Harmonie Club (Detroit, Michigan)

Infobox_nrhp | name =The Harmonie Club
nrhp_type =

---

caption = The Harmonie Club from the south
location= Detroit, Michigan
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 20
lat_seconds = 11
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 83
long_minutes = 2
long_seconds = 48
long_direction = W
locmapin = Michigan
area =
built =1894
architect= Richard E. Raseman
architecture= Beaux Arts
added = September 04, 1980
governing_body = Private
refnum=80001924cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Harmonie Club is a club located at 267 East Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.

History

Augustus Woodward's plan for Detroit's streets created oddly-shaped triangular blocks, including Capitol Park on the west and Harmonie Park on the east. [http://detroit1701.org/Harmonie%20Club.html The Harmonie Club] from Detroit1701.org] Starting in the 1830s and 40s, this area was home to a growing number of German immigrants to Detroit. In 1849, to preserve their ethnic traditions, a group of Detroit Germans founded a singing group, the "Gesang-Verein Harmonie". The club built a frame clubhouse at the corner of Lafayette and Beaubien in 1874. This frame Harmonie Club structure burned in 1893, and the club almost immediately organized a competition, open to German architects, to design a new building. Richard Raseman (the architect of the GAR Building) won the competition; the resulting building sits across from Harmonie Park.

Description

The Harmonie Club is a four-story, hipped-roof building with a basement, built of buff-colored brick [http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/historic/districts/harmonie_club.pdf The Harmonie Club] from the city of Detroit] and stone. The curved corner is particularly shaped to the geometry of the site. [http://books.google.com/books?id=sZGskamYzjUC Eric J. Hill, John Gallagher, American Institute of Architects Detroit Chapter,] "AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture," Wayne State University Press, 2002, ISBN 0814331203, 9780814331200, p. 48] The first two stories are embellished with stonework, and the top two stories feature additional banding and arched windows on the top floor. Corinthian columns and a balustraded balcony over the entry add a classical feel. The interior of the club features classical plasterwork, dark oak paneling and Pewabic tile. The club also offered fine dining, a tavern, card rooms, bowling alley and lounges.

Current use

Over time, membership in the Harmonie Club dwindled, and the club was sold in 1974. The building remained vacant until the 1990s; as of 2007, the city of Detroit planned a cultural district around Harmonie Park, to include the Harmonie Club. [http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070316/BIZ/703160359/ Louis Aguilar,] "Harmonie Park plans get a boost," "The Detroit News," March 16, 2007] The club was recognized as an historical property by the state of Michigan in 1975, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and was recognized by the city of Detroit in 1988.

References