The fact that the Packard Plant on the East Side of Detroit was on fire was nothing new. It is consistently flaring up with small blazes in the hot summer months. Scrappers and juvenile vandals have made this building a second home for the Firefighters of ladder 23. The fire company is just blocks from the Packard and deals with the arsons on a weekly, if not daily basis. This past June on a typical Monday night the Packard started smoking. Thick black smoke billowed from the building in waves. As onlookers grew the blaze became bigger until smoke could be seen from Grosse Point. As I said before...this was nothing new. One fire truck after another left the scene, only a solitary engine remained blocking the entrance. It was clear the intention of the DFD was to simply let it burn.

 
     
 

The real news was the firefighters that night. In unanimous agreement they decided to let the Packard burn until daylight and maybe even beyond. The memory of a fallen comrade was no doubt weighing on their minds.

Month’s prior a fire in a vacant house near the Packard claimed the life of Walter Harris. By all account Harris was a great man, loving father, and dedicated firefighter. The house that claimed Harris' life was totally vacant and the fire deliberately set. The death of such a wonderful man sparked public outcry and raises the question to...let it burn, or not. In some cases firefighters are obliged to rush into blazing fires to check to see if the homeless are squatting inside. This fire, was a statement by firefighters. We’re not putting up with this craziness anymore. Detroit, you better get your act together.
 

 

These cold war era Civil Defense signs are an ominous reminder of how close we came to nuclear destruction via global warfare during those “classic good ol’days”. In December of 1961 federally approved buildings were designated as “fallout shelters” for those unlucky enough to be in the vicinity of a nuclear explosion. If the time had come to use such shelters I could imagine the terror that would have done to this area. The fact that these signs can still be found in their original placing is quite remarkable in itself. Some are made of aluminum and some of galvanized steel and were designed to direct people to nearby shelters with overlays of reflective type arrows.

The signs are the creation of Civil Defense graphic artist that had governmental requirements of the completion of the design. It first and foremost had to be psychologically simple in nature. It also had to be identifiable by small children and those with vocabulary disabilities like immigrants and those who can’t read.
     

When I first time I encountered the ice tree it completely caught me off guard, as I’m sure it does most people. A three-story tree covered completely in ice like a miniature mountain on the beach of Belle Isle is nothing to snarff at. It’s tradition! Since around the 30 or 40’s, no one really has definitive info on witch year it stated. The fire department that is responsible for Belle Isle annually turns a North American Pine Tree into a blue and white covered popsicle. Just getting close to the tree is rather difficult. Warm water has to be constantly pumped through the hose until the entire tree is frozen. This almost certainly kills the tree and wastes a ton of water literally…but what a fun way to waste it huh?The remarkable thing about the history of the Belle Isle Ice Tree is that it did not originally start as a tradition on the island. During the early years firefighters down town would do the same thing on a tree on Washington Blvd by the Book Cadillac Hotel. City officials turned the median on Washington Blvd into a winter wonderland each year. Much like the Christmas tree at Campus Martius is lit up and on display every year there was also one on Washington. Along with the celebrated tree was also the sacrificial Ice Tree. Since the 60’s or 70’s the Ice Tree has been on Belle Isle, a uniquely Detroit tradition that hopefully continues.

    
 

 

 
 
 

The Dead Packards - onlynDetroit.com from onlynDetroit.com on Vimeo.  		 
 

It seems fitting to be writing about a graveyard full of dead automobiles as the auto industry in Detroit looks death in the face, begging Congress for money just to stay afloat. In the vastness that is Detroit, there lies a field of dreams. The skeletons of old discarded Packards await the avid classic car enthusiast. When I was about 14 years old, on my very first trip to Detroit urban exploring I found this shrine of Detroit history. In a field not far from busy roads and streets lies a half dozen or so 1920-1940’s Packards. Rusted and badly weathered, the beautifully crafted bodies stand out boldly in the summer’s sunlight; I call them...my “Dead Packards.”
     

Nobel as they are, they can’t help but become consumed by the environment around them. As they sink deeper into the mud the vines, and even the bugs are teaming up to re-take these dead automobiles. Over the years I continue to monitor the status of these dead classics, taking pictures and video. I recently brought a Classic Packard collector to the site to show him what I had found. He pointed out that they were all indeed Packards and that a couple were very rare models. Needless to say, this auto-archeological site excited him. Today most cars and trucks are made from composites of aluminum and plastic, that’s why this heavy metal homage to American automobiles has a huge place in my heart. It’s pure Detroit, at its best...and at it’s worst.

