Macabees Building
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The Maccabees Building (sometimes called Wayne Tower) is a historic building located at 5057
Woodward Avenue A woodward is a Game warden, warden of a wood. Woodward may also refer to: Places ;United States * Woodward, Iowa * Woodward, Oklahoma * Woodward, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place * Woodward Avenue, a street in Tallahassee, Florida, which b ...
in
Midtown Detroit Midtown Detroit is a mixed-use area consisting of a business district, cultural center, a major research university, and several residential neighborhoods; it is located along the east and west side of Woodward Avenue, north of Downtown Detroit, ...
, Michigan. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1983, and is currently owned by
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
.


Description

The building consists of a five-story base which covers the entire site. The nine-story spine sits above this rising to a height of with ten-story wings buttressing each corner. The building's exterior resembles the letter "H" with this clearly evident on the fourth through tenth story floorplans. The high-rise truss tower features
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
and Romanesque details which include large arched windows on the ground and second level with rose windows accenting the second floor. Windows on the tenth and fourteenth floor are arched with decorative spandrel panels. The exterior is faced with limestone. The entrance is recessed in a three-story barrel vault arch which continues into the building to form the lobby ceiling. The central section is topped by a radio broadcast tower. This served as the broadcast tower for WXYZ radio (both WXYZ-AM and WXYZ-FM ow WRIF">WRIF.html" ;"title="ow WRIF">ow WRIF, and WXYZ-TV">television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, until the station moved to new facilities in 1959. WGPR radio now occupies transmission facilities on the tower, along with some data transmission equipment for Wayne State University. The height above ground to the tip of the antenna is .


History

Construction on the building began in 1926, and completed in 1927. The building was constructed for the fraternal organization
Knights of the Maccabees Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal organization formed in 1878 in London, Ontario, Canada. Most active in the U.S. state of Michigan, the group's fraternal aspects took a backseat to providing low-cost insurance to members. In the societ ...
which later established the
Royal Maccabees Insurance Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal organization formed in 1878 in London, Ontario, Canada. Most active in the U.S. state of Michigan, the group's fraternal aspects took a backseat to providing low-cost insurance to members. In the societ ...
Company. Surplus space in the building was leased to other businesses, including retail business on the ground floor and office space in the upper floors. One noteworthy tenant was Detroit's radio and television station WXYZ which had its offices and later television studios and broadcast facilities in the Maccabees Building prior to 1959. During that period, the popular radio programs ''
The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...
'', ''
Challenge of the Yukon ''Challenge of the Yukon'' is an American radio adventure series that began on Detroit's WXYZ and is an example of a Northern genre story. The series was first heard on January 3, 1939. The title changed from ''Challenge of the Yukon'' to ''Se ...
'' and ''
The Green Hornet The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media ...
'' were broadcast from the Maccabees Building radio facilities to listeners throughout North America. From 1959 until 2001, the studios, transmitter, and broadcast tower were used by
WDET-FM WDET-FM (101.9 MHz) is a public radio station in Detroit, Michigan. Broadcasting from Wayne State University in the city's Cass Corridor neighborhood, about a mile south of the New Center neighborhood, WDET broadcasts original programming and ...
. During the 1950s,
Soupy Sales Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television serie ...
performed in the lower level studio. In 1960, the Maccabees Insurance Company relocated its headquarters to a new building in the northern suburb of Southfield. In 1986, it built new office building, once again in Southfield. These newer structures are also sometimes referred to as the ''Maccabees Building''. When the Maccabees organization vacated the building in 1960, the
Detroit Public School System Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detr ...
(DPS) purchased it for a headquarters. From 1960 to 2002, it served as the headquarters of Detroit Public Schools. It officially became the ''School Center Building'' but the Maccabees name remained visible on the exterior. The Maccabees Building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1983. In 2002, DPS paid the owner of the
Fisher Building The Fisher Building is a landmark skyscraper located at 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit, Michigan. The ornate 30-story building, completed in 1928, is one of the major works of architect Albert Kahn, an ...
$24.1 million to purchase five floors to house administrative offices, citing the high cost of renovations needed at the Maccabees Building to comply with building and safety codes. That same year,
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
purchased the Maccabees Building for additional space. The building houses administrative offices, communication equipment, retail space, and offices for a number of the university's academic departments as part of Wayne State's campus. After acquisition, initial reviews of the structure estimated that façade repairs would cost $1.95 million; upgrades to the fire alarm and emergency lighting systems, $960,000; repairs to utility shaft and exit stairways, $405,000; and elevator upgrades, $770,000. The entire structure was renovated in 2004 and 2005 with second, third and fourteenth floors equipped to house the
Wayne State University Computer Science Department Wayne State University Department of Computer Science is part of the College of Engineering. The department offers core academic strength in many areas including artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, data mining and machine learning, network ...
. On March 25, 2011, Wayne State University and
Detroit Public Television WTVS (channel 56) is a PBS member television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. Its main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios in Wixom, with an addit ...
announced they would jointly operate a television production studio in the space previously occupied by WXYZ-TV. The studio would reunite the entities who co-produced programs through the late 1970s. The space will be upgraded in phases to install new equipment and provide internships for students in the university's media arts programs.


See also

* The use of grey stone and the architecture partially inspired the appearance of the
Unity Tower Unity Tower, formerly known as the Skeletor ( pl, ) is a 102.5 metre high-rise building located in Kraków, Poland. Unity Tower is located near the Mogilskie Roundabout (''Rondo Mogilskie'') and Cracow University of Economics. It is the tall ...
. * *


References


External links


Google Maps location of the Maccabees Building
* {{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Skyscraper office buildings in Detroit Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Wayne State University Office buildings completed in 1927 Insurance company headquarters in the United States Art Deco architecture in Michigan 1927 establishments in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Woodward Avenue Albert Kahn (architect) buildings Knights of the Maccabees Detroit Public Schools Community District