The Roberts Riverwalk Urban Resort Hotel, formerly the Parke-Davis Research Laboratory also once known as Building 55-Detroit Research,
from the state of Michigan is a luxury hotel on the

Detroit International Riverfront The Detroit International Riverfront is a tourist attraction and landmark of Detroit, Michigan, extending from the Ambassador Bridge in the west to Belle Isle in the east, for a total of 5.5 miles (8.8 kilometers). The International Riverfront en ...

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 t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. The former research facility was redeveloped as a boutique luxury hotel in the 1980s. The building was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1976 for its historic significance as an early research laboratory.Note: A National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination document should be available upon request from the National Park Service for this site, but it appears not to be available on-line from th
NPS Focus search site

History

Parke-Davis Parke-Davis is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Although Parke, Davis & Co. is no longer an independent corporation, it was once America's oldest and largest drug maker, and played an important role in medical history. In 1970 ...

moved its facilities to this location along the Detroit River in the 1870s to take advantage of the transportation provided by the river and nearby rail lines.Parke-Davis and Company Plant and Research Laboratory
from the National Park Service. The company eventually built 26 still-extant buildings in the area; the Parke-Davis campus as a whole, now known as Stroh

River Place The historic River Place (also known as Stroh River Place) is located in Detroit, Michigan, bounded by Joseph Campau Street, Joseph Campau Avenue, Wight Street, McDougall Street, and the Detroit International Riverfront. It was formerly the Parke ...

, is recognized 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 ...

. However, the most significant structure in the group, the Parke-Davis Research Laboratory, is individually recognized as a

. The Research Laboratory was built in 1902 after Parke-Davis relocated the

Detroit Boat Club The Detroit Boat Club was established in 1839, as a sport rowing club. It was first created on the Detroit River during a time in which Detroit was just starting to grow. The Detroit Boat Club is a member of the Detroit Regional Yacht-racing As ...

to Belle Isle. The Detroit architectural firm of Donaldson & Meier designed the original building; later additions were designed by Albert Kahn. The building is a three-story brick building measuring approximately , and is typical example of public architecture of the period.

Later history and current use

In 1979, Parke-Davis sold its Detroit complex, including the Research Laboratory, to the Stroh family (of Stroh Brewery Company). The complex's redevelopment into

included the conversion of the Research Laboratory to a hotel, known as the River Place Inn at its opening. Bruning Development Corp purchased the hotel from the Stroh family in 1993, and signed Grand Heritage Hotels to manage and brand the property. In 1998, the property was acquired by

Omni Hotels & Resorts Omni Hotels & Resorts is an American privately held, international luxury hotel company based in Dallas, Texas. The company was founded in 1958 as Dunfey Hotels, and operates 50 properties in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, totaling over ...

, and rebranded as the Omni Hotel Detroit at River Place. Omni closed the hotel in 2010, and it was acquired by St. Louis real estate developer Michael V. Roberts. The hotel underwent a $5 million renovation, which included the addition of a new conference center, and reopened in May 2011 as the Roberts Riverwalk Hotel. In 2002, National Park Service staff recommended withdrawal of the site's landmark status due to loss of the building's historic integrity during the conversion.Parke-Davis Research Laboratory
from the National Historic Landmarks Program

Significance

This building was the first industrial research laboratory in the U.S. established for the specific purpose of conducting pharmacological research, inaugurating the commercial pure science approach which has driven the rapid development of pharmaceutical technology.
from the state of Michigan Dept of History & Libraries

Gallery

File:Omni Hotel Detroit MI (Parke-Davis Research Lab).jpg, Rear of the Parke-Davis lab, now the entrance. File:Parke-Davis Research Laboratory Detroit MI 2.jpg, Door facing Detroit River.

References

External links

* *, covers a number of related buildings but apparently not this one, if it is correct that this one is Building 55. {{Industrial landmarks in metropolitan Detroit Hotels in Detroit National Historic Landmarks in Metro Detroit Industrial buildings completed in 1873 Industrial buildings completed in 1902 National Register of Historic Places in Detroit 1873 establishments in Michigan Pharmaceutical industry in the United States