The Detroit Times

An indepth report on, umm, a statue on Temple Street

2012-02-08T03:47:00.001-05:00

A thought struck me the other day. My career may have taken me out to the suburbs, but that's no reason that this fine publication or its audience should suffer. So after quickly - and needlessly, I'm sure - apologizing for my absence these last few months, I'll resume my exercise of lowering journalistic standards more than I already have. How? Check out the Times' newest feature,

Dining in the D: Shepherd's Pie at the Grand Trunk Pub

2011-09-07T12:55:00.001-04:00

The Grand Trunk Pub might be more known for its huge selection of brews, but there's one menu item you've got to try the next time you're down on Woodward at lunch time. We never pass up the chance to indulge in a bowl of the Trunk's Shepherd's Pie, a heaping helping of mashed potatoes, corn and seasoned beef topped with a thin layer of cheese. It's good eatin'. Click on Detroit Food to see

Tommy's Detroit Bar & Grill attracting attention in quiet corner of Detroit

2011-08-31T15:33:00.000-04:00

Rule No. 1 in attracting customers: make sure they know you're there. Tommy's Detroit Bar & Grill, tucked in a low-traffic corner of downtown Detroit that sees little action when the Red Wings aren't in-season, is turning to the basics as it tries to gain traction in the space long occupied by Mac's on Third. Leading the changes are the additions of a black and orange awning and building

Detroit adds bike lanes on Michigan Ave in Corktown

2011-08-18T11:36:00.001-04:00

Peddling through Corktown the other day, I was pleasantly surprised to see that one recently announced plan in Detroit was actually finding its way beyond the drawing board. The addition of designated bike lanes to certain streets downtown – a plan announced sometime last year – is already becoming a reality, led by lanes on both sides of Michigan Avenue on the western edge of Corktown. (I was

Dining in the D: Sliders at the Big City Grill

2011-08-17T11:15:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, "sliders" were those occasionally edible mini-burgers from White Castle. Times change. Swing through the Big City Grill in downtown Detroit sometime and order up a three-sandwich platter of the Angus Sliders. I wouldn't even put them in the same food group as the White Castle version. Oddly, I'm no fan of onions and these babies are loaded with 'em, but they're so sweet I don't

Lafayette Greens taking shape in downtown Detroit

2011-08-11T15:14:00.001-04:00

I have no idea what you expected when news broke of Compuware's plans to develop the site of the old Lafayette Building into an urban garden. Heck, I'm not sure what I expected. But it wasn't this. As plans become reality, the Lafayette Greens development is blossoming into an impressive site that far exceeds the rows of cabbage and corn that may have popped to mind with initial word of the

The Heidelberg Project Light: Unusual street decor in downtown Detroit

2011-08-04T17:04:00.001-04:00

I don't think they're authentic Chuckie T's, but they are Pure Detroit. The fact that these black canvas sneaks have been dangling from a light post at the corner of Second and Lafayette for weeks – maybe even months – presents some pretty interesting questions, and perhaps a few ideas as to how city officials might approach future streetscaping projects. Our first thought goes across town to

Albom's 'Have A Little Faith' films at I Am My Brother's Keeper Ministries in Detroit

2011-06-29T16:32:00.001-04:00

Follow along closely, this could get a little confusing. There was a church with a hole in the roof. Then a writer wrote a book in part about that hole, and the book raised money to help repair the roof. Then the book sold so well they decided to make a movie of the story. Last week they filmed it, returning to the actual church for taping. Except the hole had been fixed by then, so to film

Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans adds Dime Building to downtown Detroit collection

2011-06-22T12:49:00.000-04:00

The Dime Building lobby If this were a game of Monopoly, Dan Gilbert just added another color to his set of property cards when he reportedly snatched up the Dime Building earlier this week. Just to be clear, this is no 'Baltic Avenue' purchase. The Dime has got to be considered one of those orange properties. Maybe even a red. The Dime Building now joins the Chase Tower, the Madison Theater

Enjoy a sip of Michigan-made rum at the Park Bar in Detroit

2011-06-20T17:38:00.000-04:00

In a day when "Buy Michigan" is our best defense against a crappy economy, the good citizen in us all should swing by the Park Bar in downtown Detroit and drink a little rum. While much has been written about the quality and quantity of Michigan's homegrown beer assortment, our state's spirit-making skills are less publicized. It turns out though, that the Park Bar - one of our favorite

Mitch Albom's "Ernie" is a fascinating trip down memory lane for Tigers fans

2011-06-17T09:30:00.000-04:00

Turns out there was a lot we didn't know about the man whose voice we all knew. Ernie Harwell was one of those rare public figures in Detroit that nobody dared to dislike. How could you? No doubt that's at least partly why "Ernie" – the play about the legendary broadcaster written by Mitch Albom – has been so strongly received in its short time at the City Theater in downtown Detroit. Everybody

Tommy's Detroit Bar & Grill settles in to Mac's old space

2011-06-09T16:32:00.000-04:00

In a quiet little corner of downtown Detroit, removed from the foot traffic of people hurrying through Foxtown, Greektown or Campus Martius, a little bar sits behind the towering, ancient Fort Street Presbyterian Church. For years, you've known that little bar as Mac's On Third, assuming you knew the place at all. But Mac's is gone. Meet Tommy. Bringing the best of the old Beaubien Street

Urban garden slated to fill space where Lafayette Building once stood

2011-06-07T14:26:00.001-04:00

You might recognize the aging red-brick wall in this photo as the side of the old Arcade Bar. Then again, you might not, since for years this wall was hidden by the once-hulking Lafayette Building. In any event, when the Lafayette was brought down last summer, word on the street was that a park was in the plans. And, if spreading grass seed constitutes building a park, the word on the street was

Graffiti alive and well at Detroit's Metropolitan Building

2011-05-26T15:40:00.000-04:00

Painting of this extent doesn't happen overnight. But over three-plus decades, the possibilities are endless. The Metropolitan Building in downtown Detroit, the one-time hub of the city's jewelry retailers, has stood empty on John R just south of Grand Circus Park since the late 1970s. Since then, nearly every window in the 15-story building has served as the canvas for an especially

Sign of the Times: Another building billboard pops up in Detroit

2011-05-24T10:11:00.000-04:00

From the mural that adorns the Cadillac Tower and stands over Campus Martius Park, to the Broderick Tower billboard that hawks cellphones to folks at Comerica Park, building-side billboards seem to be a growing trend in downtown Detroit. Before you go popping off with a real clever "At least they're using that building for something!" comment, our latest sighting graces the side of 1001 Woodward

Historic Fort Wayne: another forgotten Detroit landmark

2011-05-19T16:00:00.001-04:00

Shackled by the misfortune of sharing a neighborhood with one of the more neglected corners of Detroit, Historic Fort Wayne is a marvel, if only for the fact that it still stands. Surely, anyone who's had the pleasure of taking a recent sight-seeing tour through Delray to witness the high weeds and broken bricks up close will vouch. But yet there it is, Historic Fort Wayne, sprawling like a

Reflections of Detroit: Feature Photo

2011-05-11T15:48:00.000-04:00

Down on Woodward between Campus Martius and Hart Plaza, there's a big, brown-glass building. Not sure what's in there, and didn't have time to research it. But it gives off a cool reflection of the buildings across the street.

Getting up close with the Marathon Oil Refinery's Pistons tribute

2011-05-04T11:07:00.001-04:00

Every now and then we let our "reporting" wander out of downtown Detroit. Sometimes, even outside the city. This Pistons' tribute at the Marathon Oil Refinery actually sits in Melvindale just outside the city boundaries, but it's still one of the coolest Detroit sports tributes around town. Marathon turned this huge sludge vessel (that's really what is stored in there) into a Pistons homage

Class Dismissed! Old Cass Tech High School meets the wrecking ball

2011-04-18T12:48:00.001-04:00

Following in the footsteps of so many iconic Detroit buildings, demolition of the Old Cass Tech High School is in full swing. Walls of the graffiti-covered, broken-windowed hulk of a building on the north side of I-75 at Cass Avenue remain, but if you want to get one last look, you best get downtown by mid-summer. No one's ever accused us at The Times of snubbing Detroit's great, historic

Holiday Inn Express & Suites returning to downtown Detroit

2011-04-07T10:27:00.001-04:00

Just call it the Holiday Inn-And-Out-And-Back-Inn. It was just in January when we reported that the Holiday Inn Express & Suites signage was removed from the facade of the building on Washington and Michigan avenues in downtown Detroit. Now, just a few months later, new temporary Holiday Inn Express & Suites signage hangs from the hotel's awning, which prompted our news hounds to wander in and

Clooney film 'Ides of March' works its magic in Detroit's Capitol Park

2011-04-06T16:59:00.001-04:00

Not long ago, crews filming 'Transformers 3' set up shop in Capitol Park in downtown Detroit. The brief resurrection of the Farwell Building was something to see. Before that, the remake of 'Red Dawn' filmed just down the street, while Faye Dunaway's 'Master Class' was a few blocks away in Grand Circus Park. So when George Clooney and crew were in town last week filming scenes for 'Ides of

Mysterious red-brick cat finds a home near old Tiger Stadium

2011-04-01T15:03:00.001-04:00

What do you think, is this a salute to the baseball stadium that once stood across the freeway? A crosstown homage to Bricktown? Who knows what it is? I've got no info on this cool brick sculpture I spotted across the freeway from the old Tiger Stadium, but it definitely seemed worth posting. Just a few feet off the I-75 southbound service drive, not far from Trumbull, somebody used a pile of

Quicken Loans considers purchasing Chase Tower in downtown Detroit

2011-03-24T11:12:00.001-04:00

Quicken Loans already made a big splash downtown Detroit when it moved a majority of its workers from the suburbs and into the Compuware Building last year. Then, Dan Gilbert and company made more news earlier this year when they announced they'd be refurbishing the old Madison Theater Building near Grand Circus Park and moving workers in there. Now, Quicken is reportedly considering buying the

Mitch Albom's 'Ernie' coming to Detroit's City Theatre this spring

2011-03-10T10:42:00.002-05:00

Baseball is in the air in Detroit as Opening Day draws near, and while we're not sure who's going to be playing second base for the Tigers, fans are excited about what will be playing across the street. "Ernie", a play written by Mitch Albom about longtime Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, will take the stage at the City Theatre in the rear of the Hockeytown Cafe building for a run that begins

George Clooney brings 'Ides of March' production to downtown Detroit

2011-03-09T12:56:00.001-05:00

Getting in just under the wire before what we'll call the Snyder Film Industry Dis-Incentives kick in, George Clooney and company are in town this week filming "Ides of March", a political drama starring Clooney, Marisa Tomei and Ryan Gosling. Clooney is also directing the picture, and the production crews took over Park Avenue just north of Grand Circus Park Tuesday to film some scenes inside