  

 
     
     
 

Since the mid 1980’s Detroit and Devils night have been synonymous with one another. The annual tradition of torching abandoned homes through out the city has brought Detroit much unwanted attention. After a decade of watching the city burn every autumn, the city started doing something to try and prevent these fires. The Detroit Communication and Planning department began to use the graphic of a pair of dark and menacing eyes to lurk back from the dead buildings of Detroit, hoping to prevent arson fires. Originally when it launched as “Adopt a House” in 1991, the image was seen as a positive step in the right direction. That positive right step continued when mayor Archer started the now highly successful, “Angels Night”. A 50,000 persons strong volunteer army dedicated to stopping Halloween arson in the city.

 
     
 

Seen strictly as a Detroit phenomenon Devil’s Night continues to overshadow Halloween in the city. Other poor areas have not had to endure bouts with arson related crimes during Halloween like Detroit. Camden and other parts of New Jersey have their own local name it, they call it “Mischief Night”, though it’s not nearly as costly or destructive. Since the year the signs originally went up, many renditions of the eyes have been used. The total number of variations is unknown exactly. I personally have seen four different versions of the arson eyes poster around Detroit, some with cursive handwriting and some without. Others have the standard block text with spirals of little blocks around the eyes forming a haunting tunnel. Another very rare version features a set of male eyes turned at an angel looking very shady.

     

Recently onlynDetroit started using the image of the signs to speak back to Detroiters. Our arson eyes, with a twist are meant start a social conversation amongst Detroiters as to who is really watching these houses? Also, we wanted to make a statement that people would remember, “This building is being watched, only in Detroit”. On Devils Night this year a record low number of houses in Detroit burned. A number far lower then the daily average. This past October 30 th the N.Y. Times did a feature on Detroit’s arson eyes posters and the resurgence of the cities efforts in curbing the illegal activity, and of course onlynDetroit was right there starring back from a dead Detroit ruin.

 

 

 
     
 

 

 

    
 
 

An icon from the past, this early 1940’s era Packard was left behind for decades at the grounds of the old Packard plant on the east side of Detroit. It is a symbol of the manufacturing and industry that once ruled Detroit. Left from a time in American culture when an individual chose their car based on its style rather than gas mileage. Owning a Packard was a sign of wealth and taste. Most Packard’s were equipped with a 12-cyllinder engine; the first of it’s kind, making it one of the fastest cars in its class.

 

Packards were preferred by gangsters and mobsters because they offered a sleek looking ride that could outrun the police when bootlegging. Today, the plant is run down just like this relic left behind. It no longer resides here, likely stolen to be restored and resold for a premium. Although the Packard car company went out of business, the trademark and design were sold allowing new reproductions to be produced for those looking to re-live this old world style.

 

 

 

  
     
     
  Most of us who grew up in the Metropolitan Detroit area know of a season that starts way too early and can’t end soon enough. That season is jokingly referred to as “orange barrel season” by us Michiganders. Usually as the first snow arrives each year you notice most construction on the road is wrapped up or stalled until better weather arrives. So it was no surprise that I noticed a very odd and interesting sight along my way one morning out of the city. Heading west on a local freeway was what looked to be a construction barrel; I was becoming worried at that point. Then I spot another, and what had first appeared to be a mid January construction nightmare was actually a montage of the strange and weird. An impromptu public art installation designed to get your attention. The obvious art critic response… “Well…he (or she) is making statement about the city.” Hummm, Yes, but its more than that. It was a burned out house with bright orange construction barrels sticking right off the side of the charred and dilapidated two-story walk up. The Back exposed to the element and the front looking like most the other houses on that block, hollowed and discarded.

