With an estimated 100,000 out-of-towners in the city and viewers in 200 countries, more eyes were on Detroit Sunday than any day in its history. Detroit, a symbol of American industrial strength and a symbol of urban decay, has an inferiority complex. Since the NFL awarded Detroit the game in late 2000, the city was preoccupied with getting itself an image make-over prior to the influx of out of town visitors.
City officials and Super Bowl planners did their best to provide a favorable impression of the Motor City. Their solution: Extreme makeover! A plan was formulated to remove eyesores and symbols of a downtown abandoned. In other words, fake a lively downtown. Preparations for the Super Bowl ranged from knocking down multi-story skyscrapers to propping others up visually with new facades and fake storefronts, from paving roads and landscaping boulevards to adding kiosks to help tourists navigate downtown. Some derelict buildings were carefully shielded from view by huge canvas tarps.
Unfortunately, some significant structures were taken down. The Madison-Lenox Hotel located a block and a half from Ford Field was demolished in 2005 to make way for a parking garage despite the best efforts of preservationists. Also demolished was Detroitis Statler Hotel, a 1,000 room behemoth opened in 1915. Most startling was the destruction of the Donovan and Sanders Buildings, former headquarters of Motown Records. What was once destined to become a museum was knocked down in December so it could be used for a parking lot during the game. No wonder the National Trust for Historic Preservation has downtown Detroit on its endangered list.
Like Buffalo, a tremendous amount of development has taken place during the last few years in Detroit. Lofts are going up downtown and young suburban professionals are heading back into the city. There have been 140 construction projects, 7,000 new homes and 35 new downtown restaurants opened in the last three years. Unfortunately, planning decisions surrounding the Super Bowl have placed short-term gain over long-term planning. Historic architecture was lost for revelers who stayed an average of four days. One commenter on the Discuss Detroit blog summed up the loss of the Motown Records building this way:
I find this demolition even more senseless than that of the Madison-Lenox in that neither of these were in danger of collapse, and the excuse that it was needed for parking is just ridiculous when you consider the COUNTLESS empty lots just north and west of this complex.
God forbid someone has to walk past two vacant buildings on their way to Ford Field, huh? The area is going to look completely naked, now, and EVERYONE will notice.
If the SuperBowl ever comes calling in Buffalo, donit answer.