The Hotel Charlevoix was a historic hotel at 2033 Park Avenue in Detroit.Being one of the city's biggest eyesores it is actually the oldest surviving hotel in Detroit. It was also the only pre-automobile era hotels in Detroit to survive into the Twenty First Century.
During the 1920s, developers intended to profit by trying to make Detroit’s Park Avenue as famous as New York’s by building elegant and prestigious residential and commercial locations. They were successful for a few years, new structures arose, including the Park Avenue Building witch would later be the Charlevoix’s abandoned twin.
The Charlevoix was in a popular entertainment district behind the Fox Theatre.
In 1912 it was converted into an apartment building before 1922 when Grinnell Realty Co. purchased it.
Ralph Sachs purchased the building in 1981 and closed it.
The moment Sachs had been waiting for finally came in March 2012 when several bricks fell from the front facade of the Charlevoix, hitting a parked car below.Sachs immediately requested demolition.
On June 13, 2012, the City Historic District Commission held a hearing on the proposed demolition of the Charlevoix. Because the building was in the Park Avenue Historic District, the commission would need to approve the demolition. Sachs was not at the hearing, but his representatives urged the commission to allow for the building to come down, citing the falling bricks; the fact that the building is a frequent target of squatters and urban explorers; the building lacks any historical details; and that Sachs had been unable to find a developer or buyer for the building. They also said that Sachs didn't have the financial means to rehab, secure or demolish the building himself.
Sachs' representatives proved neither that he couldn't afford to pay for demolition or mothballing the building nor that the building was in imminent danger of collapse, the HDC denied the permission to demolish the building.
Sachs was given 15 days to submit a plan to mothball the structure. It's unclear what happens if Sachs doesn't comply.
About 7:30 a.m. June 23, 2013, workers took down the forlorn Charlevoix in one fell swoop. After cutting the steel I-beams supporting the old hotel, cables were used to bring the building down upon itself. In seconds, the Historic 1905 hotel was nothing but a pile of bricks.
There was no realistic hope for the Charlevoix, but you can't help but feel a little sting at another piece of Detroit's history being erased by one good tug.
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