Storied Brewster-Douglass housing projects in Detroit may soon be demolished

[jobeterob]

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Storied Brewster-Douglass housing projects in Detroit may soon be demolished
March 11, 2012 | Comments

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The Brewster-Douglass towers offered low-income housing. / KATHLEEN GALLIGAN/Detroit Free Press
By Steve Neavling

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer


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City of Detroit
Dave Bing
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The storied and abandoned Brewster-Douglass public housing complex that once offered housing to low-income Detroiters, including the families of Motown legends Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson, is now a towering symbol of the city's residential decline.

The four 14-story high-rise apartments -- decaying, windowless and tagged with graffiti -- greet drivers along I-75 across from Ford Field.

Two six-story apartments and rows of burned-out town houses also line the 30-acre grounds, littered with heaps of trash, vermin and discarded needles.

"Ain't nothing left," Angelo [[Baldy) Hill, 48, said, sitting on the steps of an abandoned town house that he occasionally uses for shelter. "Looks like a war came through here."

Across the freeway from downtown and adjacent to historic Brush Park, Brewster-Douglass may soon be demolished under a plan announced Wednesday by Mayor Dave Bing during his State of the City address.

"You've got a piece of property that is in a prime location, and we aren't getting anything out of it right now," Bing told the Free Press on Friday, adding that he met with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Director Shaun Donovan on Thursday. "I think we can get the funding."

Asked what would replace the housing projects, Bing responded: "I can't get into that." But in his speech Wednesday, he said, "We will create affordable housing and commercial development in its place."

The Detroit Housing Commission, which is handling the demolition plans, said the area will be revitalized once the $9.8-million demolition project is completed. Plans also include renovating the abandoned and adjacent Brewster-Wheeler Recreation Center on Brewster Street, which once included a swimming pool, basketball court, open gym and game room, said Eugene Jones, executive director of the Detroit Housing Commission.

"We want to bring the rec center back to its old glory," Jones said.

Whatever replaces the housing projects, Jones said, will benefit Detroiters.

"We want to make a greater community that the residents deserve," Jones said. "We want to make sure the property is revitalized so it won't be vacant."

In the 1950s, so-called working poor Detroiters began occupying the Brewster-Douglass Housing Development, which went through many incarnations as apartments and were demolished and replaced with newer housing units.

In December 2000, a fire in one of the apartments killed five children. But drugs and crime, especially during the 1980s, began to deteriorate the community, leading to a drawn-out exodus that left the housing units vacant in 2008.

Despite its abandonment, the towers are still a draw to urban explorers and photographers, who often climb to the top for a bird's-eye view of downtown.

Once the buildings are demolished, Jones predicts the area will sprout with new growth.

"We owe it to the residents of Detroit to create something special," Jones said.

Contact Steve Neavling: 313-222-8655 or

[marv2]

The keywords are $ 9.8 million! The demolition cost is why that eyesore has remained standing all of these years. It cost a few dollars to tear down old Cass Tech High School.

[milven]

I just read this and was glad to see it is already posted here. I ask the following questions out of ignorance but why were these projects allowed to deteriorate to such an unlivable state? They were in great shape in the sixties. It says that drugs and crime deteriorated the community and people left. Was the drugs and crime in the projects or in the surrounding neighborhoods? You have to meet certain qualifications to get in the projects don't you? If so, then could they not make certain qualifications to stay in the projects, maybe something like no drug convictions or something like that? I saw perfectly fine projects torn down near me and always wondered why. Low income people need good housing. Why is it being torn down or allowed to deteriorate to the point where it is uninhabitable? Couldn't they spend the millions on fixing it up instead of tearing it down?

Again, these questions are asked out of ignorance, so if I am asking inappropriate questions, please forgive.

