The Free Press asked readers what they think should happen to Detroit’s Renaissance Center after GM and Bedrock proposed a costly reconfiguration of the complex. Here’s what they had to say. Send a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we can publish it online and in print.
Get in touch: Great Wolf Lodge Detroit
I think RenCen could be turned into a resort with a huge water park and indoor go karts and arcade type resort as a Great Wolf Lodge.
It could also get one of the casinos to move into it or create another casino hotel right on the river. Add condos and apartments as well, with a marketplace for the residents and theme park. Outdoors can have ferris wheels and carnival games with food trucks and souvenir and fudge shops. Almost an amusement part from the old days. Also rents fishing rods and sail boards.
Steve Calandrino
Fairhaven, Michigan
Detroiters shouldn’t pay for what we don’t earn
I think the state should tell General Motors and Bedrock that they are not getting the money. It makes little sense to provide tax credits or other financial subsidies to maintain a building that GM seems to imply clearly has no clear economic value, and then even still demolish part of the complex with those incentives. If the GM really doesn’t think there’s any point in keeping the building standing, let them demolish it. My suspicion is that they don’t want to do this but also don’t fancy footing the bill to rebuild it anyway to make it usable. But if they are serious, and the building really doesn’t make financial sense, it should go.
Sure, some people might see it as a symbol of Detroit, but honestly, I don’t feel much affinity with it. Maybe it’s because I rarely went downtown when I was young, but even then no one seemed interested in going out to see it or take pictures with it. Its only distinguishing feature is that it’s the tallest building in the state, but it’s largely empty now and underutilized, quite disconnected from the rest of downtown and adjacent to a sea of parking lots that we can credit GM for since they’ve managed the area for nearly 30 years and did next to nothing to make it a notable area.
If the towers are demolished, sure, it might be a little sad to see things go, but that would be because it has outlived its usefulness. Cities are not museums, they are living places that change with the people in them. We have fewer people commuting to offices now, it would make a lot of sense for office towers to go away, and maybe something more useful take its place in that area like a new, updated hotel over the old Marriott, or maybe apartments or condominiums. Or we could get new office buildings that aren’t geared toward single large tenants and instead have a variety of offerings for small businesses that still need to commute to work and meet in person for whatever type of work requires it. Perhaps these towers being demolished will encourage policy makers and developers to create a more dynamic environment that relies on a variety of land uses rather than concentrating a single one over large parts of our city core.
John Kruse
Detroit
Sweet 16 at RenCen Summit
In 1976, the Renaissance Center opened, redefining Detroit’s skyline. The Renaissance Center’s location on the Detroit Riverfront was in many ways the beginning of a new era for the city.
As the child of parents who grew up in Detroit, I had the opportunity to visit the city many times during my youth. I was always amazed by the beauty of the downtown skyscrapers. When RenCen was built, I could not imagine how much these round glass towers would change the look of Detroit.
My first visit to the building in 1977 was to attend a friend’s 16th birthday party at “The Summit”. The experience is one I will never forget. From navigating the concrete maze of the inner building to riding the glass elevator all the way to the top, to enjoying the 360-degree views of the city, a bit of awe and respect for the building developed upon my first encounter.
During my lifetime, I have had many opportunities to visit RenCen for personal and business events. During my visits I am always amazed by the unique beauty of the building. The interior of the building has undergone a variety of architectural changes, but one thing has never changed, the building’s impact on the Detroit skyline.
Perhaps the building needs to be reborn into a new use; the city can always us more housing. But one thing is certain, RenCen’s outline is the image of a city that has risen from the ashes through its history. RenCen found its home along the Detroit Riverfront in 1976, forever changing this beautiful city, I hope it remains to remind us of Detroit’s amazing renaissance.
Michele Cannaert
Fenton
RenCen Could Be New DDOT Site?
A unique opportunity for the city of Detroit is presented by the confluence of two apparently disparate events: the RenCen of the future and the incoming Trump administration.
One of the oft-stated goals of President-elect Donald Trump is to not only shrink the federal government, but to decentralize itmaking it more responsive to its citizens than to a centralized bureaucratic elite. The the idea has been to move huge federal departments to areas of the country more directly affected by their policies. Perhaps, for example, the Department of Energy to Texas, Agriculture to Kansas, Interior to Utah. And the Department of Transportation to Detroit.
Mayor Mike Duggan could tarnish his credentials for his upcoming gubernatorial run by pitching RenCen to the Trump administration and incoming Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as the new home for the Department of Transportation.
With Detroit-Windsor being the busiest international border crossing in North America, not to mention Detroit being the motor capital of the world, what better place to house the US Office of Transportation? And RenCen’s vacant offices and strategic location offer an ideal and cost-effective alternative for the new federal headquarters. The addition of thousands of good-paying jobs and an influx of new urban residents would be a boon to the city, the state, and help solidify Detroit as the hub of an international megalopolis from Chicago to Toronto.
