The Packard Plant is a large automotive plant designed by Albert Kahn and built by Henry Joy from 1907-1911. At a time when there were many automotive plants in Detroit, Kahn’s industrial designs stood out for meeting modern requirements for mass manufacturing processes. Reinforced concrete structures were essential for fire resistance and load bearing weight distribution for heavy machinery required for making cars. Ford’s Highland Park Plant and the Fisher 21 Body Plant share similar design and functional elements.
There were many other car companies located around the Milwaukee Junction due to their close proximity to the railways. From the early 1920’s onwards there were influential car companies such as Ford, Studebaker, EMF, Hudson, Hupp, Pierce Arrow, General Motors and Continental Motors plants. The Great Depression of the 1930’s destroyed many of these plants as they were forced to merge with other companies or go bankrupt. Packard made fighter engines for the allies in World War II. In spite lucrative military contracts, Packard and many other companies could not recover and faded away into history. Packard Motors famous promotional tagline was “Packard ask a man who owns one”. To this day, Packard cars still have loyal fans, however the factory that made them has not been protected by heritage status. Packard closed its doors in the late 1950’s and other businesses and storage sites continued to use the site until the city of Detroit tried to evict tenants in order to partially demolish the plant in 2000-2001.
Exploring the entire site can easily take an entire day or more. Even after several trips, there were still many places left unexplored until the summer of 2008
Compiled from A34-3 – A44-13 (April 2006 – July 2007) archives.
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These are awesome, thanks for sharing them!
I saw this plant yesterday for the first time.
Exploring the entire site thoroughly would take a few days. Packard has declined rapidly since 2005 and the recent fire did not help. At this rate of devastation, preservation now seems be out of the question. The structural damage is too severe.
W. Roland Hamilton
[...] firefighters saw us at the abandoned Packard Plant and this fireman came in to see if we were okay and warn us of the dangers. He was a really caring [...]
According to (*1) ATSDR reports on contamination levels at the Packard Plant, the site is a hazard to explore without protective gear. The firefighters concern was well founded.
(*1) ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/pha/packard/pac_toc.html
[...] structures that have been neglected and are monuments to blight, including buildings like the old Packard Plant and the Michigan Central Depot. What do you do with places like [...]
Economic sustainability relies on diverse revenue streams to support a local economy. Helping people is not the mandate for economic development, it is a social responsibility which is usually the governments realm of responsibility. Some government initiatives try to address social and economic problems using business models and that’s where they run into problems. Governments are not a business and their revenue is generated primarily through taxes paid by people that are working in stable economies. Jobs and infrastructure development is key to attracting large populations to a city.
As a critical mass of people congregate, a standard of living must be established for an area to be desirable. Eminent domain has been seen as a negative influence on local communities because of it’s past implementation regarding highway development. Building highways through neighbourhood’s artificially devalued properties and facilitated the flow of capital from a neighbourhood. The Robert Moses plan for urban development favouring cars over people and public transit has failed consistently in many part of the US. Government incentives can spur development, however the private sector and citizens participation is essential.
An example of urban revitalization would be several successful projects in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto’s Distillery District was formerly knows as the Gooderham and Worts Distillery. This site is the oldest and largest Victorian industrial site in North America The area was vacant until plans for an artistic and commercial development within the former industrial site was proposed. Many of the historic buildings were preserved. Currently it is a sustainable business area that has attracted condominium developers and retailers thus changing the neighbourhood in a positive way. Another example would be Toronto’s Entertainment District, which used to be a collection of abandoned/derelict warehouses in the 1980’s. Once nightclubs established permits from the city, developers started renovating and restoring the old warehouses for commercial use. One example of a former industrial building adapted for modern use is the former Macdonald Manufacturing Company (tin ware lithographers) built in 1899. Zeidler Partnership Architects redesigned this site at 401 Richmond Street and is now home to a vibrant artistic and cultural community. This became a model for preservation and sustainable economic development working together. This provides the city with latitude to sponsor development plans such as the Portland’s Revitalization Project. Toronto city council also forms partnerships with business and corporations to realize such developments. Tax credits also help with development initiatives for preservation of historic site. Examples listed above show that the turning around of a given area could happen in as little as 10 years providing there is political will to do so.
References
Silentbuildings.com
Distillery District
http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/frameset.html
Toronto’s entertainment district
http://www.torontoed.com/
401 Richmond
http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/culture/doorsopen2009.nsf/BuildingsAll/4E2A125961A4E896852575A8005F1573?OpenDocument
http://www.401richmond.net/
Zeidler Partnership Architects
http://www.zgpa.net/
City of Toronto Investment Incentives
http://www.toronto.ca/invest-in-toronto/index.htm
Hi again W.R.
What on earth is the boat doing in there (pic #16)? It looks so lost and folorn!
Is this plant close to the Lake?
Bruce
When Packard went out of business, some parts of the site were used as a storage facility. Someone forgot to pick up their boat. The closet body of water near here would be Belle Isle.