I hope all enjoyed their New Year celebrations (I now report back to you as a married man)!  Here’s an interesting editorial, written by Richard Moe (President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation), that appeared in the Sunday edition of the Detroit News: Saving the Statler Hotel Would Help Preserve Detroit’s Architectural Heritage.  Sadly, the demolition process has begun on the Statler. 

“…Detroit has barely begun to use its incomparable architectural legacy as a resource for rebirth. Structures such as the David Whitney Building, the Broderick Tower, and the Madison-Lenox Hotel (which was named one of this year’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust) represent obvious opportunities to spur revitalization through rehabilitation.

The city’s process for determining the fate of individual older buildings is uneven at best. The former Book-Cadillac Hotel, for example, was the beneficiary of a comprehensive and well-funded analysis that will now guide its exciting renovation. By contrast, the former Statler-Hilton Hotel has received no such attention—and as a result, it now faces a possible state-sponsored execution. The loss of this building would be both tragic and unnecessary. The money that would be spent on its demolition could easily be redirected to its rehabilitation. What’s more, a nationally recognized developer experienced in such projects has expressed interest in converting it to condominiums that would give downtown a transfusion of the residential lifeblood that it desperately needs.”