"If there's a book that you want to read,
but it hasn't been written yet,
then you must write it."
   Toni Morrison
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Summertime at the manse…

By | Uncategorized

Maintenance done together is better than toiling alone. After a year of waiting for the fabrication of a new torus base for column #1, we were finally ready to complete minor filling, sanding, cleaning, and painting of all four column bases at the front porch. While we all hope our maintenance projects stay “maintained,” it doesn’t happen that way. Maintenance is ongoing and requires vigilance in some cases to avoid spiraling out of control. Our columns are that kind of albatross, if you will, that always need attention and treatment. So, we are in another final round of care that should buy us a year or two of simpler monitoring and enjoyment without excessive work. We shall see…

Four column bases, 2016

Four column bases, 2016

Northland Shopping Center Memories

By | Uncategorized

I am just old enough to remember an annual trek in the early 1950s to Hudson’s Department Store in downtown Detroit, buying clothes for school and the Jewish Holidays. Maybe we would go into another store, but I only remember Hudson’s. Arriving at the store, we always took the elevator, greeting the gentleman operator with an excited smile, to the top (8th floor, if memory serves me well) for the full experience. Coming down one floor at a time on the escalator, we stepped off at each level to inspect the store’s offerings, increasingly interesting as we got closer to ground level. Lunch or dinner after shopping was at our favorite deli on the corner of Seven Mile and Livernois, before heading for home in Bay City. That was a long day with a two-hour drive at each end, plus having the energy to shop with purpose at our destination.

In the late-1950s we gradually shifted the entire experience from downtown Detroit to the newly developing suburb of Southfield. We still shopped mostly at Hudson’s, but now treated ourselves to lunch and sweets at Sander’s, bringing home their fabulous Almond Tea Ring for another day. Throughout the early 1960s, until starting college in the fall of 1965, our family repeated this annual ritual.

In the heart of Southfield, our destination was the new Northland Shopping Center. In spite of confusion about these names, we found the Northland Center convenient and a bit closer to, so a shorter drive from, Bay City. It still offered what we wanted in our beloved Hudson’s, and it just seemed so easy to drive right up to any one of the mall entrances. There always seemed to be some kind of circus-like festive atmosphere in the spaces between the buildings, and we delighted in the charming sculptures. We were very non-judgmental, though, and accepted this new type of shopping in stride. I do not remember where my father and brother settled, but my mother and I had a grand time.

Never living in the Detroit area, I did not retain a loyalty to this or to any other shopping destination, and gradually forgot about Northland and Sanders and the two-hour drive.

Historic postcard, Kim Silarski Collection

Historic postcard, Kim Silarski Collection

Northland Center, south side, double level, main entrance. Photo by Ilene R Tyler.

Northland Center, south side, double level, main entrance. Photo by Ilene R Tyler.

Then, in the spring of 2015, it was announced that the old Northland Center had been shuttered for the last time, and that developers were looking for new ways to redevelop the site. This would mean demolition of the original Victor Gruen structures and clearing the site of the original parking lot surrounding it. In order to document the site before its demise, volunteers from the docomomo-US|Michigan chapter offered to prepare a statement of significance and existing conditions that contributes to the archive of information on the site and raises awareness for discussion of the site’s importance and its legacy. This document is attached for reference and for circulation.

Northland Center: Statement of Significance & Existing Conditions (PDF)

Should It Stay or Should It Go

By | Ann Arbor

Historic properties are recognized for their place in a community and for their importance to a period in time, in addition to other details, like the architecture and/or persons associated with the property. Where the resource was originally constructed is inexorably linked to to its historic integrity, such that moving the resource to another location raises questions about loss of this integrity. If the foundation is new, does this change perceptions about the resource? Were the old foundation materials significant, or perhaps was the basement or crawl space significant to the history and use of the resource?

Historic properties are recognized for their place in a community and for their importance to a period in time, in addition to other details, like the architecture and/or persons associated with the property. Where the resource was originally constructed is inexorably linked to to its historic integrity, such that moving the resource to another location raises questions about loss of this integrity. If the foundation is new, does this change perceptions about the resource? Were the old foundation materials significant, or perhaps was the basement or crawl space significant to the history and use of the resource?

In most cases, if the resource is threatened with demolition, then moving the structure may be the only option to save any of the memory and physical evidence of the original structure. So, consider the decision with this larger view in mind, but admit that moving the above-ground portion of a building to a new foundation forever changes the building’s larger history. Usually, the history associated with a property can still be told if the structure is still evident, even if relocated and the surrounding context is changed.

Documenting historic properties threatened with demolition captures historical and physical information in a logical and consistent manner for a permanent record of the structure at a particular point in time. Ideally, this would only be to temporarily “mothball” the structure until a productive use and funds can be found, but this can also be extrapolated to include documenting those buildings at risk for complete removal. Preservation Brief 31: Mothballing Historic Buildings, by Sharon C. Park, describes this process. I have clarified and simplified the process for use in our local community of Ann Arbor, Michigan so volunteer preservationists can complete the documentation and put the information in a community archive available to future researchers.

Arthur Miller House

439 S. Division Street

Our first project has been to investigate and document conditions at 439 S. Division Street, a property owned by the University of Michigan. In just under two hours, two of us performed a visual survey of the first floor, second floor, and attic, as well as a walk around the exterior. The basement was not available for visual survey. Sketches of the floor plans provide the general layout at each level, with photo locations indicated. All of the photos are listed in a log with a notation of photo locations and conditions observed.

Separately, an architectural description and statement of significance complement the hard data and provide a larger context for the historic resource. Ultimately, this documentation of the structure will have little impact on its fate. The task for the volunteer preservationists has been primarily to gather readily available information and to create a record of the structure. If discussion should open up about an alternative strategy to save the structure, even if saving it means moving it, then these documents provide a useful reference.

That gets back to the original question: should it stay or should it go? If staying is NOT an option, and if going means moving rather than demolition, should that be viewed as a good thing? I like to think so, as moving provides more options than losing the resource entirely. Although not reversible, everything else can be preserved. It is easier to tell stories about the house, the people who lived there, the details of its design, and any events that took place there, if physical evidence of the house remains. Explain what is lost but be proud of what remains.

Kerrytown Bookfest 2015

By | Ann Arbor, Events

We came, we saw, and we survived. We even sold books! It was a different perspective to participate as authors, instead of perusing the sellers’ stalls and sitting in on author talks. While we were pleased with the response to our offerings, we missed the same engagement with others, and will likely return to being a patron/customer next year. The Kerrytown Bookfest is an excellent event that highlights local talent, and we were proud to be in the mix and to share our books. Many thanks to the Board and volunteers who make the event a success for the entire community.

Tyler table at Bookfest 2015

table 109 display before the opening bell

Kerrytown Bookfest 2015

By | Ann Arbor, Events, Norm's Author Blog

On September 13th , Norm and I participated in this year’s Kerrytown Bookfest. We had copies of all of our books, plus a few surprises. Since it was also my birthday, this was a “novel” way to celebrate our diverse writing projects .