 

 

 

  
     
Those of us who explore the city, work and live here, often find ourselves up close and personal with strange and interesting art. Detroit has and always will be a Mecca for art and inspiring artists. One of those characters is a man most known simply by the street he lives on…Heidelberg. This unassuming, and mostly humble black man from a tough neighborhood has created artwork that has moved the masses. Far and wide they come to see his projects, from the row of art covered houses he owns, to his lesser but more interesting “Dots” project. Tyree Guyton is the originator of pre-modern street art movement. Laying a path of legal rights and creative pursuit, Tyree is a pillar of culture in Detroit. The Cone Houses, his latest public project consists of dead houses decorated in the traditional garb of Detroit streets, detour barrels and glass. One of these houses located along the Lodge freeway was adorned with a large reflective mirror, one that could practically blind you as you drove south at sun down. I can’t help but think what a passer by who is not from this area would say…”Man, onlynDetroit!”  

 
     
     
 

 

Imagine all those businesses and houses that burned in the riots, devils night, and all those random “who cares” news blips that come across your TV every night. All those homes eventually decay, and in time the land returns to a somewhat normal state of vegetation and functionality. This cycle of death, decay, and rejuvenation happens every year in the city, proving life goes on…no matter the odds.

 

 
 

It wasn’t long after I moved to the city that I started seeing pheasants while exploring. First one…then a couple at a time, and the more I explored the more I encountered pheasants in number. I thought at first I must have witnessed a rare occurrence, this being the tenth largest city in America. A major urban metropolis in the death throws of an industrial apocalypse could not possibly be the preferred habitat for this beautiful bird. As strange and unbelievable as this is to some, it’s true. Pheasants have taken over. No… not like Hitchcock or anything. It’s more “rural” than that.

Detroit’s steady loss of population, infrastructure, competent management and an educated tax base to name a few, has caused a staggering number of properties to go abandoned. This isn’t a new phenomenon or anything; people have been abandoning Detroit since the 60’s. What’s so interesting is the amount of unplanned green space made available due to the “exodus”? Neighborhood after neighborhood in Detroit sit empty. Nothing but the empty lots of what used to be the history of these very old neighborhoods. Now the homes and people that remain care so little about keeping up appearances, that the majority of these lots go un-checked. Weeds, grass and trees grow over most everything in some neighborhoods providing a most excellent home for pheasants and other creatures.

 

 

 
     
     
     

 

  
  Nestled in an isolated field that at first glace looks like any ordinary lot in the city, lays an onlynDetroit site. An old, rusted and weathered bike built decades ago mounted on the top of an 8-foot pole; an antique bike on display like a flag. This area, East of Midtown, like so many other pats of the city has become over gown with weeds and covered in debris from illegal dumping. This bike has been here in this position for the better part of ten years, as far as I can confirm. The question over its origin still remains; was this monument erected from trash on the lot, or... did some one set out to create this piece? I would say someone set out to create this given the custom weld incorporated, and the foundation required to support the bike. With the climate for scrapping in the city these days, it’s a wonder that it has been here for so long. The bike is tucked just far enough back on this neglected lot that people pass by every day with out taking notice. Sooner or later the value of the raw materials will outweigh the urban culture it provides.
     
 
 
   

Years ago while taking pictures of the lobby just inside the front entrance of the Michigan Central Depot, I noticed a spot of the floor that was painted black and red. Outlined in a futuristic tribal typed style, the graffiti on the floor read: “Infinity" backing the entire piece, the "Plus Eight" logo in the center, and the date 1989 – Infinity underneath.

If you live and hangout in this city, then it's likely you have heard of Richie Hawtin, the co-founder of +8 Records. Richie Hawtin is a local legend, a true local legend. Richie... and the techno he is famous for around the world was inspired by his time living near and working as a DJ in the Detroit techno scene. Originally from Windsor, he has become the embodiment of the modern Detroit sound, Minimal Techno. Whether this Detroit Techno homage was painted by Hawtin himself, a member of +8 Records, or just some ever-loving fan, this pre-“Detroit Graffiti Era” tag symbolizes the growing presence and significance of the early 90s techno movement to this area.

  

     
 

Standing very bold on the beautiful marble flooring of the M.C.D., I have repeatedly looked at this tag, wondering whom it was that painted it, when, and what the motive was. I know for a fact it has been there since 1997-98, but presumably longer due to the amount of dust and fading it had when I first laid eyes on it. I would guess it was likely painted around 1994. For nearly 20 years, Plus 8 Records has been operating in the Windsor and Detroit area, and is still a stapled fixture in the Detroit music scene.