Long time readers will know that I have been documenting the Livingstone house in Detroit’s Brush Park over the last 5 years.
I’ve had a long time friendly bet with dETROITfUNK about who would be the first to capture Ol’ Slumpy when she finally collapsed. dFUNK was first getting up the photos about 2 weeks ago. I’ve been so busy with all the stuff going down on our side, I hadn’t had a chance to get over to see it. Yesterday I got to see the carnage first hand.
For those of you who are not familiar with Slumpy, click: Here, here, here and here.
A few weeks ago, Slumpy dropped the ball, and the front facade finally gave way.
You can only defy gravity so long. On the bright side, it’s nice to finally see the inside.
This is exactly why I hate the city of Detroit. Take a home like that and put it in Chicago and it’s worth $1 million. Put it in Detroit and it’s worth more as scrap. What a waste.
Hey, it’s nothing that a do-it-yourselfer from Windsor with some chipboard and Home Depot vinyl siding couldnt fix. It’ll fit in nicely with some of those vinyl sided townhouses.
Ouch. Here’s a pic I took in the 80’s when it was still in its original location – abandoned but solid.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southofbloor/94593350/in/set-72057594062236846/
Well, after doing some exhaustive research, this house belonged to my Great Grandfather William Livingstone and, yes, my heart breaks at the sight of this. I wish I had known more about my family and this house when I could have tried to do something about it. Now, from as near as I can tell, it is completely hopeless. I just hope I get a chance to see it before it is just rubble. I actually want to cry.
Clay C,
I am so sorry that your family home is gone. It is a complete disaster that you didn’t know it even existed until now. I want to cry also.
I got up this past weeked (Oct 12) and raced over to Brush Park to try and see the house before it was demolished. Turns out I missed the home by 2 weeks. It was gone completely and the lot grated. If anyone has any shots of the home being destroyed or knows where they took the materila, I would be eternally grateful. Thanks.
Clay, sorry you missed her.
dETROITfUNK has some demolition photos here:
http://www.detroitfunk.com/2007/09/the_death_of_slumpy.html
Here’s my final entry on ol’ Slumpy too…
http://internationalmetropolis.com/?p=485
As for the final resting place? She ended up in a landfil.