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 The
David Broderick Tower is a vacant skyscraper in Detroit, Michigan. Construction
began in 1926, and was completed in 1928. The tower was the second tallest
building in Michigan when it was completed in 1928. It stands 35-stories tall,
with two basement floors. The building is designed with Neo-classical
architecture, Chicago school, and Beaux-Arts designs. Limestone is a prominent
material in the building's surface. It was designed by architects Louis Kamper
and Paul Kamper for Theodore Eaton. The tower is located at the Southeast corner
of Woodward Ave and Witherell St., facing Grand Circus Park, in downtown
Detroit, and stands across the street from the David Whitney Building, and
stands in the "Foxtown" neighbourhood of Detroit.
Recent plans to renovate the tower come from Motown Construction
Inc. The project will renovate the existing building into 127 rental apartments
on floors 5-34, with the lower 4 floors being upgraded for retail,
entertainment, and office uses. Completion is expected in 2008.
An ad for Jeep was placed on the building in July 2006, covering
up the Whaling Wall mural. The money generated from the ad will benefit the
restoration of the building. A Verizon ad was mounted in late 2006.
The memorable former humpback whale mural on the rear facade of
the building was painted by Metro-Detroit native eco-artist, Wyland and was
dedicated on October 13, 1997. The tower is not a square, but actually a
parallelogram in shape.
Before the decorative cornices were removed, this building was
371'-6" to the top of the parapet wall, and 376'-7" tall to the very tip of the
decorative cornice. This tower is topped by a Beaux Arts/Neo-classical inspired
crown. Once the planned restoration is complete, the tower will contain retail
and entertainment floors 1 through 4 (with a separate mezzanine above floor 1),
office space on floors 5 and 6, and residential space on the top floors 7
through 34.
The tower was originally constructed as the Eaton Tower, named
after Theodore Horation Eaton, Jr., an importer and dealer in chemicals and
dyes. The building changed ownership and names in 1945, when the tower was
purchased by David Broderick, a Detroit insurance broker, which he then renamed
after himself. After his purchase of the tower in 1945, David Broderick created
the Sky Top Club on the 33rd floor of the tower, which was a private club used
for entertaining Mr. Broderick's associates and guests. After David Broderick's
death in 1957, the tower changed hands many times between 1963 and 1976, finally
ending up in the hands of the Higgins family, which retains a stake in the
ownership to this day.
Source:
Wikipedia
Broderick
Tower
Wikipedia - David Broderick Tower
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