39595 Ord 32_12_39595 Ord 32_12 12/19/12 9:55 AM Page 1

ORDINANCE NO. 32-12

ORDINANCE NO. 32-12 the alley west of and parallel to ChAptER 25 Woodward Avenue, thence northwesterly ARtIClE II along the centerline of said alley to the AN ORDINANCE tO AMEND point of beginning. [Legal description: ChAptER 25, ARtIClE II, Of thE Lots 47, 48, and 57-82, Plat of Section 8, 1984 CIty CODE by Governor & Judges Plan, Liber 34 of ADDINg sECtION 25-2-189 tO Deeds, Page 543, Wayne County EstAblIsh thE CApItAl pARk Records.] lOCAl hIstORIC DIstRICt AND tO (D) The defined elements of design, as DEfINE thE ElEMENts Of DEsIgN provided for in Section 25-2-2 of this fOR thE DIstRICt. Code, are as follows: AN ORDINANCE to amend Chapter 25, (1) Height. The eighteen contributing Article II, of the 1984 Detroit City buildings in the district range in height Code by adding section 25-2-189 to from one (1) to thirty-seven (37) stories establish the Capitol park local tall with the average height being nine (9) historic District and to define the stories tall. The buildings on the west side elements of design for the district. of Griswold Street range in height from IT IS HEREBY ORDAINED BY THE the two-story structure at 1427-1439 PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF DETROIT Griswold Street and two one-story non- THAT: contributing buildings located at 1405 and section 1. Chapter 25, Article II, of the 1201 Griswold Street to the eleven (11) 1984 Detroit City Code is amended by story Smith Building at 1145 Griswold adding Section 25-2-189 to read as Street and State Street. On the east side follows: of Griswold Street, buildings range in sec. 25-2-189. Capitol park local height from the two (2) story Wayne historic District. County and Home Savings Bank at 44 (A) A historic district to be known as Avenue at the corner of the Capitol Park Local Historic District is Griswold Street and Michigan Avenue to established in accordance with the provi- the towering thirty-seven (37) story David sions of this article. Stott building at 1150 Griswold Street on (B) This historic district designation is the corner of Griswold Street and Grand certified as being consistent with the River Avenue. Most buildings in the dis- Detroit Master Plan. trict abut one another to define a fairly (C) The boundaries of the Capitol Park continuous streetscape with the exception Local Historic Dis trict are as shown on the of through streets and empty lots used for map on file in the office of the City Clerk, surface parking. In general, there is little and are as follows: uniformity of building heights within the Beginning at the intersection of the district. centerline of the alley west of and parallel (2) Proportion of Buildings’ Front to Woodward Avenue and the centerline Façades. The proportions of individual of the alley east of and parallel to front façades vary greatly within the dis- Washington Boulevard, proceeding south trict. Most buildings in the district tend to along the centerline of the latter alley to be taller than wide, with the exception of the centerline of State Street, thence east the two story building at 1427-1439 along the centerline of State Street, to the Griswold Street and the Wayne County intersection with the centerline of Shelby and Home Savings Bank at 44 Michigan Street, thence south along the centerline Avenue. Several non-contributing build- of Shelby Street to the centerline of the ings that are wider than tall include the east-west alley north of and parallel to one-story buildings at 1405 and 1201 Michigan Avenue, thence east along the Griswold Street and the parking garage at centerline of said alley to the centerline of 1411 Griswold Street. Throughout the dis- Griswold Street, thence southeasterly trict many of the buildings that are signifi- along the centerline of Griswold Street to cantly taller than wide abut one another or the centerline of Michigan Avenue, thence share a party wall and collectively form a east to the (extended) east line of lot 47 of row that is wider than tall. Several build- Section 8, Governor and Judges Plan as ings in the district have an articulated recorded in Liber 34 of Deeds, Page 543, base with large storefront windows on the Wayne County Records, thence north lower levels, befitting of the district’s his- along said (extended) lot line to the cen- tory as a commercial district and bays terline of the alley north of Michigan with windows on their upper levels. The Avenue and perpendicular to Griswold Smith Building at 1145 Griswold Street Street, thence northeasterly along the sits at the corner of Griswold Street and centerline of said alley to the centerline of State Street and has a ground floor with

