The Day in Detroit - Part I

My friend is taking a photography class and one of his assignments was an urban photo.  We thought that yesterday would be a fairly nice day, so I took the day off.  It wasn't as nice as we thought it would be but it wasn't too bad so we headed over.  The pictures are going to be broken up into three posts because I took a ton of them.  So here is part one.

 I'm pretty sure that this is a Greek Orthodox Church since it is located fairly close to Greektown.  This picture was taken from the top of the Greektown Casino Parking Garage.  The garage made a pretty good base of operations for this.

 Another picture of the Detroit skyline from the top of the Greektown Parking Garage.  Detroit may not have as many tall buildings as other cities, but it probably has one of the more unique skylines.  It's too bad that when people think of the Detroit skyline, they only think of the Renaissance Center.

 Greektown is one of the ethnic neighborhoods in Detroit.  It was originally settled by German immigrants in the 1830's.  In the early part of the 20th century, the German immigrants started to move out and the Greeks moved in to replace them.  In the 1920's, the area became more commercialized and the Greek Residents started to move out.  However, the Greeks wanted to maintain the cultural identity of the area and held a Greek festival in 1966.  This continued for years until the turnout was too large to support.  In 1982, the neighborhood was registered in the National Registry of Historic places.

There are a number of decent restaurants in the area.

 This is the Old Wayne County Building.  Construction on it was completed in 1902.  It is an example of the Roman-Baroque Building Style.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

 In 2007, the County started moving offices over to the Guardian Building, so it currently stands empty (like so many buildings in the City).  It's too bad that they can't find some sort of use for this building.  I would hate to see it turn out like so many other buildings in Detroit.

 Looking down the street towards the Renaissance Center.

 One of the details on the County Building.

 Another shot of the Ren Cen.

 I kind of liked this shot because it was a contrast of the old industrial with the more or less modern Ren Cen.

 So we headed closer to the Ren Cen.  This is a shot looking up from the Plaza.

 Since the Ren Cen is now the headquarters for General Motors, they have examples of GM products strewn about.  This is one of the Cadillac models (don't remember which one).

 The Cadillac Logo.

 Even though GM is headquartered here, the first couple of floors of the building are still occupied by stores and restaurants.  It is actually fairly impressive to walk around.  This is looking up at the main tower through one of the plazas.

 I think I like this one a little more.

 Looking up at the Ren Cen from near the Detroit River.

 The Amabassador Bridge.  After the Ren Cen, we took a quick walk down the Riverwalk.  Eventually, you will be able to get all the way from Chene Park to about the Ambassador Bridge on foot.  I think they currently have 3.5 miles of it set up.

 Just before you get into Hart Plaza, there is a Detroit Police Mini-Station.  They have several police cars there.  I believe this is a Ford Crown Victoria.  The Crown Victoria used to be built in St. Thomas, Canada.  I don't think they are being built anymore though.

An interesting tidbit about the Detroit Police, they were the first to mount radios in their police cars.  This enabled them to dispatch cars where needed.  This helped them control crime better.

 Another Detroit Police Car.  I believe this one is an Impala.

 Due to it's proximity to Canada, Detroit was one of the final points for the Underground Railroad.  This was a statue built in honor of it.  The man is pointing towards Canada which meant freedom for the escaped slaves.  Michigan was one of the first states to ban slaves.  I think it was also one of the first states to take steps towards making it illegal in the rest of the country.  In 1807, a Canadian demanded that two escaped slaves be returned to him and he was denied by Territorial Justice Augustus Woodward (who would play other roles in Detroit).

 Looking towards the Ren Cen from Hart Plaza.  The statue at the bottom is a statue of Antoine De La Mothe Cadillac who would be the first European to settle in the area that would later become known as Detroit. 

 A closeup of that Statue.

 The Horace Dodge Fountain.

 Another shot of the statue and Ren Cen.

 The building formerly known as Comerica Tower.  This used to be the headquarters for Comerica, but they moved the headquarters to Texas.

 Looking down one of the Streets (I forget which one).

 Looking up at Joe Louis' fist.  I wanted to get the buildings around it in the frame.  I think I did a pretty good job.

 This is probably one of Detroit's most famous symbols - The Spirit of Detroit statue.  It is a Marshall Frederick's statue.  I've talked about it several times on this blog.

 From another angle.

 A closeup of his face.

 And a Detroit Firetruck.