Rebuilding

During our time in Detroit, we visited the Packard Plant, the ruins of an automobile factory run by the Packard Motor Car Company, who shut down their operations in eastern Detroit in 1956.  Since then, the building has been deteriorating, with its windows blown out, ceilings falling in, and lead paint peeling from the walls that still remain.  While we ventured through this abandoned structure, there were still signs of life - from the occasional school group and photographers (like ourselves), as well as the overwhelming layers of graffiti tagged on every surface you can imagine, hinting at the number of people who, too, were drawn in by curiosity by this weathered and empty shell.

While we were there, we met Maurice, who is a contract worker for a new factory construction project on the west side of the city.  His job was to go through the Packard Plant, and other building like it, to search for scrap material that could be salvaged.  He would bring the scraps in a grocery cart to his home, where someone would then pick it all up and bring it to the worksite.  In the new building, they are installing the large windows (as seen in the image above), which he said were not being fabricated anymore.   So, that day he was searching the Plant for window weights, which were hefty cylinders of lead that counterbalance the weight of the window sash.  That day he only found two (out of the twenty he needed), however when our group moved on to the Lee Plaza Hotel later on that day, we found a room covered with the lead weights.

For some historical images of the Packard Plant while it was still in operation, please visit: Automotive History Online