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storefronts and a mezzanine level with over the other throughout the district. A few maroon colored metal panels and octago- notable exceptions exist, such as the nal windows. Above the mezzanine, win- United Savings Bank of Detroit at 1133- dows are grouped into threes between 1139 Griswold Street, with its original win- pilasters separating the bays. The Brown dows and arches obscured by panels and Brothers Cigars building at 119 State grills. The first floor of most buildings in the Street has a lower level with a continuous district have greater void than solid on the row of storefront windows interrupted by first floor to accommodate store front and columns on its Griswold Street façade, plate glass windows. Issac Agree while its upper level has three vertical Downtown Synagogue at 1457 Griswold bays divided by pilasters with semi-circle Street is one exception, with its first floor arches on the fifth and sixth stories. The bays infilled with brick, and all windows Griswold Building at 1214-1230 Griswold located above eye level. Street has a structure composed of two (5) Rhythm of Spacing of Build ings on parts: a pronounced base and a U- Streets. Rhythm of spacing on streets shaped tower. The three-story base is is generally determined by setbacks from divided into nine bays with storefronts and the lot lines. Buildings typically abut each awnings, while the U-shaped nine-story other throughout the district. Where there tower has two bays on either side of the are surface parking lots as a result of façade that are flush with the base below, building demolition, the original rhythm is and five bays that are set back from the broken. The buildings located on the west face of the building. The fenestration of and east sides of Griswold Street the first and second stories of the Issac between Grand River Avenue and State Agree Downtown Synagogue at 1457 Street, and south of State Street between Griswold Street has been altered with the Shelby Street and Griswold Street, gener- removal of the original windows and now ally abut one another and frame the land- has rectangular aluminum frames filled scaped Capitol Park. with colored windows. The building at (6) Rhythm of Entrance and/or Porch 1416 Griswold Street has entrances on Projections. There is little uniformity the first level and only has windows above among primary entrances, as many build- its molded course. ings in the district have ground floors with (3) Proportion of Openings Within the several entrances to accommodate multi- Façades. The buildings within the Capitol ple businesses. Where single entrances Park Historic District are each composed do exist, they tend to be centered on the of approximately thirty-five (35) to sixty front façade or centered within the bay. (60) percent openings in their front Most entrances are flush with the building façades. Shapes and sizes of openings façade or the adjacent storefront, and are generally depend on the style and age of typically located at grade level. A few the buildings, and the extent of exterior entrances in the district are recessed, alterations. Storefront and display win- such as the two storefront entrances of dows on the first floor are commonplace. the Malcomson building at 1215-1219 Façades are typically divided into bays, Griswold Street, the double-door entrance with entrances either centered on the front to the Issac Agree Downtown Synagogue façade or centered within an individual at 1457 Griswold Street, and National bay while buildings of the Romanesque Loan & Investment Company at 1250 style have large round arched entrances. Griswold Street. Other buildings have Throughout the district, window openings multiple entrances with prominent tend to be vertical, rectangular, double- awnings, such as the Griswold Building at hung, fixed, and pivot windows centered 1214-1230 Griswold Street. within bays as either single openings or (7) Relationship of Materials. A variety grouped into twos or threes, with the of building materials exist throughout the exception of buildings whose façades district, including brick, terra cotta lime- have been completely redesigned, such stone, granite, concrete, stone, marble, as the United Savings Bank of Detroit at and glass. Window surrounds and frames 1133-1139 Griswold Street. tend to be steel, aluminum, wood, and (4) Rhythm of Solids to Voids in Front concrete. Bases, when present, tend to Façades. Most buildings in the district have be limestone or granite, while architectur- a regular rhythm of solids to voids articu- al embellishments tend to be terra cotta, lated by large storefronts on the lower level rough stone, patterned or raised brick, and pilasters defining vertical bays from cast or carved stone, and Pewabic tile. the ground or second floor to the parapet. Metal grills and panels, multi-colored win- Windows tend to be centered within bays, dow panes, and awnings are also present either single or grouped, and arranged one on the buildings. Landscaping elements

