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In 1920’s Detroit, it would have been truly unfathomable to think that in less than one hundred years the mighty Fisher Body 21 would be discarded like common trash. Deemed not worth saving, its’ historic contributions to Detroit and the world were not worth the efforts of preservation. For the time, it sits as a silent witness to the woes and strain of neglect. Most of the legendary system of old Detroit factories from the Fisher network are now dead or gone. Left behind are the remnants of a once vast global company whose influence changed the world. Now freeways, empty lots, and vacant industrial caverns stand in place of these once impressive symbols of innovation. A few lucky survivors still remain, adapting to new and harder times. Transformed into machine shops, and warehouse space, these solitary survivors continue to press the clock. Time, and fate was not so kind to one particular survivor. The iconic Fisher Body No. 21 was closed sometime in the mid 1990s. It stands today bearing testament to Detroit and its’ tradition of holding on to what is lost. The site of the old Fisher Body 21 assembly plant is the only barometer among the remaining Fisher plants that shows the true nature that is the beast of blight. Left open to scrapers, vandals and the elements, the site is slowly deteriorating year-to-year. To most observers, the desolate ruins are strictly off limits, but to others it is simply home.

		“Body By Fisher” was the name; it was also the identity of the Buick and Cadillac brands among many others including: Ford, Hudson, Packard, Chevy, E.M.F. and Studebaker. Back when you could have any color Model T, as long as it was black, Cadillac was turning out some of the flashiest and most modern of car designs. They owed that capability to the Fishers and their attention to detail. Quality craftsmanship and the ability to contract with more than one company allowed them to produce more than 370,000 automobiles a year, with 16 individual brands. With some 40 buildings in Michigan and Ohio, and ten here in Detroit alone, their fleet of assembly plants made Fisher bodies state of the art and in high demand. During both World Wars these factories helped produce planes and tanks for the military. The FB21factory was the American industrial heart and soul when it came to winning the allied war against Hitler. It’s not a far stretch of the imagination to believe FB21 may have been an axis target for bombings during this period. Stopping the production lines here would have turned the war in favor of the Nazi’s, and could have made it impossible for the United States to win WWII.

The Fisher Automotive Company was the hard work of Albert Fisher and his seven nephews. The Fisher brothers: Frederick, Charles, Lawrence, William, Edward, Alfred, and Howard, who all worked for the Fisher Company and helped maintain their dominance in the market for many years. Once an employee of the C.R. Wilson Carriage Company, Fred Fisher saw an opportunity to revolutionize the new emerging automobile industry. The old wooden carriages were not strong enough to withstand the vibrations or the strain of large combustion engines. Founded by Fred and Charles in 1908, the Fisher Body Company was born. By 1913 the company was a major supplier to the Detroit auto industry and in 1926 it was bought, then merged with General Motors. G.M. then controlled the majority stake in the Fisher Body Company solidifying the industrial union that stretched through out Michigan and Ohio. The slogan and logo “Body By Fisher” was one of the most recognizable ad campaigns of the day. World renowned artist and photographers often relied on using top movie actresses to model the luxury and comfort that became synonymous with the Fishers’ body designs.

		Its’ signature factory, Fisher Body No. 21 wasn’t built until 1919 when the demand for the Fisher bodies surpassed their means of supply. Now with this “supper factory” they would be able to manufacture millions of auto bodies in a year. It’s no wonder why this building became the icon of the industrial revolution. The Fisher company was first to implement air bags, dual wipers, and slanted windshields into their bodies. They also created the first “all weather design”. Their contributions were a huge step forward for the industry as a whole. As time passed the inevitable happened. The plant became obsolete as new factories and newer technologies took shape in the market. Today the fate of the factory is as shrouded and dark as the inside of the cold and depressed building itself. This six-story white giant looms steadfast over the I-94 and I-75 freeway interchange. Its roof awash in illegal paint from end to end… it’s a giant “Fuck you!” to the city’s redevelopment efforts and law enforcement. That said; FB21 is a nebulous of underground creativity and is one of the most interesting and tantalizing industrial buildings left standing.

When I first explored the premises in late fall of 1999, the Fisher looked much the same. Though it was already pretty cleaned out by then, it had yet to be pillaged the way it has been during the past decade. As a teenager, I first saw the Fisher standing lonely, isolated and cold as I drove past. It called to the part of me that longed for mysterious dark things. It was captivating, to the point where it started to dominate my thoughts. It became a festering antagonizing feeling. It was the very first building I ever explored, and it was the catalyst I needed to change my life. The Fisher is the nucleus of our culture, in essence a “true classic”. Dare I say, a “ruin among ruins” and legend in its own right. The fact is history oozes out of every pore of this building. It helped shape the face of the modern world and it was left to simply erode away before our eyes…a giant “Fuck you!” to the people of Detroit. Today photographers, painters, explorers, kids, and the criminally motivated exploit its’ vast hollowed shell. Raided for its infrastructures, its’ innards lie exposed. Scrappers have caused the most damage here, as like most vacant buildings in the city. Openly they scrap in broad daylight, systematically dismantling the structure day by day. Painters and neighborhood kids often come here, vandalizing it in their own disconnected ways, but never doing the harm that is inflicted by scrappers. As metal thieves remove walls to access pipes and wiring, the remaining structure becomes dangerously unstable and unpredictable, just as one such urban explorer I had been shooting with suddenly found out. A frequent visitor and expert on the area, he misplaced his step and nearly sunk to his waste in a toxic brew of blue and brown chemicals. Dumping on the site, whether it’s trash or chemicals, is fairly common. Needless to say, we all keep a better eye on the ground after that incident.

