Three Michigan buildings make historic places list

Print More

By KIRSTEN RINTELMANN
Capital News Service

LANSING – Three Michigan sites are the latest to appear on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Grosse Pointe Central Library in Grosse Pointe Farms, the Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch in Detroit, and the Hickory Lodge No. 345 in Hickory Corners have been added to the National Register, which the National Park Service describes as “the official list of the nation’s historic places worth of preservation.”

May is Historic Preservation Month.

The Park Service works with state, territorial, tribal and federal historic preservation officers to identify, nominate and list properties deserving recognition. 

The State Historic Preservation Office, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., recommended including the three buildings.

The Grosse Pointe Central Library, which was completed in 1953, is one of three branches of the Grosse Pointe Public Library. 

Mary Lynn Martin, the manager of the Central Branch library, said that it holds historical importance to the Grosse Pointe area “because it was designed by Marcel Breuer, a notable Hungarian-born modernist architect.” 

Martin said, “He was introduced to the project by Grosse Pointe resident W. Hawkins Ferry, who became acquainted with Breuer during his studies at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.” 

The inside is also historically significant, she said.

It has a mobile by American sculptor Alexander Calder, tapestry by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and wall mural by Swiss artist Herbert Matter, she said.

The World Monuments Fund provides support for conserving the building, Martin said.

The Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch was built in 1919 and is among a multitude of buildings that reflect the city’s banking history.

According to its National Register nomination, Wirt C. Rowland, the head of design for the firm Albert Kahn, Architects and Engineers Inc. designed the building.

“Rowland is best known as the designer of Detroit’s Guardian Building, one of the finest and most famous Art Deco structures in the world, and a National Park Service National Historic Landmark,” the nomination said. 

The Community Health and Social Services Center, Inc. now owns the bank building.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am for it to go on the National Register,” Denise Pike, the center’s development director said. 

The bank’s historically significant features include its original floor and the casement windows. Pike said that detailed windows are a predominant feature of the building. 

“It is a beautiful building and in really great condition,” she said.

According to Pike, the center plans to convert the bank into a day care facility. 

“There isn’t a lot of child care options in Detroit,” she said.

However, because the building isn’t big enough, Pike said between $7 million to $10 million is needed to expand it. 

Hickory Lodge No. 345 has been a part of the Hickory Corners community for over 100 years. 

“The building was designed by Kalamazoo architect Rockwell LeRoy and constructed by members of Hickory Lodge in 1912,” the National Register nomination said. “Hickory Lodge No. 345 possesses historic and architectural integrity and continues to convey its significance as a Masonic lodge.”

The bricks used to assemble the building were made locally and donated by a Masonic family from their brickyard, the form said. Inside, the style of the foyer, lobby and lodge room also reflects its historical integrity.

“These character-defining features remain key features, and all the building to,” it said, and  “convey its historic significance as a Masonic meeting hall that was, and continues to be, important in the social history of the village.”

Earlier this spring, three other Michigan additions to the National Register were announced. They are the Bailey Buildings in Lansing, the Ojibway Fire Tower in Isle Royale National Park and Camp Black Lake in Ocqueoc Township, Presque Isle County. 

The National Register has more than 95,000 entries covering 1.8 million sites, structures, buildings and objects, according to the Park Service. 

Comments are closed.