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Photo by UrbanTiki

The lack of sun over my entire vacation squashed more than my chipper mood: it kept me from snapping a great photo of the United Artist Theater at Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit. The captivating photo above taken by Bobby shows how graffiti artists left their elaborate mark on the windows of this long-vacant building. For years, the colorful windows of this empty structure caught the eye of anybody driving down Bagley or around the theater district. That is, until this week when owner Mike Illitch ordered the graffiti cleaned from the windows so that Super Bowl visitors wouldn't notice its vacancy. (Because there's nothing else downtown that will draw attention to our decaying skyline?!) But inner-city cause and effect prevails as the urban artists moved up the street. Familiar faces have started popping up in the windows of the also-vacant Guide administration building on Fort and Livernois in southwest Detroit. This architectual wonder has also been empty since the eighties. Some may call it vandalism, but I have about 165 more high-rise addresses to give this graffitist in hopes of bringing more attention to these beautiful ghosts-of-Detroit-past which landlords sit on for decades. Historians rank Detroit as an architectual playground when it comes to our early high-rises, churches, stately homes, and unique industrial centers. Yet, those who own the properties continue to neglect them. My wish for 2006 is a step up for those owners: sell, restore or demolish and build anew. It's not just Detroit's complex history that's written in its unique skyline -- it's our future.

Michigan Train Depot, symbol of regress. Photo by Spike

1/11/06 Update: My wish is coming true! The underground artists seem to now be taunting Mike Illitch who scrubbed the United Artist windows cleaned. Yesterday, paintings have appeared in yet another vacant building... this time his vacant Fine Arts building on West Adams. This is going to be fun...