[captainjames]

This happens almost everywhere, this just happens to be the home of our favorite Motown families. I saw this happen once in my neighborhood - we lived in the homes in front and the projects which separated us was just an alley. Families moved away but some of the elders couldn't and then some refused because it was their home. New management took over the projects and it seem the residents got worst because things changed. It wasn't just drugs, it was a way of life. People fought to keep the projects but after a while the tenants were unbearable and one by one they left and the housing were boarded up. Soon most were broke into and metal, furnances, sinks, etc were stolen. I saw people try and survive the best way the could. When people started getting shot in the head and now homes across the alley getting broken into they started to demolish them. When it came down to it it seems there was a corner store that was selling all kinds of things to kids and that was finally shut down as well. Sorry, for a long post but it just reminded me of my old neighborhood and eventhough you say no drugs allowed doesn't mean no drugs allowed. But, it wasn't all drugs and I won't begin to get into all the corruption that existed.

[robbert]

See also my recent thread "Detroit still in ruins, why?" on this forum.

[paladin]

Low income people need good housing. Why is it being torn down or allowed to deteriorate to the point where it is uninhabitable? Couldn't they spend the millions on fixing it up instead of tearing it down?

Again, these questions are asked out of ignorance, so if I am asking inappropriate questions, please forgive.


Milven there are so many reasons that I dare say it would take me several pages of space to get you to understand. I lived in one of the largest "projects" in the United States. Yes they were intended for low income families but the locations and high concentration of people on very little land was only one of the problems. Initially the economic boon to the neighborhoods were remarkable. However many politicians saw this high concentration of people as a way to maintain and continue their political success. Since they had a captive audience and didn't really have to provide any service, it was a win-win for them. These buildings were placed on tracts of land in areas that had been predominantly middle class and began what every city that has projects encountered which is commonly referred to as white flight. Not just the color of the people but they also moved their businesses. The lack of administrative control and management of the population and tenants was never the first order of business for the Housing Authority's who held their jobs through political appointments and not based upon qualification or merit.


The Police and private security companies wrecked havoc upon the youth living in those areas and crime would increase every year. Schools were severely overcrowded due to poor planning and there was no way they could educate all those children. The concept of busing was an abject failure. During the late sixties through the seventies Chicago faced some of the same issues as Detroit when many factories and Steel Mills becoming dark and shuttered. These same people who had worked and supported their families now were being forced onto public aid and unemployment. Single parent families became the norm and children started having children. I don't know if you ever saw the movie "Claudine" but the depiction of public aid officials and their rules and regulations were as true then as they are now. In short, a woman could live in the projects and collect public aid, however if she married a man who made a certain amount of money [[say a garbage man) the family would then have to move out as soon as they found out about his income, conversely if they didn't report the income and were found out, they'd have to move as well.


Gangs, drugs and crime soon followed in numbers that are completely indescribable. Most leaders of the gangs came from the middle class neighborhoods I mentioned because they recognized that strength lay in numbers and of course the projects became prime recruiting territory. Living in the projects was like a social experiment gone wrong. There were many reasons why they failed and I can continue to list them, yet I am also saddened because I can't tell you of one that has succeeded in reality or perception and that is where I demonstrate my ignorance, or do I ?

[marv2]

Milven there are so many reasons that I dare say it would take me several pages of space to get you to understand. I lived in one of the largest "projects" in the United States. Yes they were intended for low income families but the locations and high concentration of people on very little land was only one of the problems. Initially the economic boon to the neighborhoods were remarkable. However many politicians saw this high concentration of people as a way to maintain and continue their political success. Since they had a captive audience and didn't really have to provide any service, it was a win-win for them. These buildings were placed on tracts of land in areas that had been predominantly middle class and began what every city that has projects encountered which is commonly referred to as white flight. Not just the color of the people but they also moved their businesses. The lack of administrative control and management of the population and tenants was never the first order of business for the Housing Authority's who held their jobs through political appointments and not based upon qualification or merit.


The Police and private security companies wrecked havoc upon the youth living in those areas and crime would increase very year. Schools were severely overcrowded due to poor planning and there was no way they could educate all those children. The concept of busing was an abject failure. During the late sixties through the seventies Chicago faced some of the same issues as Detroit when many factories and Steel Mills becoming dark and shuttered. These same people who had worked and supported their families now were being forced onto public aid and unemployment. Single parent families became the norm and children started having children. I don't know if you ever saw the movie "Claudine" but the depiction of public aid officials and their rules and regulations were as true then as they are now. In short, a woman could live in the projects and collect public aid, however if she married a man who made a certain amount of money [[say a garbage man) the family would then have to move out as soon as they found out about his income, conversely if they didn't report the income and were found out, they'd have to move as well.


