Coleman A. Young Municipal Center

The Spirit of Detroit by Marshall Fredericks at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center.

The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center is a class-A office building in downtown Detroit, near Hart Plaza, One Detroit Center and the Renaissance Center. Originally called the City-County Building, it was renamed for former Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young, shortly after his death in 1997. It serves as the government headquarters for the City of Detroit.

Construction began on the international-style skyscraper in 1951 and was completed in 1954. It was designed by the architectural firm of Harley, Ellington and Day and is 20 floors high, with one basement floor, for a total of 21. Three sides of the building's exterior are faced with white Vermont marble with black marble spandrel panels beneath the windows of the court tower to emphasize the building's vertical lines.^[1] The brick of the Randolph Street facade was not covered with marble to allow for a more economical future expansion. It is operated by the Detroit-Wayne Joint Building Authority which was created in 1948 by the Michigan Legislature.^[2] The building contains a library, a courthouse, and the city hall. When it opened, it replaced both the Detroit City Hall and the Wayne County Building. Many Wayne County offices have since moved to the nearby Guardian Building which now serves as its headquarters. The offices of the Wayne County Clerk remain in the building as does one division of the Wayne County (Third Judicial) Circuit Court, Circuit Court Administrative Offices and the Wayne County Probate Court.

An enclosed skyway over Randolph Street connects to the Millender Center, Courtyard by Marriott - Downtown Detroit, and the Renaissance Center as a sort of "enclosed city within a city". Entrance from the walkway to the third-floor level requires a security pass; persons without a pass must return to the main floor entrance.

On June 28, 2008, the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center was struck by lightning during a series of intense thunderstorms, and caused a transformer fire within the building. It re-opened for service on July 9, 2008.

The smoke and fire damage is easily visible across the river, in Windsor, Ontario, where many windows have been removed, or have shattered.

Facts

The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, looking southeast from West Larned Street, Detroit, Michigan

• A 25-foot bronze statue is situated at the flat end of the tower, named the "Spirit of Detroit." When Detroit sports teams (the Red Wings, Pistons and Tigers) have been in contention for their league's championship, the statue has traditionally been outfitted with a huge version of the appropriate team's jersey. The sculptor was Marshall Fredericks.
• The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center houses offices, courtrooms, and meeting rooms. The verticality of the tower section, with its white marble-clad piers and dark spandrels, offers a distinct contrast with the 14-story office section, in which horizontal lines are emphasized.
• The 14-story administration tower is 197 ft (60 m) tall, from the ground to the mechanical penthouse roof parapet.
• The 20-story portion of this complex is called the Courts Tower and is 318 ft (97 m) tall. It contains office space on floors 1 through 8, and courtrooms, judge chambers, and jury rooms on floors 9 through 19, with the 20th floor housing the building's mechanical equipment.
• The 14-story portion called the Administration Tower holds offices for the City of Detroit and Wayne County, as well as doctor clinics, laboratories, a municipal library, and the City Council auditorium chambers on the 13th floor.
• A symbolic marble wall rising 43'-6.25" high stands 17' west of the Court Tower, and is connected to the Courts Tower by a canopy that forms the Woodward Avenue entrance. The Detroit and Wayne County seals are carved into the wall with a quote from 2 Corinthians (3:17) Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

References

1. ^ Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4. 
2. ^ "Property Profile". dwjba.com. http://www.dwjba.com/propertyprofile.html. Retrieved 2010-10-15. 

• Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. 
• Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6. 

External links

Metro Detroit portal

• Coleman A. Young Municipal Center at Emporis.com
• SkyscraperPage.com's Profile on the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center