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throughout the district include metal light buff. Fire escapes, where they exist, are pools and in-ground trees with metal generally painted black. grates. Landscaping elements in Capitol (10) Relationship of Architectural Park include concrete planters, metal Details. The styles of the buildings com- benches, a bronze sculpture, historic stat- prising the Capitol Park Historic District ue, metal light poles, and aluminum bike include Victorian Romanesque, Richard - racks. In general, the district is rich in its sonian Romanesque, Art Deco, Beaux varieties and relationships of materials. Arts, Medieval Revival, and Modern, with (8) Relationship of Textures. Through - architectural elements and details that out the district, the rough surface of brick, relate to their styles. Most of the architec- stone, and concrete contrast with the tural detail is concentrated at the smooth surface of terra cotta, granite entrance bays, ground stories, cornices, metal panels, and glass. oftentimes, the window openings, and upper levels. The base differs in expression and material Victorian Romanesque Brown Brothers from the upper level floors, such as the Cigars, at 119 State Street, has semi-cir- Griswold Building at 1214-1230 Griswold cular arches at the fifth and sixth floor Street, whose three-story base is faced in and a decorative cornice dividing the two limestone which offers a striking contrast stories. The Malcomson Building at 1215- to its nine-story brick tower, and the David 1219 Griswold Street is Medieval in style Stott building at 1150 Griswold Street, and has Tudor arches and carved con- which has a reddish granite base that sole brackets. The Chamber of ascends several stories before giving way Commerce Building at 1212 Griswold to tan-orange and then tan bricks with set- Street is characterized by a straightfor- backs framed by terra cotta parapets. ward treatment of stone, a regular Architectural details and ornamentation arrangement of deep-set windows, such as belt courses, pilasters, carved bowed outer window bays, and large console brackets, Tudor arches, carved round arched entrances which are indica- stone masks, stone plaques and terra tive of its Richardsonian Romanesque cotta parapets provide textural variety style. The Farwell Building, at 1249-1259 and interest to the building façades in the Griswold Street, exemplifies Beaux Arts district. In general, the district is extreme- Classicism with its centrally-located pri- ly rich in textural relationships. mary entrance highlighted by pilasters (9) Relationship of Colors. The natural with Ionic capitals. Pilasters are also brick colors of red, orange, buff, tan, and located at the corners of the building and brownish red dominate the district and are visually support a decorative terra cotta often contrasted with granite, concrete, cornice, which divides the second and tile and stone ornamentation and bases third stories. The Smith Building, at 1145 that are red, beige, blue, and cream. Griswold, which is also Beaux Arts in Concrete buildings are typically beige, style, has stylized stone pilasters resting white or cream colored, with large planes on a denticulated cornice dividing the of windows and red panels, such as the tenth and eleventh story from the lower concrete Wayne County and Home portion of the building. The two upper sto- Savings Bank at 44 Michigan Avenue. ries are also decorated with blue tiled Window surrounds and sashes tend to be panels with stone rosettes between the black, brown, tan, white, green, or red. tenth and eleventh story windows, and a Window and curtain wall glass is typically parapet with an elaborate low-relief frieze colorless or multicolored, such as the col- alternating with recessed blue-tiled pan- orful replacement windows of the Issac els. The , a modern Agree Downtown Synagogue at 1457 Art Deco skyscraper, has a red granite Griswold Street. Cornices tend to be base and a tiered summit with decorative lighter than the building materials below geometric patterns of limestone. Several them, and are typically beige, buff, and buildings in the district have been reno- white. Details such as decorative tiles on vated with significant changes made to the upper stories of the Smith Building at their base stories and in some cases, 1145 Griswold Street are blue, while its such as the United Savings Bank of lower-level metal panels and those visible Detroit at 1133-39 Griswold, the original between the floor levels on the Wayne Classical Revival style has been County and Home Savings Bank at 44 obscured by a new façade. The Wayne Michigan Avenue are maroon and red. County and Home Savings Bank, at 44 Entry doors tend to be black, brown, Michigan Avenue, was first erected as a beige, red, or storefront glass, while their Classical-inspired building, but later ren- awnings are black, red, and blue. Light ovated to a modern design with two-story poles are black; concrete planters are arches of white concrete and large two-