Gangs, drugs and crime soon followed in numbers that are completely indescribable. Most leaders of the gangs came from the middle class neighborhoods I mentioned because they recognized that strength lay in numbers and of course the projects became prime recruiting territory. Living in the projects was like a social experiment gone wrong. There were many reasons why they failed and I can continue to list them, yet I am also saddened because I can't tell you of one that has succeeded in reality or perception and that is where I demonstrate my ignorance, or do I ?

Several housing projects built right after WWII in Toledo, Ohio are being demolished and replaced with moderate income housing and some fairly upscale homes. I remember vaguely playing outside at the Robert Taylor Homes and also visiting my cousin that lived in the Cabrini Green Housing. This was back in the sixties and it was not nearly as rough as it later became. We use to watch these guys that were members of the Black Stone Rangers. I saw a car hot wired for the first time at around age 7 or 8 LOL!

[paladin]

Marv remind me to tell you the story of the very fella's you mentioned and the Supremes. I wrote about it in a music group on Facebook the other day.

[marv2]

Marv remind me to tell you the story of the very fella's you mentioned and the Supremes. I wrote about it in a music group on Facebook the other day.

I'd love to hear about "THAT"! Is it too hot to post here in the Motown Forum? LOL!!!!

[paladin]

No, Marv, the discussion on Facebook centered around the idea that Stoned Love was a song that promoted drug use. This was my response to Chris.............



Chris

Mary Wilson states in her second book, Motown did not want to release an album with this title, because of the so-called mass drug hysteria that was taking place at the time - she also stated that people were looking for drug references anywhere they could find them-

KDUB

Well The Temptations certainly hit it big a year earlier with Cloud Nine, so go figure. In common urban terms, when it was released I never gave it a second thought as a reference to getting high, although it was released during the so called Psychedelic era. The record Psychedelic Shack.... well things had changed rapidly and that was a druggie record if I ever heard one. As an aside there was a very infamous street gang in Chicago The Blackstone Rangers, a sub set of that group were the "CobraStones" and this record was a motto adopted by the gang and used in greetings [[now days called representing) when you met a fellow member or said good bye. It was simple but you heard it everyday..."Whats up man ? Nothing....Ok...Stone Love ! Imagine that, The Supreme's had a monster hit with gang bangers........

[marv2]

No, Marv, the discussion on Facebook centered around the idea that Stoned Love was a song that promoted drug use. This was my response to Chris.............



Chris

Mary Wilson states in her second book, Motown did not want to release an album with this title, because of the so-called mass drug hysteria that was taking place at the time - she also stated that people were looking for drug references anywhere they could find them-

KDUB

Well The Temptations certainly hit it big a year earlier with Cloud Nine, so go figure. In common urban terms, when it was released I never gave it a second thought as a reference to getting high, although it was released during the so called Psychedelic era. The record Psychedelic Shack.... well things had changed rapidly and that was a druggie record if I ever heard one. As an aside there was a very infamous street gang in Chicago The Blackstone Rangers, a sub set of that group were the "CobraStones" and this record was a motto adopted by the gang and used in greetings [[now days called representing) when you met a fellow member or said good bye. It was simple but you heard it everyday..."Whats up man ? Nothing....Ok...Stone Love ! Imagine that, The Supreme's had a monster hit with gang bangers........

They tried to say "Puff the Magic Dragon" was about smoking pot. If they only knew what was to come [[special shout out to Rick James!). Yeah the Supremes "Stoned Love" was played a lot on Soul radio. I don't know what the top station was in Chicago at the time,but I remember hearing it often when we would visit Chicago. Maybe it was WVON? Yes, Stoned Love was pretty popular all around.

