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 phrenzee
     
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
 |  | Packard to be demolished
< on 3/2/2012 2:01 PM >
|  | | | Source
MARCH 2, 2012
Owner to demolish iconic Packard Plant
BY CHRISTINE MACDONALD AND LOUIS AGUILAR THE DETROIT NEWS
Detroit — The purported owner of the Packard Plant says he is days away from starting to barricade and fence off the 3.5-million-square-foot eyesore as a part of his plan to demolish one of the city's most iconic ruins.
Dominic Cristini said Thursday he has hired a demolition firm and plans on applying for permits in the next several days to secure the sprawling, dilapidated plant on East Grand Boulevard near Concord. Cristini, who claims he's the sole owner through his company, Bioresource, said he wants to start the demolition process within a month.
"I am going to demolish the building," Cristini said. "It's unsafe, and it's got to come down. I don't want anybody to get hurt. I am just trying to do the right and responsible thing."
He estimates it will cost $6 million to raze the Albert Kahn-designed plant built by the luxury automaker that went out of business in 1958, adding that recovered scrap metal will offset the cost.
A small crew from AVC Services based in Harrison Township was onsite Thursday, assessing ways to cut it off from the constant stream of scavengers, homeless and artists who have made it a popular underground site for years.
"We are going to see if it is possible to secure it," Mike Carlumsto of AVC said Thursday.
Cristini said they may try to save portions of the plant for historical value but isn't sure whether that is possible.
Detroit officials said Thursday the plant has already gone through demolition hearings and was ordered down in April 2011.
"We have always been willing to work with the property owners to bring their property into compliance," said Karla Henderson, Mayor Dave Bing's Group Executive of Planning and Facilities. "We support their efforts."
The sprawling plant has been ravaged by time, the elements and scavengers, but it continues to attract admirers.
"In a sick way, it's incredibly beautiful," freelance photographer Casey Carlton said Thursday as she explored the edges of Packard.
[email protected]
(313) 222-2396
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SlimSpidey
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 1 on 3/2/2012 4:32 PM >
| | | | I'll believe it when i see it. I think it is way for the 'owner' to get permits so he can scrap all the steel for himself before the scrappers get it. The either let the rubble sit or nothing.
The building still needs to be abated before it can be tore down...
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ue20
 
Location: Ontario
Gender: Male
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 2 on 3/2/2012 4:34 PM >
| | | | Posted by SlimSpidey
I'll believe it when i see it. I think it is way for the 'owner' to get permits so he can scrap all the steel for himself before the scrappers get it. The either let the rubble sit or nothing.
The building still needs to be abated before it can be tore down...
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+1 I heard there is really a big "question" who the owner is...
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SlimSpidey
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 3 on 3/2/2012 4:57 PM >
| | | | I have been working with a few news outlets to get this noticed...
http://www.detroitfunk.com/?p=8824
(my friends blog)
The pipe has been leaking for at least a year and the city won't do anything about it...
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fiftyone_eggs
 