		Fisher Body 21 was one of the last stops as a car made its way to the finish line. On the upper floors you can still see remnants of the tracks that used to carry cars through the paint facility. Heat lamps along side the tracks would cure the paint as the factory line continued on. In its’ later years the factory even painted and manufactured school busses and limousines. Inefficient and obsolete, it was known back then as the worlds slowest assembly line. Cadillac eventually gave into the need to upgrade its’ lines and sold off the factory. The Cameo Color Coat Co. bought the property in 1991. This was when the large sheet metal stacks that wrap along the south wall were added. They ventilated the fumes from the lower floors of the paint facility to the roof. This juggernaut was a monster, spewing noxious gases into the air. Keeping the super structure running proved too difficult and it was abandoned just years later. Large freight elevators are positioned at each end of the southern wall leading down to the loading dock areas. These elevators were extra large and deep, big enough to load multiple cars into. The carriages lie mangled at the bottom, its’ cables have now been cut. Scrap thieves use the remaining shafts left behind to heave heavy metal from heights as high as seven stories up. They will retrieve the plunder later from the bottom. Despite the city’s efforts to secure the perimeter with fencing to keep trucks from driving inside, the scrap thieves have one-upped the city. Ironically now they steel the fencing, selling it for scrap. Nothing stops this force of nature…nothing!

There is one feature of FB21’s design that has made it a prominent painting spot for graffiti artist, its’ large visible water tower. Sure there are other water towers, but most are too dangerous. Weathered and dilapidated, more than most are rusted out death traps. The water tower at FB21 was built on top of a giant concrete base. For more than a decade artists have been painting and repainting this tower. The platform allows for a safe place to stand and paint the above tower. It also provides excellent coverage from rain showers and police helicopters. In fact, the entire roof has been for many years used as a giant evolving canvass. Every outcropping, air vent, and tower on the roof is covered. The bottom floor and various areas of the inside are also painted with some of the best examples of Detroit street art. One floor contains stencils of a persons burned image on the wall, like a nuclear silhouette. Another floor was recently used for street art not involving paint at all. Wooden tiles were harvested from the beaten floor and used to create a pyramid in the middle of one room. The pyramid resembles what are known as ziggurats, the copper capping used in gothic and renaissance architecture. Such an example is the roof of the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel downtown.

		The Fisher water tower also provides one of the best places to watch the annual Detroit-Windsor fireworks show. Sitting due north of Downtown you can view the city’s beautiful skyline and the fireworks at the same time. The fireworks gleam off the buildings, especially the Ren-Cen. It’s powerful, one of my favorite nights every year. Just recently the grounds have been secured with new fencing and security guards. The Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) and staff are now inside cleaning up the remnants of 20 years of toxic dumping and manufacturing waste leftover from the plants closing. It’s rumored to be the site of a future movie project, due to start filming soon. The title is so far unknown, but I have learned it will be about labor unions in the early part of the century. Locations such as the Ford Piquette plant have been recently renovated to restore its traditional looks. Milwaukee Junction is a natural place to capture the feel of the once grand Motor City.

The last of the Fisher brothers died in 1972, long before FB21 was left to the void of decay. The Fisher name however still lives on, their family run businesses Fisher Corp, Fisher Dynamics, and General Safety, still carry on the traditions of innovation that brought much success to the original Fisher Body Corporation and the City of Detroit. In 1944 the brothers turned their attention to the construction of their “legacy building,” simply known as the Fisher Building. It rises out from among the giants of New-Center in Detroit’s cultural district. Its’ ornate, gothic look is truly breathtaking. Along with millions of dollars in money donated by the family’s various foundations, it has cemented the Fisher name in the history of Detroit. Today, there is talk of the Fisher name playing a major role in the revitalization of Detroit. The grandson of Alfred J. Fisher formed Fisher Coachworks LLC, in nearby Troy Michigan. Teamed up with Rochester Hills based Autokinetics, they are developing lightweight buses running on electric motors. Half the weight means twice the mileage, and the company plans to incorporate kinetic energy and hybrid technology to get 12 miles per gallon. A typical diesel run bus only gets 3 to 5 m.p.g. Speculation of the newly formed company establishing their factory base in Detroit is a reality, but sites in California and Tennessee are also being looked at. It would be a great turn of fortune for the city of Detroit, its’ people, and its battered economy if the family that helped it become the great city it once was, again helped put Detroit back in the limelight.

		In all reality though, this is still Detroit, and there is still little hope for a fate other than demolition. This city has shown over and over that history is replaceable. The Madison Lennox and the Statler Hotel are the most recent examples of an ambivalent Kilpatrick administration. Once they even took a swipe at knocking down the Fisher Body itself. Thinking that no one would object in time, demolition crews sent by Kilpatrick’s administration started tearing down the smaller structures in the back lot. By noon that day news agencies and the Sheriff’s department were able to get an emergency stay of execution for the historic plant. The city backed down, and for the past five years it has continued to stand, pressing its’ luck even further. No matter what the eventual fate of the Fisher Body is, we know that this Detroit juggernaut will not go down without a fight.