Good samaritans everywhere,

We became outlaws today when we took on urban exploring. We’ve been jonesing to check out the multitude of abandoned buildings, but for safety, waited to do it with a guide (totally Ryan’s idea; what a boy scout).

If we learned one thing, though, it’s that you don’t need a guide; you just need common sense and a friend (knew it).

Our Guide!

“So what do you guys want to see?”

We picked up our guide at a Starbucks and from there she directed us to five buildings around town.

She took us to a church at first (her first time going), but we were refused entrance by a work crew. She was skeptical, saying that the bad condition of their truck made them look like scrappers; but we left like we were told.

As we pulled away she was kind enough to share her real opinions: “scrappers have decimated the buildings in this city…once scrappers get in it’s really the death of the building.”

She then took us to Fisher Body Plant 21 (her favorite spot) where the Fisher Automotive Company used to manufacture parts for many different makes of cars.

Fisher Body is one of many. According to our guide “of 280,000 structures in Detroit, 80,000 are abandoned.” A.J. O’Neil claims that 40,000 are abandoned, which we confirmed with research.

Here’s one bit of info corroborated by other sources: “most of the buildings in Detroit have been purchased,” abandoned or not. Dan Gilbert and people like him sit on the investment until they know what to do with it, or they wait till the market value increases and sell.

Neither of those is likely for this building. The best it can hope for is a goodnight kiss from a wrecking ball.

A section of the second level floor had given way. Our guided commented “I’m thinking this is due to scrapping…some scrappers die because they’re stripping low weight-bearing walls.”

She also attributed the damage from a fire to scrappers: “they set fire to rebar to extract the metal”, one of many “low-hanging fruit” they go for, in addition to metal window-frames and banisters.

We also saw a great deal of graffiti and street art walking through. “Graffiti is like peanut butter and jelly: graffiti and abandoned buildings” — they go together so well.

What doesn’t seem to fit is the number of people interested in coming to this building. They come for different reasons: curiosity, photography, history, model shoots, filming — she’s seen a christian rock video crew as well as several big budget films. In fact the Transformers crew installed banisters up to the sixth (and top) floor.

“This wedding dress has been here for a long time, probably from a model shoot.”

“Class, today we’ll learn about breaking and entering”

We then took a gander at a school. We had to rethink our means of entry when we ran into a construction crew. But we got in and here’s what we saw:

Our guide said that she usually steered clear of schools after getting a $225 ticket. “Detroit had 300 schools, but now there are only 100. That just goes to show how many abandoned schools there are.” She also said that these schools are the most protected of the abandoned buildings: “The Detroit Public Schools have their own police…when the cops stopped us they said “we don’t care if you explore, just stay away from the schools.” According to her, the city plans to sell a lot of them — which is why she now only goes into long-abandoned schools.

Take me to church

After that we explored King Solomon Baptist Church, originally a white church during segregation era.

Instagram usernames

The good, the bad, the fallen

Third we checked out the Eastown Theatre that was basically in ruins: “2-3 years ago we got the most snow in 30 years. So the roof just collapsed.”

Box Office at the front of the theatre

It was breathtaking and heartbreaking all at once. During it’s heyday it must have seated over 2,000 people.

Finally we checked out another church, the first building we had to climb a window to access. We could tell immediately that work was being done on it from the scaffolding and tools lying around.

We were unaware we had company, though, until a worker poked his head through a doorway and asked us what we were doing there. We learned from him that the owners planned to hold a church service there this coming Sunday. And while the church isn’t necessarily in grand-opening shape, it’s admirable to hear they want to hit the ground running.

The running theme in all of these buildings was the sense of lost community and vitality. We walked through giant structures that at one time accommodated thousands of people. That’s powerful; but years ago they were reduced to filth and abandonment.

And yet we were turned away twice because people are restoring these buildings. Obviously they see potential here, and think it worthwhile to get them up and running again.

On that note, we’re running out of time. We are becoming very aware of how much we have not gotten to see. Truth be told, we have exhaustedly turned over every rock that tickled our fancy; but there’s a lot to see and a lot to consider.

But consider yourself loved, Detroit. We have been quite affected during our time here. We won’t forget it.

Much love,

R&R