The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-03-28
BEAUTY BOARD HAS
.s4,000,000PR0JEcT
Wants Council To Purchase Block
in Heart of City as Site for
Public Buildings. 4

the city plan and Improvement com
mission to date Is the submission OF
the report which goes to the council
next week in which the commission ad'
vises that Detroit. In line with other
large cities, adopt a civic center and
begin the process Of grouping the pub
lie buildings.
AS an initial step. the commission
would have the city acquire the city
block bounded by Cadillac-sq.. Ran
dolph, Farmer and Bates-sts., and
erect thereon q new building for the
municipal courts and police head
quarters.
The cost of this project would be,
1t is roughly estimated by other city
officials, In the nefghborhood OF 3d..
100000 to S4,000.000.
When there was talk of cutting a
slice off Cadjllac-sq., some years ago
TO permit a view Of the county build
ing from the Campus, the cost OF this
small piece of land was estimated at
not less than $238, 900. This Is but q
fraction of the block proposed to be
taken and In the intervening years,
the Burns hotel has been erected In
this block and other buildings cover.
ing II have been greatly improved.
The suggestion of the city plan and
Improvement commission, made
through Secretary Frank G. Baldwin,
comes as a result OF a request by the
common council for an opinion as to
the advisability of purchasing all or
| part of the city block bounded by St
Antoine, Beaubien, Macomb and Gin
ton-sts.. for the purposes Of erecting
| q new court building and police head
| quarters there. This plan Is disap-
proved Of
In it's report the commission calls
attention to the immense sums being
spent by other cities such as Chicago
| Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia
Baltimore, Minneapolis and Washing
ton to improve their arrangement and
street plans, and to group their pub
lie buildings and enlarge their park
systems. Cleveland has condemned
a tract several city blocks In area,
and is grouping it's postoffice, city
hall, county building, public library
and central railroad station at cost
which runs into more than score OF
millions. Boston Is spending $S3.000,-
900. in one plan of city Improvement,
while Philadelphia, Washington and
Chicago are out-doing even the two
cities first mentioned.
Almost every city in the country
Is now engaged In securing the order
ly and convenient arrangement OF Its
public buildings" says the report.
These cities realize that the remark
able increase in their population calls
for new and improved means OF COM
munication within the business dis
trict and the convenient grouping OF
their public buildings, to which great
numbers of their citizens are called
in their daily business.
Detroit Is now confronted with a
| rapid increase in it's public and semi
public structures. A new public
| library, new art museum, new
union railway station, new quarters
for It's police department and its
municipal courts are among the build.
ings which must be provided for.
"Wnen this city was laid out after
the fire of 1905, the new plan provid-
ed sites for public buildings, a multi
tu5e of small parks within the city,
broad streets diverging from common
centers; in a word, for 4 harmonious.
coherent and well-arranged city.
Through carelessness and indiffer
ence, these plans suffered mutiliation
and when additions were made, the
new subdivisions were plated with
little or no reference to the older city.
No provision was made to secure
those small parks and open spaces
which were features OF the original
plan; and at the same time, many of
the existing small parks were sacri-
feed to public buildings like the pres.
ent library and the police headquar-
ters.
"If this city is to keep pace with
the other cities of this country; II
provision Is to be made for the con-
venience of the rapidly increasing
population; II congestion is to be
,minimized, the people of Detroit must
take the opportunity presented by the
new public buildings now In contem.
plation to restore the old woodward
plan and to extend the benefits oil
that plan to future additions.
THE unfortunate placing Of the
county building has created a. spirit
of disorder so confusing as to be rec
ognized by all citizens. The blunder
cannot be wholly repaired; but re-
adjustment OF the streets and build
ings about the county building may
be brought about in such a manner
as to minimize the errors of past
years Therefore. such an opportun
ity as now exists In the necessity OF
securing a new site for the police
headquarters should be utilized tt
start that reformation which shall
make Cadillac-sq.. the civic center Of
Detroit
1.-The final solution of the problem
has not as yet been worked out but
undoubtedly the first step lies in the
acquisition of the block bounded by
Cadillacsq.. Randolph, Farmer and
Bates-sts., the extension o. Fort-st
westward and the location in a por
ton of the block of such a public
building as the proposed police head
| quarters.
while not altogether approving
| the plan prepared and put forward In
1905 for the Encouragement of Cadil
lac-sq., this commission submits that
the plan then proposed is an excel
| lent basis for future study. This
commission, therefore. recommends
that the common council give serious
consideration to the suggestion tc
acquire the above land abutting ON
Cadillac-sq.. In preference to the sug-
gestion to acquire the land bounded
by st. Antoine, Beaubien, Clinton
and Macomb-sts."
This project does not meet with q
cordial reception among the city Off