The Observation Deck

Can someone remind me of the following:

*I remember the Detroit Ave. Burger King was built in the mid 1980s. What was on that parcel of land before BK?

*Similarly, what was located on the land now occupied by the Marc's Plaza? That was built around 1990 or 1991.

For the Marcs Plaza Victoria use to come through with houses on it down to by Detroit, and on Detroit there were store front buildings similar to the ones up and down the rest of the street. In fact I heard once that the painting that is in the back of the city hall auditorium was originally in one of those buildings (I think it was a bank) and it was given to City Hall before the building was torn down. They even moved a door in the auditorium to line up with a notch in the painting were a door was in the original building.

Keep in mind, this is mostly hearsay knowledge, I was a child when Macs was put in and do not recollect seeing any specific pictures of that part of Detroit, especially from the 80's/90's.

It's a good one for the Historical Society, but for the discussion, here is what I recall. Going west from where Victoria Ave. came out to Detroit, I think the first was Faflick (sp) Shoe Store. We busted a bookmaking operation in the offices above it in the 1980s. Then there was a diner (I think it may have been called Randolph's at one point in time) , and a bar (I think it was the Stop-N-Go). There was a gas station, maybe at one time a Union 76 and the last brand was Marathon, on the SE corner of Elmwood & Detroit where Huntington Bank is now.

Society Bank, mural from bank wall at City Hall in Council Room

Poll Parrot Shoes

Stop n Go Bar

A small diner

Burrows

A real estate office

Two 4 stories with a 2 story between them which housed Police and Fireman's Union, and
George Matthews Great London Circus offices. The manager had a pet male lion he
would bring to work now and then. (All of the Dead Boys worked their at one time.)

?

Jim:

Wasn't Society National Bank on the SE corner of Victoria and Detroit with a parking lot behind it? The mural on the east wall, behind the tellers?

Burrows, KFC, fire station, drive up ATM, movie rental store (owner, Ron), 2 banks, a lot of parking space

This is an Arial view of Warren and Detroit from around 1950. You can see Victoria from about the right center up.To the right of the Detroit-Warren building you can see one storefront building, looks to be a single level, maybe 2. And then there is a very large parking lot were Marc's is now. I wonder why? Does anyone know if there were ever structures there or when it became a parking lot?



Heres a better view from Warren and Franklin looking north. You can see the fire station on warren, a few other structures in the mostly empty lot, 2 houses on Victoria at the bottom, that 2 story store front building on Detroit on the east corner of Victoria and then another one on the west side.



Detroit and Victoria 1930's?



Detroit and Victoria? Maybe looking at the Southwest corner? I dont know what "The Lakewood" is, but I want to check it out!



"Looking east along the north of Detroit towards Victoria Ave. Along the north side are Fanny Farmer Candy Shop, 15008 Detroit; and Lakewood Juvenile Shoes, 1500 Detroit. Along the south side are Walker Shoes, 15001 Detroit; and Society National Bank, 14903 Detroit."



The Old Municipal Lot between Warren and Victoria, 1958.



This is what I could find on Yesterday's Lakewood. http://www.clevelandmemory.org/lakewood/

We had the Press route for years which included that section of Detroit east from Victoria I remember the shoe store, bar, diner, video store, TV repair (might have been prior to the video store), uniform store (Beckers ?), Tux store (American Commodore), gas station (Arco) I think the BK took the uniform and tux shops. Going east form victoria, Society bank, Burrows, Dress Shop (Red Robin ?), Fabric (Broadway ?), Cleveland Typewriter, Minuteman Printer, Lucian Cent. 21. Some might have been in the Det. Warren Bldg. Let's not forget the shoe maker on Victoria.

Thanks for the feedback.

A couple follow ups:

*So Victoria was cut short specifically for the Marc's Plaza, correct?
How much political turmoil did this cause at the time?

*Was the BK construction connected to the Marc's Plaza project? I remember them occuring a few years apart....BK in 1985 (when I was still in HS), Marc's in 1990 (after I graduated college).

This project was what got me politically active when I got out of school. It went on for years, 8 to 10 with all kinds of pie in the sky concepts, an enclosed mall was one, but I'd have to say the hands down favorite had to be the enclosed mall with sky walks connecting it to the hospital, lakewood center north and future development on the north side of Detroit. I can still remember the developer from Cincinnati "have you ever been to downtown Cincinnati"
They were all terrible, most even worse than the piece of _ _ _ _ we ended up with. The city pretty much gave the property away along with TIF (abated taxes on the redeveloped property) Quite a few closed door meetings and only the required public comment.
I laugh when folks complain about the way things are reviewed and handle now. There was zero consideration of citizen input.
As a side note: I know some will find it hard to believe that at that time just about every public office in the city was controlled by the other party.

Oh the memories

Bill

Is it true that the developers originally intended to buy and raze the building on the SW corner of Warren and Detroit for parking, but the owner wouldn't sell?

Bill

Good memories good stuff, everyone walking around drooling about skywalks.

Also add Lakewood Camera, and Keith Jewelers into that block.

Skywalks,



.

Schezuan Garden opened their first place in the building along Detroit, in front of where Marc's is, and had to relocate when they decided to tear down the building for the new "shopping center."

I also remember all the grandiose ideas that were batted around before, including that the Marc's would be a two level store. I agree with Bill, what we got is a joke and I rarely go there. You can't get in or out of the place!

The Kenny Kings that Corey mentioned was originally Bearden's. Before that, the police station and court were between the fire station and Board of Education on Warren Road. They moved to the current Detroit location in 1959.

What became Marc's Plaza (not it's original name) originally had grand plans to take the Warren Detroit Building and even an overheard walkway all the way to the hospital. The Warren Detroit Building was decided to be historical and not demoed and the best the developer could come up with for an anchor was Marc's.

In that same area, what was the name of the shoe place with the talking bird? And also, what was the name of the place / bar with the great gyros??? (early 1970's)