If you've been downtown since the Tigers moved to Comerica Park and Old Tiger Stadium, or what’s left of it became just another abandoned piece of Detroit’s skyline, then you have inevitability been to Grand Circus Park. (G.C.P.) Historically this area was the center of Downtown Detroit in a time when the riverfront was cluttered with dirty industry, railroads and warehouses. The park itself is shaped in a half circle, and is dissected by Woodward Avenue in the middle. On both sides, there are magnificent grounds with fountains and statues dating back a century or more. There is a good chance you haven’t noticed anything else there, other than garbage and crack heads, because virtually every building in this location has been abandoned.

The tallest and most well known is the Broderick Tower; Formerly known as Eaton Tower, it was constructed by architect Louis Kamper in 1927. In the 1940s it was purchased and renamed by David Broderick, an insurance broker. Currently this 35-story office building is best known for Michigan native Wyland, and his "Whaling" mural on the east face of the tower. The giant painting faces Comerica Park, but the space the mural covers offers an advertising opportunity that overshadows the artistic presence. Over the past five years or so, the mural has been periodically covered with tacky billboard advertising. The buildings owners are attempting to raise money to renovate the tower into high-end lofts and retail space. Previous attempts to remodel the building have failed, leaving an unfinished structure next door next to where the Madison Theatre once sat. The only activity left here is from the occasional workers who show up to change the billboard.

The David Whitney building (D.W.) went abandoned in the late 1990s after years of declining tenants. For about a year, several doors have been broken into leaving it wide open. This building was still in excellent condition when I explored it some time ago, but that is another post for another time. Currently it sits tightly boarded up with security outside. “No Trespassing” signs have been clearly posted around its walls in an attempt to scare scrappers and vandals away. The owners still have much to protect, including the cell towers placed around the perimeter of the roof.

Next to The D.W. are two empty lots. One of them is the site of the former Tuller Hotel, and the other is from the Statler Hotel. The Statler was abandoned in the late 1970s, and torn down just before the Super Bowl as the city made efforts to have an improved image for the tourists. Another pioneer in the hotel industry during the early 1900s, Tuller’s hotel was torn down in the mid 1990s because it had become a haven for junkies and the homeless after years of abandonment.

The United Artists building was constructed across Adams Street from where the Tuller once stood. Built in 1927, this 18-story office building contains an attached theatre that once posed the same elegance of the Fox or Fisher Theatre. The decay has evolved to the point that the beauty of the theatre has been rendered beyond recognition. This site is very close to what’s known as “Illichville,” the area where a new Red Wings hockey stadium may go in by 2010 (when the current contract expires on with the City of Detroit and Joe Louis Arena).

There are still a few more empty shells still hiding in plain sight though. The Adams theatre has been left behind in the heart of Detroit's theatre district. Its roof has nearly caved in completely. Across the street is the Park Avenue Building at the corner of Adams and Park Street, next door to the Park Apartments. The Charlevoix building is across the alley from the Park Apartments, another early 1900s 10-story. The stairs inside the Charlevoix have been completely scrapped out so that the only way to explore past the second floor is on a rickety, rusted fire escape. Please do not attempt to explore this building, it is too far-gone.

Grand Circus Park was once a place filled with professionals on their lunch hour and families. The park, and its buildings have fallen victim to years of the elements, scrappers and vandals, politics and now the economy. Currently it is filled with the homeless, and destitute. Underneath the park itself is a parking garage that is mostly unused. Perhaps one-day Grand Circus Park will be alive again, but for now, it continues to sit idle, decaying in the cities amusement park of dead Detroit uins.