Robert Wilson
Northville
Don’t tear, renew
Quick: In your mind, picture downtown Houston. Can’t think of anything? How about downtown Columbus? Can’t you? I wonder why? How about New York City? Easy – Empire State Building.
Like the Empire State Building in New York, or the Prudential Tower in San Francisco, RenCen, striking and distinctive, is instantly recognizable worldwide as “Detroit.”
No other building in the city comes close to achieving that level of global brand recognition. It is an invaluable asset that should not be thoughtlessly tossed aside. (And no, the new one undefined on Hudson’s website is no replacement – too generic.) It would be a terrible mistake to rip RenCen.
The buildings have major issues and problems, but they can be resolved. The question should not be whether to demolish. That should be how to best improve and utilize Detroit’s great calling card. Big cities keep their architectural treasures. Don’t tear, renew!
John Abdenour
New Haven, Connecticut
No more tax breaks for billion dollar companies
General Motors and Dan Gilbert should NOT be asking for any public funding to demolish or rebuild the Renaissance Center. Detroit taxpayers have provided far more than their share of public subsidies via tax breaks to multi-millionaires and billionaires over the past few decades. Please stop asking for a handout and help Detroiters get a hand!
If you choose to demolish the most iconic building on Detroit’s skyline, so be it. It’s your building, not ours, but I think you’re making a serious mistake. Find a way to reuse the office space (apartments and condos) and demolish maybe two of the office towers. Business claims to be lack of hotel space and you want to tear 1300 rooms from the stock? This hotel is a great hotel! Why do this? But again, it’s YOUR property, do what you want, but please stop insulting the tax payers with these arrogant proposals that really come across as extortionate.
David Greenwood
Farmington Hills
RenCen is an icon worth saving
Every major city has a visual icon that represents itself to the rest of the world. For Detroit, for the past five decades, it has been RenCen. As the city emerged from the rocky sixties, these strong circular towers were undoubtedly associated with their own renaissance. While the phrase “Image is Everything” is a bit simplistic and obviously doesn’t encompass everything including economics, it carries weight, and Rencen, for better or worse, has served that purpose. Before creating a deplorable vacuum, the powers that be should consider the bigger picture.
George Erdstein
Huntington Woods
Motor City Messiah Gilbert’s vision doesn’t add up
Here’s my take: While Gilbert has proven himself to be the “Motor City Messiah” of rehab, his vision for Rencen isn’t top notch. The building itself and the surrounding towers are iconic. They are our twin towers. They create and define our beautiful skyline and river front. Aesthetics aside, looking at Gilbert’s actual plan, it looks lackluster.
How much more mixed use and affordable condo/hotel/diner blah blah does our city need? We need substance. Please, no more parks or attempts to connect with downtown that Gilbert’s vision entails.
I was amazed at the lack of insight into any plans for the mothballed cinema sitting dormant in the Renaissance Center. It’s a great opportunity to provide some content that is affordable and accessible to people of all backgrounds.
The $250 million tax subsidy is a joke. How much longer will we, working class taxpayers, get the short end of the stick in mega-deals that fund extravagant construction for billionaires?
Ryan Morgan
Detroit
Tear it down
In my humble opinion, tear it. It is not, and never has been, a large building. It has always looked cheap, it has no character, it is unimaginative, ugly glass silos. Tear it down and give architects an opportunity to design something truly worthy of Detroit’s skyline. And oh, by the way… make GM pay for it. No subsidizing the demo.
DD LaMo
Bloomfield Hills
RenCen
Tearing down two of the iconic Renaissance Center towers is incredibly short-sighted.
There is limited office demand today, but that does not mean it will be so in the future. I think the best thing would be for GM to completely divest all interest in Ren Cen. Then the space can be marketed and adapted for use by other companies, including foreign (even Chinese) car manufacturers. Ever since the Great Recession 16 years ago, GM has divested from downtown Detroit. This is just the latest divestiture by GM. Our city is experiencing an accelerating revitalization that is being noticed around the world. The latest Travel + Leisure listing is an example of that. Tearing down the towers would likely garner international attention — as evidence of a dying Detroit, the opposite of what it is.
Our Riverfront is booming with activity from bridge to bridge. However, there is a surface parking dead zone (GM’s) immediately east of Ren Cen. Developing this area should be prioritized, rather than demolishing distinctive and historic towers.
Thomas E. Page
Detroit
Use it to fight the housing crisis
Demolishing any part of the Renaissance Center would be an incredibly wasteful move at a time when Michigan is facing an acute housing crisis.
Joel Batterman
Detroit
Send a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we can publish it online and in print.
