Super Bowl | Motown building razed, Motown acts to play

i don't see the problem in tearing down a vacant, abandoned building. it would be different if mo-town was still residing in the building and the company was forced out, but they fled years ago.

It's called preservation/heritage/an historical landmark...ever heard of it? Unfortunately, we live in a country populated by and run by fools that share your point of view.
"Yeah, fuck it. Let's just raze it, tear it all down. Let's build more parking lots or through up some pre-fab, some dryall and eradicate our past."
Who needs a cultural memory?
Right?
WTF

But who is to say what piece of history is preserved? If people take your mentality then everything will be preserved and we'll be doing nothing but living in our past. I agree that there should be some form of preservation, but we have to be realistic about it and realizing that it's natural for us to grow and change. From the looks of that picture anyway, the building looks a little structurely unsound.

i understand full well what it means to preserve certain things, but this was just AN OFFICE BUILDING. it may be slightly different if it was a performance hall or a venue where artists performed. but i mean, c'mon. it's not like they're tearing down radio city music hall.

yeah and if we want a good example of what can happen when we save a record label's offices for future use we end up with webster hall... yikes!

Football is so much better than music....

Webster Hall was once used for a record label's offices? Are you sure? Which one out of curiousity? As far as I know, it was the location of the old Ritz (before it moved to midtown).

"What makes it so bad isn’t just the loss of a building with history attached to it but also the fact that the history itself was literally still inside there being destroyed: “As the building was being torn down, papers blew out into the street. These documents included recording schedules for The Supremes and the Vandellas and business reports for Gladys Knight and the Pips. ” The truly sad thing is that people working on a Motown center for Barry Gordy were comfortable with this demolition taking place, reasoning that it would be good to help make way for the Superbowl. Why they didn’t think to preserve anything inside the building (ever hear of moving crates?) is going to be a sore subject for dispute."

from here: http://blogs.popmatters.com/crazedbythemusic/2006/01/25/detroit-eats-its-own-destroying-motown-artifacts/

of course after all this, I sit one floor above the motown offices. They aren't all that classy looking.

The problem is, people make a fuss AFTER this stuff is already in motion. That house was sitting there for years with no one caring that it was rotting away. Motown Records had long since moved out of Detroit. There are plenty of abandoned buildings in Detroit. Plenty of BEAUTIFUL abandoned buildings in Detroit. And if we really care about keeping these buildings for their historical value, then we should be doing something about it- not just whining when we read about these things in the NY Times. If these buldings were in NYC, they would have been turned into fabulous lofts by now. Detroit is just a totally different kind of place and you just can't understand that until you go there and see how things are.

gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo HAWKS!

give me a break, that building looks totally gross, who cares!

I think it's a terrible thing that Detroit tore down these historic buildings!!! That was part of Detroit history!!!Many famous artists came from this building. We're from northern Grand Rapids and were fortunate to be there as they were tearing the building down. We retrieved a number of bricks from this building for the historic value until we got caught. We have a few that we put on Ebay if anyone is interested.
It was sad to think that Detroit would not preserve their own history. I'm thankful we were there to get some of the history of this building as very few did! And when no one cares about the great artists info blowing in the wind as they tore this building down... I think that's terrible! I wish I could have stayed to collect more artifacts on this building and the contents as it is truly part of the cloth that weaves thru our great nation! I feel sorry for Detroit!

I think it's a terrible thing that Detroit tore down these historic buildings!!! That was part of Detroit history!!!Many famous artists came from this building. We're from northern Grand Rapids and were fortunate to be there as they were tearing the building down. We retrieved a number of bricks from this building for the historic value until we got caught. We have a few that we put on Ebay if anyone is interested.
It was sad to think that Detroit would not preserve their own history. I'm thankful we were there to get some of the history of this building as very few did! And when no one cares about the great artists info blowing in the wind as they tore this building down... I think that's terrible! I wish I could have stayed to collect more artifacts on this building and the contents as it is truly part of the cloth that weaves thru our great nation! I feel sorry for Detroit!

You have a very talented and skilled writting. I had a great time reading your comments. chair will chair unconditionally: http://www.moviemistakes.com/top.php right soldier will love circle without any questions, big is feature of big soldier

DETROIT IS THE ONLY CITY THAT JUST CAN'T SEEM TO LET GO!!TEAR TIGER STADIUM DOWN!!TEAR THE OLD CASS TECH DOWN!!TEAR ALL THESE SO CALLED HISTORICAL LANDMARKS DOWN AND MOVE ON!!!!!!

DETROIT IS THE ONLY CITY THAT JUST CAN'T SEEM TO LET GO!!TEAR TIGER STADIUM DOWN!!TEAR THE OLD CASS TECH DOWN!!TEAR ALL THESE SO CALLED HISTORICAL LANDMARKS DOWN AND MOVE ON!!!!!!

Would tearing down the Apollo Theatre in NYC or the Capitol Records building in LA be "LETTING GO" TOO??? This country is only a few centuries old for goodness sakes. Look at Europe that has historic buildings and structures standing for many centuries despite catastrophy, world wars, etc.

IT TRIPS ME OUT THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY THINK TIGER STADIUM WILL BE MORE THAN WHAT IT IS. THEIR TEARING IT DOWN IN JUNE AND I WILL BE SO GLAD!TIGER STADIUM WAS, IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE A PEICE OF CRAP. IT STANDS IN THE WAY OF WHAT DETROITERS SEEMS TO HAVE A HARD TIME DOING MOVING ON AND BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE.