Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration has changed its tone about the fate of the historic building that partially collapsed in Eastern Market on Saturday.
After ordering the owner to immediately raze the four-story Del Bene Building at 2501 Russell St. because it was “unsafe,” city officials now say they are willing to consider a plan to save the structure.
“We understand the significance of the building and have been in communication with the owner,” David Bell, director of the city’s Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department, tells Metro Times. “If he can present us with a viable plan to safely stabilize the building in order to preserve it, we will absolutely consider it. The owner also has the right to appeal BSEED’s decision through the department of administrative hearings.”
The owner Scot Turnbull appears to be planning to appeal the demolition order. He requested a meeting with the city’s Department of Administrative Hearings, which serves as a kind of appeals court for residents impacted by decisions made by city departments.
Shortly after 11:30 a.m. Saturday, portions of the building's wall on the third and fourth floors crumbled to the ground, injuring one person and damaging several vehicles.
Fearing that the building was a danger to the public, BSEED ordered an emergency demolition. But since then, preservationists and engineers have urged the city to reconsider, saying the building may be salvageable because it’s protected by a reinforced concrete frame.
The city has not performed a structural assessment of the building because no one is allowed to enter it for safety reasons. But the city may be able to use a drone to inspect the building, which was built in 1897.
In a letter to the mayor’s office earlier this week, Devan Anderson, president of Preservation Detroit, urged officials to show “restraint” and inspect the building more closely.
“The building and its reinforced concrete frame still appear to be in excellent structural condition,” Anderson wrote. He added, “This building is not in immediate danger of a catastrophic collapse — and any further danger to the public could be easily mitigated with no-parking signs and sidewalk closures. Or at most a road-closure and some temporary protective scaffolding.”
The city’s change of tone is a positive sign for preservations, who have long complained about Detroit’s history of allowing salvageable historic buildings to be demolished, including the Hotel Park Avenue, Tiger Stadium, Hudson’s building, Saturday Night building, Statler Hotel, Madison-Lenox Hotel, Deck Bar, and most recently, a key Asian-American landmark in the Cass Corridor.
If the structure is saved, businesses that are housed in the building will be relieved.
The building’s tenants are Jabs Gym, Brooklyn Outdoor, Detroit Vs. Everybody, Beyond Juicery and Eatery, and J’Adore Detroit.
Detroit Vs. Everybody, which stands to lose more than $150,000 in merchandise, launched a GoFundMe campaign to recover its losses. Jabs Gym also started a GoFundMe campaign.
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