I saw this article in my Facebook newsfeed today. It’s good to finally see something done to save the old building, no matter how minuscule.
So much for serious newscasts. Edward R Murrow would turn over in his grave to see what TV news has become. It is good to see the building get some attention and maybe get prepared for reuse.
I imagine the owner of the building, Manny Maroun is using other people’s money to do this work. He owns the Ambassador Bridge as well. Once, while crossing the bridge I asked the American customs guy if it was true that one man owns the bridge. He said, “yeah and he gets 1 million dollars a year for the use of the building that I work out of and it’s a dump that hardly ever has hot water!” Funny hearing a customs guy rant about his working conditioins. Manny will do all he can to stop another bridge being built. A Howard Hughes type who is never interviewed or photographed. So, I think the money for the station is coming from somewhere other than his pockets.
The City of Detroit was getting tired of the national attention the Station got as a symbol of the city’s decay. I think Maroun wanted to avoid enforcement action, plus he had other dealings with the City that would not be helped by the continuing to ignore the problem.
In my opinion, for the first time in decades, Detroit has both a no-nonsense trustee and Mayor. This is another sign that bankruptcy for the city was the right choice to effect a turnaround in city business practices.