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story windows. In general the architectur- 1427-1439 Griswold Street and the al detail on buildings in the district is very Wayne County and Home Savings Bank rich. at 44 Michigan Avenue. Several non-con- (11) Relationship of Roof Shapes. All tributing buildings are horizontal in direc- of the buildings have flat roofs that cannot tional expression, including the one-story be seen from the ground. buildings at 1405 and 1201 Griswold (12) Walls of Continuity. Walls of conti- Street and the parking garage at 1411 nuity within the district are primarily created Griswold Street. Where buildings share by the adjacent buildings with uniform ele- party walls or abut one another, the hori- ments, such as setbacks, materials, and zontal nature of the elevations are styles. Except where broken by vacant emphasized. lots, the district has a very high degree of (17) Rhythm of Building Setbacks. continuity. Secondary walls of continuity Most buildings occupy their entire building are created by evenly spaced lighting fix- parcels, resulting in uniformity of building tures, sidewalks, and planters. setbacks. (13) Relationship of Significant (18) Relationship of Lot Coverage. Lot Landscape Features and Surface coverage by the buildings in the district is Treatments. Throughout the district, side- generally one hundred percent (100%), walks are concrete and roadbeds are as the vast majority of buildings occupy asphalt, with the exception of decorative their entire lots. The buildings in the dis- brick-paved areas in Capitol Park. Street trict help to frame the triangular open furniture is concentrated in Capitol Park, space of Capitol Park, which is pedestrian and includes black metal benches, tables in nature and contains no buildings. and chairs. The historic statue of (19) Degree of Complexity Within the Michigan’s first governor Stevens T. Façades. The district contains façades Mason, a metal sculpture, historic markers, with various degrees of complexity, and concrete planter boxes for trees and depending on style. Most buildings in the low-lying plants are also concentrated in district have simple storefronts on the Capitol Park. In-ground trees within metal ground floor, bases articulated by materi- grates are located in front of a few build- als or cornices, windows centered within ings along Griswold Street. Tall, black bays, and more complex ornamentation metal fluted lamp posts with single lamps and details such as decorative cornices, illuminate sidewalks throughout the dis- arched windows, rosettes, console brack- trict and within Capitol Park, while tall ets, fan motifs, low-reliefs, etc., on the lamp posts with double pendant lights upper floors. have been placed along the western edge (20) Orientation, Vistas, Over views. of Capitol Park. The Capitol Park Historic District is com- (14) Relationship of Open Space to prised of twenty-one buildings construct- Structures. In general, the Capitol Park ed for commercial use, and Capitol Park, Historic District is densely built-up with which is a large triangular open space buildings directly abutting one another, located between the two-way traffic of and open spaces resulting from public Griswold Street on the east, the brick- streets and alleys, surface parking lots, paved service and pedestrian side of and the triangular open space of Capitol Griswold Street, an extension of Shelby Park framed by buildings and streets on Avenue, on the west, and State Street on every side. Awnings and canopies com- the south, with Grand River Avenue to the monly extend into the public rights of way north. The Capitol Park Historic District is throughout the district. a triangular area surrounded by four his- (15) Scale of Façades and Façade toric districts, which provide dramatic Elements. The façades range from small views and vistas of historic buildings and in scale to the monumental thirty-seven beautiful streetscapes. Surrounding the story David Stott Building. Most buildings district is Washington Boulevard Historic in the district are small-and-medium District to the west, Lower Woodward scaled and help to frame the streetscape Avenue Historic District to the east, Grand and the open space of Capitol Park. Circus Park Historic District one block to Elements and details are in proportion to the north, and Historic Detroit Financial their respective façades. District to the south. (16) Directional Expression of Front (21) Symmetric or Asymmetric Ap - Elevations. The directional expression of pear ance. While individual buildings dis- individual front façades varies throughout play a high degree of symmetry in their the district, but generally, the expression major façades, the district on the whole is of buildings tends to be vertical, with the diverse in its array of building designs. exception of the two-story building at (22) General Environmental Charac -

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ter. Capitol Park Historic District is located lutions, in conflict with this ordinance are along the north-south spine of Griswold repealed. Street, between Michigan Avenue and section 3. This ordinance is declared Clifford Street, one block north of Grand necessary for the preservation of the public River Avenue. Capitol Park was built up peace, health, safety, and welfare of the over a period of time, old buildings people of the City of Detroit. replaced by newer ones, which adds to its section 4. This ordinance shall be diversity of architectural styles spanning given immediate effect upon publication in over fifty years of architectural history. accordance with Section 4-118 of the The district is an urbanized yet pedestri- 2012 Detroit City Charter. an-friendly place, as exemplified by first (J.C.C. p. ) November 7, 2012 floor storefronts, accessible mezzanines, Passed: November 20, 2012 and the open landscaped space of Approved: December 3, 2012 Capitol Park located at the core of the Published: December 12, 2012 district. Effective: December 12, 2012 section 2. All ordinances or parts of JANICE M. WINFREY ordinances, or resolutions or parts of reso- City Clerk

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