The Park Avenue Hotel was a hotel in the

Cass Corridor The Cass Corridor is the name of the neighborhoods on the west end of Midtown Detroit. It includes the Cass Park Historic District, the Cass-Davenport Historic District and Old Chinatown. The corridor's main street, Cass Avenue, runs parallel wit ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. 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 2006. It was also known as Salvation Army Harbor Light Center and is not to be confused with Park Avenue House, also once known as Park Avenue Hotel. The building was imploded on July 11, 2015.

History

The Park Avenue was one of three former hotels located on Park Avenue and designed by

Louis Kamper Louis Kamper (March 11, 1861 – February 24, 1953)Louis Kampeat Find-A-Grave Retrieved on July 8, 2009 was an American architect, active in and around Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, in the United States. Project range In the early 20th ...

Eric J. Hill, John Gallagher, American Institute of Architects Detroit Chapter
''AIA Detroit'', Wayne State University Press, 2002, , , p. 60 for Lew Tuller;Royal Palm Hotel
from the state of Michigan the other two are the Eddystone at 100 Sproat St. (across Sproat from the Park Avenue Hotel) and the

Royal Palm ''Roystonea regia'', commonly known as the Cuban royal palm or Florida royal palm, is a species of palm that is native to Mexico, parts of Central America and the Caribbean, and southern Florida. A large and attractive palm, it has been planted ...

at 2305 Park Avenue which now operates as the Park Avenue House. All three were on the

, and the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

designated the property a municipal historic district in 2006. The Park Avenue Hotel was constructed in 1924, and contained 252 rooms. However, Tuller apparently overextended himself financially constructing hotels, and in 1928 lost all three hotels along Park Avenue. The Park Avenue Hotel continued to operate as a residential hotel until 1957 when it was purchased by the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

and converted into a home for the aged. However, the surrounding neighborhood steadily declined, and by the 1980s, the Salvation Army was using the hotel as their Harbor Light Center homeless shelter.Robert Snell and Kim Kozlowski
"Salvation Army feels pinch," ''The Detroit News,'' December 29, 2007 Operations were moved in 2007, and the Salvation Army planned to sell the building to a developer. However, those plans fell through. The building was acquired by the development arm of

Olympia Entertainment Olympia Entertainment is an American sports and entertainment company headquartered in the Fox Theatre in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. Olympia is a division of Ilitch Holdings, and owned by Marian Ilitch. It owns or manages the Detroit Red Wings, ...

and the Detroit Historic District Commission approved its demolition to make room for the loading dock for

Little Caesars Arena Little Caesars Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Midtown Detroit. Opened on September 5, 2017, the arena, which cost $862.9 million to construct, replaced Joe Louis Arena and The Palace of Auburn Hills as the home of the Detroit Red Wings of th ...

, home of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

and

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. It was imploded by

Adamo Demolition Adamo Demolition (Adamo Group) is a Detroit-based asbestos remediation and demolition company founded in 1964 that specializes in industrial projects. Works They have demolished many well-known, major structures such as: Georgia Dome, Park A ...

on July 11, 2015.

Description

The Park Avenue Hotel was a rectangular, thirteen story

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

steel frame structure, clad with brick, limestone, and terra cotta. Smooth limestone covered the first three floors, forming a base, and buff-colored brick with limestone quoins were used above. There were decorative terra cotta window treatments on the 4th, 12th, and 13th floors, and a decorative terra cotta cornice topped the structure. The main facade exhibited a vast array of windows. The first floor contained the main entrance and storefront windows.

External links

Park Avenue Hotel Implosion - July 11 2015 - Captured by Drone

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Buildings and structures demolished in 2015 Demolished buildings and structures in Detroit Buildings and structures demolished by controlled implosion Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Hotel buildings completed in 1924 National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Renaissance Revival architecture in Michigan Salvation Army buildings 1924 establishments in Michigan 2015 disestablishments in Michigan Louis Kamper buildings Former skyscrapers Defunct hotels in the United States

History

Description

See also

External links

References