the site of  Henry Ford's win over Cleveland auto manufacturer Alexander Winton.  The 1901 win would cement Detroit as the capital of automotive design and manufacturing.  The red bricks that paved its entrance remain along Malborough Street beginning at Jefferson Avenue.

Henry Ford pulls up on the outside of Alexander Winton during  a Ten Mile Race in 1901 at the Detroit Driving Club

photo credit

A few blocks to the west, opened a second track.  The site of horse and harness races, the Detroit Jockey Club would become the Detroit Driving Club's chief competitor. This track was owned by prominent Detroit businessmen George Hendrie and Fred Toll Moran.  The brick archways that marked its entrance centered on today's Algonquin Street.  It would close in 1911 after a racing scandal involving a $500,000 winning bet.

Entrance to the Detroit Driving Club at what is today Algonquin Street (just off Jefferson Avenue)

photo credit

At the turn of the 20th century, America was in love with the sport of horse racing.  And while I discovered the location of these historic tracks, I discovered the names of eight African-American jockeys.  And to my surprise, discovered the years each won horse racing's most coveted prize, the Kentucky Derby.

Oliver Lewis (1875)
William Walker (1877)
Isaac Murphy (1884, 1890 and 1891)
Eskine "Babe" Henderson (1885) (not pictured)
Alonzo "Lonnie" Clayton (1892)
James "Soup" Perkins (1895)
Willie Simms (1896 and 1898) (Triple Crown Winner)
Jimmy "Wink" Winkfield (1901 and 1902)

photo credit

photo credit

Riding horses with names like Aristides, Spokane and Riley, these African-American men dominated the sport of horse racing. They were the nation's first superstars in a sport that captured the nation's attention.  For a short period between the end of the civil war and the turn of the century, these freed Black men earned substantial incomes.  Issac Murphy, who launched his career in Detroit, would win an unmatched 44% of his races (628 out of 1312 mounts). His unique riding style eliminated the whip and spur, and used what he called "the feel". He was the first to win back to back Derbies. Jimmy "Wink" Winkfield would be the second.  Alonzo "Lonnie" Clayton would be the youngest at the age of 15 to ever win the Derby.

photo credit

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The first Kentucky Derby in 1875 included 13 African-American jockeys out of 15.  And despite winning 15 of the first 28 Derbies, the last African-American jockey would ride in the 1921 Derby.  Their lives threatened if they didn't quit or to move to Europe.  An African-American wouldn't again ride in the race until the 125th Derby held in the year 2000.

photo credit

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Slavery placed African-Americans in the center of the sport as jockeys, trainers, managers and care takers. And segregation forced them out.  On June 25, 1980, the 11 African-American jockeys who rode a total of 15 Derby winners between 1875 and 1902, were honored by the NAACP and the Lincoln Foundation. A plaque commemorating their contributions is now in the Kentucky Derby Museum's collection.  The plaque, though late in coming, forever acknowledges the contributions of these pioneering forgotten athletes.

photo credit

Sources:

Sinacori, Nicholas P., Horse Power, Men and Machines, The Village of Fairview Historical Society, 2012.

Winkler, Lisa K., "The Kentucky Derbies Forgotten Jockeys", Smithsonian.com, April 23, 2009.

Part 2: Reanimating Woodward Avenue's Street-cars: The M1 Rail Project

In honor of the Qline's scheduled launch in 2017, here's a blog written in 2013 about the project.

At 5:56am on April 8, 1956, operator Paul Payne pulled streetcar PCC #233 into the Woodward car house ending the operation of the city's last street-car line, the Woodward line, that had begun service on August 27, 1863.  Later that afternoon, a special "End of the Line" parade was conducted along Woodward.  The parade included 24 street-cars carrying almost 2,000 passenger led by the Highland Park High School Band and accompanied by a police escort, fire vehicles, and turn-of-the-century automobiles (follow this link to a two-minute video of the parade).

One of 24 street-cars participating in the "End of the Line"  Parade on April 8, 1956
(Photo source Dave's Electric Railroads —Stephen M. Scalzo collection)

With the complete elimination of street-cars, replaced with diesel buses, Detroit replaced Cleveland, Ohio as the largest U.S. city with an all-bus operation.  All 183 street cars, Detroit's entire inventory (except three which were deemed unacceptable), were sold to Mexico City.  The last car shipped to their new home on July 19, 1956.  The street-cars would continue in service until September 1985 when, while being refurbished, the cars were crushed during a magnitude 8.1 earthquake.

Almost 20 years later, a proposal to return street-cars to Woodward Avenue, is about to become reality.  Known at the M1 light-rail project, the estimated $137 million dollar project will place a fixed-rail streetcar system within Woodward avenue's median and organize 11 stops between Grand Boulevard and Congress Street.

Original plans designed a nine-mile line that ran a from downtown to 8 Mile Road.  But in December 2012, suburban city and state officials decide to support a rapid-transit bus system rather than a light rail system.  Light rail plans were therefore shortened to 3.3 miles, instead connecting New Center's Amtrak station to downtown.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) granted the M1 Rail project $25 million earlier this year.  The remainder of the construction funding is pledged by civic and philanthropic groups, including $35 million from the Kresge Foundation and $9 million from the Downtown Development Authority.

The rail system is expected to cost $5.1 million to operate annually; 80 percent of that to be covered by fares and advertising.  Supporters of the project pledged to endow a $10 million fund to privately support operating costs for up to 10 years until 2025, at which point they would hand the system's operation over to a public entity.

The request for the first of four bids was released in April this year.  This first contract (valued at approximately $85 million) will cover the cost of all major construction, including the tracks, power control and passenger stations.  A second contract for six streetcars will be released later this year.  The third request for bids is scheduled for release later this year and will cover the construction of a vehicle storage and maintenance facility (valued at approximately $9.5 million).  The final bid request, to be released no later than early 2014, is for a private-sector vendor to operate and maintain the streetcar system.

Rendering of a M1 street-car traveling south
 near Woodward and Mack Avenues
image credit

Construction is scheduled to begin in August 2013.  Construction north of Adams should commence in 2014, in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Transportation’s reconstruction next year of 2.5 miles of Woodward between Sibley and Chandler. Construction from Adams Street south to Congress Street is scheduled for June through August 2015.  M1 expects that the rail line will be up and running by late 2015.

Next in our series on Southeastern Michigan Transportation:
Part 3: MiTrain: High-speed Rail Between Ann Arbor and Detroit

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Sources:

"M1 Rail bids ready to leave the station", Crain's Detroit Business, May 12, 2013.

"M1 Light Rail actually won't be light rail, proposal is technically for 'street car' line", MLive, January 10, 2012.

"M1 Rail project gets final OK from federal government", Detroit Free Press, April 22, 2013.

"M-1 Rail Group Releases $137 Million Woodward Avenue Light Rail Plan, Has $84 Million Secured ", HuffPost Detroit, June 4, 2012.

"Streetcars of Desire", Model D, April 4, 2006.
"The P.C.C. Era in Detroit – Part 5", Detroit Transit History