[paladin]

It was WVON and I loved the record, but these were some bad men and they also had a signature way to represent along with the phrase Stone Love, sometimes I see it from NBA players when they take their right hands , make a fist and beat their chest once directly on top of their heart. I've even seen a famous Chicago basketball player do it and he was from the area of the "Stone nation Rival Gang"...... The Disciples.......... during my youth I lived in both areas and at one time I had to travel from a Stone hood to go to school in a Disciple hood.......you can bet your last money that I learned a lot about gang signs and representing, not only did I want to go to school, I also wanted to come home...........



Note: I am not trying to implicate any NBA player or person as being in a gang. I am merely using the statement to articulate and illustrate the gesture thats presented in a medium that folk are familiar with.....

[marv2]

It was WVON and I loved the record, but these were some bad men and they also had a signature way to represent along with the phrase Stone Love, sometimes I see it from NBA players when they take their right hands , make a fist and beat their chest once directly on top of their heart. I've even seen a famous Chicago basketball player do it and he was from the area of the "Stone nation Rival Gang"...... The Disciples.......... during my youth I lived in both areas and at one time I had to travel from a Stone hood to go to school in a Disciple hood.......you can bet your last money that I learned a lot about gang signs and representing, not only did I want to go to school, I also wanted to come home...........

Man, Paladin, that was dangerous the route you had to go to school. You are not kidding that they were some really bad dudes. My cousin Anna use to go with a member of the Blackstone Rangers. We were kids visiting, so we weren't smart enough to even be afraid of him LOL! All I remember is that those characters in the movie "Cooley High", you know, "Stone" and "Robert" with the doo rags reminded me of him. LOL! There were plenty of gangs in Detroit. They even had gang dances that people did at parties and such to let you know who they represented.

[paladin]

Marv, if you only knew. I am extremely lucky just to be alive. Although I didn't come right out and say it, I hate "projects" with a passion. What they did in Chicago, Detroit, New York, was simply criminal. Believe it or not the Brewster Projects would have been swallowed up by Robert Taylor.......... they wouldn't even have to burp.........there were many other projects in Chicago, Ida B Wells, The Ickes, Altgeld Gardens, Stateway Gardens, Cabrini Green, Henry Horner Homes, Dearborn Homes.......God man are you feeling me.........????? Here is a typical project building the first photo is of Robert Taylor, The second of Cabrini Green.


46024603

[marv2]

Yes the housing projects in Chicago are famous or should I say notorious. I remember hearing about the Ida B. Wells project. From the pictures, they look like minimum security prisons or city jails. It's been so very long since I've seen those buildings in person. Do you know or remember which one had a playground like area for kids?

[paladin]

Robert Taylor.........

[randy_russi]

I thought this complex was torn down many years ago and Diana went to see it and walk through her family's unit
before it was demolished.

[marv2]

Robert Taylor.........

I played there as a kid when we visited back in the sixties. Thanks Paladin.

[marv2]

I thought this complex was torn down many years ago and Diana went to see it and walk through her family's unit
before it was demolished.

Randy, only a portion was demolished after a fire. I drove past it last holiday season on my way to a Pistons game.

[jobeterob]

Monday, March 12, 2012
DemoWatch
Time to Take Down Detroit's Most Freeway-Visible Ruin Porn Towers, Former Home to Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson
Monday, March 12, 2012, by Sarah Cox
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Image by Kathleen Galligan for the Detroit Free Press.

It's the ruin porn most visible via the Freeway! [[What better way to say "Boo!" to scared suburbanites on the way to a Lions game?) If you are cruising down I-75, it is hard to miss those four decaying, windowless 14-story towers that at part of the Brewster-Douglass public housing complex. Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson once lived in this low-income housing on a 30- acre site that includes two six-story apartments and rows of burned-out town houses. Eye-sore is an over-used Detroit phrase, but what else can you say about something so derelict? So Mayor Bing is thinking demo and redevelopment for the site sounds like the way to go. "You've got a piece of property that is in a prime location, and we aren't getting anything out of it right now," Bing told the Free Press on Friday, adding that he met with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Director Shaun Donovan on Thursday. "I think we can get the funding." It is supposed to take $9.8 M to clear away this ruin porn graffiti park which will be replaced by some mix of housing and