Well time has run out for the mid-century guest house. Demolition is set to begin today down at the waterfront. Built in 1957 by the firm of Johnson & McWhinnie, the guest house was made possible by a bequeath to the city laid out in the will of E.A. Cleary. Cleary left $500,000 to the city when he died in 1955 (adjusted for inflation that is equivalent to about 3.8 million in 2007 dollars), with the instructions to build a Civic Auditorium to bear his name, and he earmarked $20,000 of that money to be put towards a Guest House at the new park. The layout and design of the guest house was laid out in his will.
It was to be two stories with restroom and a concession on the main floor. The second floor was to be open on two sides, one facing the city, one facing the river. It was even in his instructions that “WELCOME” was to be put on both ends.
The building eater is in place… Check.
…death fences in place… Check.
…history to be destroyed… Check.
Let the destruction begin!
I hope someone has the foresight to salvage the little Detroit River fact sheet.
Here it is in happier times.
I’m going to really hope that there was a good reason, not related to the demolition that, not one…
…but, two trees needed to be cut down? I can honestly say that the Parks Department and Bill Rosel the City Forester take great care and pride in out trees.
If these two lost trees were to facilitate only demolition, or the future parking lot, that is sad.
A final view of the CGH on its final day. 🙁
Really sorry to see the Guest House go–especially after all these years of false starts on the demolition–I’ll miss it–love the flagstone landscaping around it too. Any idea why the WELCOME sign was salvaged–could it be going somewhere on the Peace Beacon?
What did they do with the Detroit River fact sheet any idea ? Sure would be shame to leave it the building after going through all the work of removing it and bringing it down the stairs. If they don’t want it i’ll even go and get it with my truck and maybe see about having it installed somewhere else along the river. Suggestions ?
Flash from the past?
The WELCOME was salvaged, hopefully it will be reused on the peace beacon,
Quick update… I just went over to the CGH with my camera to catch the carnage… In typical City fashion, even the demolition is behind schedule 🙂
It looks the exact same as last night when I took these photos, in fact the bulldozer isn’t even near it… Maybe tomorrow.
” In typical City fashion, even the demolition is behind schedule ” That just made my day Andrew , the truest statement I heard in awile 😛
In a way it’s a shame to see it go. That ’50’s style design is right now considered expendable, but when you think the Guest House was 50 years old, somewhere in the near future designs like that will me considered “historic”.
fucking assholes… those trees didn’t need to be cut down. there’s a perfect row of them all along the river. now they created an terrible gap. god i hate this stupid building they built.
UPDATE – As of 4:00 pm, it was completely demolished. Photos tomorrow.
Darren, I was down there today and it looks like there was a issue with utilites running under one of the trees. I do agree however that there will now be a gap in that great row of trees.
i saw on the news last night it has to do with some lookout view from the new place too. grrr.. sorry for my language… i guess they will be re-doing that area. i used to work in that park as a student back in 1990 or so. always loved the row of trees though. the gap really makes me sad but hope they do something proper to make up for it. the city needs to plant more trees in their parks along the river.
gosh…I hope ol’ E.A doesn’t come back and haunt the new beacon after watching something straight from his Will come down after HIS money built it….heheheheh I watched enough Scooby Doo to know this can’t be a good thing….
Is there ANYTHING left of downtown from its heyday in the ’40s to ’60s, that hasn’t been demolished or disfigured so that you can’t tell what it was? This city just destroys almost anything of historical significance, then constructs poorly built replacement buildings, that have to be repaired early on for their shoddy workmanship. Almost every major city has some plan in action for preserving its architectural heritage. Why is this city so short-sighted, and to get anything done, it takes forever? And when it is done, it’s done half-assedly? I’d really like an answer on this one. It’s been like that as long as I can remember.
Steve, The Fish Market, et al and the Windsor Star is still there.