Location: jerzey
Gender: Male
| |  | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 4 on 3/2/2012 5:13 PM >
| | | | Why put forth the effort? The place seems to be demolishing itself.
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SlimSpidey
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 5 on 3/2/2012 7:50 PM >
| | | | There is only one building with failure due to mother nature, the rest is scrapping.
This used to be a building less then a year ago, they cut beams then pull it down tot collect the steel.
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SlimSpidey
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 6 on 3/2/2012 7:54 PM >
| | | | Here is a recent collapse of what a few of us have nicknamed 'SLumpy'
(you can see the rest of the album if you follow the QR code...)
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ahhntzville
Location: Boston
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 7 on 3/2/2012 8:16 PM >
| | | | Posted by SlimSpidey
I think it is way for the 'owner' to get permits so he can scrap all the steel for himself before the scrappers get it. |
Few years late for that, lol
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SlimSpidey
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 8 on 3/2/2012 8:36 PM >
| | | | Posted by arntzville
Few years late for that, lol
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Umm apparently you never walked the building. It is 3.5 million sq ft.
There are still two water towers, beams, sheds, freight elevators and motors... For someone with heavy equipment that place will produce money and if he guns and runs with the scrap and leaves the rubble he is out ahead...
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DrainStormer
Location: Detroit, Michigan
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 9 on 3/2/2012 9:44 PM >
| | | | Posted by SlimSpidey
Umm apparently you never walked the building. It is 3.5 million sq ft.
There are still two water towers, beams, sheds, freight elevators and motors... |
actually there's only one watertower left btw. the north tower has been gone for what, almost a year? lol...whens the last time you walked the blg?
and most of those sheds ("courts" as theyre called on the Sanborns) have been already taken. the only ones that remain are Blgs 40-45 (where the Jesus Guy squats), and the old Truck Ass'y wing btwn Blgs 33 & 37.
then there's the rebar in the concrete itself, which costs as much to extract as it is worth.
ALSO...
Freep update:
| Carlomusto said Friday that he expects to spend the next 45 days conducting “due diligence” to determine how much scrap metal is in the property. He said that will tell him whether “the juice is worth the squeeze.” |
+ this
| Two years ago, Karla Henderson, group executive for planning and facilities for the city, estimated it would cost $20 million to demolish the building and do environmental cleanup on the site. |
= Christini is an idiot, and this is all just a bunch of bullshit. $20 million, huh? i thought it was only supposed to cost $6 million ahahahahhahahahahahhahaha retards.
[last edit 3/2/2012 9:47 PM by DrainStormer - edited 1 times]
"Back in '98 my crew numbered 12, now it is just me and Andy. Most were lost on the eastside but there was an especially bad day at the UA back in 03. I don't like to talk about that day." DK-- |
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DrainStormer
Location: Detroit, Michigan
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 10 on 3/2/2012 9:49 PM >
| | | | unless this is all just a ploy to later come to mommy gov't with crocodile tears in his eyes and say, "oh drat, look what all those mean scrappers did by stealing alllll my metal. can i have some tax dollars for demolition please?"
look how many other plants around the city this has happened to. Kelsey-Hayes, Continental, Ternstedt, Fisher Body, Everhot...they were all stripped of their steel blgs, then left to sit and crumble. the only time these concrete plants get knocked down is if they happen to be in the way of a new development by some chance.
[last edit 3/2/2012 9:53 PM by DrainStormer - edited 2 times]
"Back in '98 my crew numbered 12, now it is just me and Andy. Most were lost on the eastside but there was an especially bad day at the UA back in 03. I don't like to talk about that day." DK-- |
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ZachariahDaMan
Location: Detroit
Gender: Male
| |  | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 11 on 3/2/2012 10:16 PM >
| | | | I call bullshit lol. And the $6 mill he says it will take is a joke.
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ahhntzville
Location: Boston
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 12 on 3/2/2012 10:18 PM >
| | | | Posted by SlimSpidey
Umm apparently you never walked the building. It is 3.5 million sq ft. |
It was 3.5 million square feet before scrappers, fire and decay leveled huge swaths of it. I've "walked the building" plenty of times, and every time I go there is more empty space where metal buildings used to be. Hence the absurdity of your theory that this current demolition chatter is some sort of ploy for the owner to extract the steel "before the scrappers get it." It's like saying you want to go take some photos there this weekend, before the graffiti writers tag it up.
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phrenzee
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 13 on 3/3/2012 2:08 PM >
| | | | Packard Motor plant owner has no demolition permits or public money to raze massive site¸
Detroit Free Press
7:51 PM, March 2, 2012
The owner of the Packard Motor Car Co. plant -- an international symbol of urban decay -- has no demolition permits, no state or city money, and no publicly announced redevelopment plan.
And yet a family friend says Dominic Cristini is ready to tear down the 3.5-million-square-foot plant.
Antonio V. Carlomusto, owner of AVC Services in Harrison Township, said Cristini has hired him to oversee demolition of the historic plant on Detroit’s east side.
However, Cristini hasn’t yet paid Carlomusto, and it’s not clear how he will finance a demolition and cleanup that by the city’s estimate could cost $20 million.
Finances appear to be an issue for Cristini, who did not return several calls from the Free Press on Friday. He told the Environmental Protection Agency last year that he didn’t have the resources to pay $35,000 for cleanup costs at the plant. His company, Bioresource, owes $760,000 in back city and county property taxes. The city has a separate lien against the owner for $400,000 in unpaid taxes, a spokeswoman said.
And this isn’t the first time Cristini, a convicted drug dealer, has had big plans for the Packard plant. Years ago, he hired architect John Marusich to develop plans for a casino and racetrack on the site.
Marusich told the Free Press in 2010 that it was a visionary project, and Cristini was “an eccentric to say the least.”
Charles Hyde, professor emeritus of history at Wayne State University, isn’t convinced the demolition will happen anytime soon -- or that the expenditure will be worth it.
“I will believe when I see it,” he said. “His claim that there’s enough scrap metal to pay for demolition I find interesting, especially because some of the people who’ve been in that building have been hauling away things for years, like steel beams.”
Naomi Patton, spokeswoman for Mayor Dave Bing, said the city doesn’t plan to kick in money for demolition. “It’s on his dime,” she said.
The city said Cristini needs demolition permits to start taking the plant down, and had not applied for any, as of thisafternoon.
Carlomusto said demolition won’t start for at least 90 days, and will be done by a sister company he declined to identify.
“We’re not going to cut any corners; we’re complying with state and city laws,” he said. “Bottom line: Dominic is doing the right thing. The building is unsafe and is very dangerous for passing pedestrians.”
City officials said they are not working with Cristini on funding for the demolition, cleanup or future site plans.
Rob Anderson, director of planning for the city, said he was not aware of any plans for the site once it’s cleaned up.
“There are some scenarios we’ve kicked around for it, but nothing definitive,” he said. “That’s why it’s still standing.”
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said before the complex can be demolished, the owner must get rid of any asbestos. Wilhemina McLemore, supervisor of air quality for the agency, said she notified the demolition contractor Friday of that requirement, after hearing news reports that the owner planned to tear the buildings down.
The owner must first survey the building to determine where there is asbestos and then come up with a plan to get rid of it, including proper disposal of the waste. Those plans must be approved by the DEQ.
The Environmental Protection Agency said that although some asbestos was removed more than a decade ago, plenty remains.Last July, the EPA hauled out 12,000 pounds of hazardous paint waste in drums from the northwest corner of the abandoned plant, fearing the leaking drums would ignite or harm trespassers. The EPA has sent notices to Cristini and Bioresource to pay those costs, but Cristini hasn’t paid.
“He said he did not have the resources,” said Brian Kelly, EPA project coordinator. Directors of state and federal brownfields grant programs said Cristini wouldn’t be eligible for funding, particularly if he has no plan for redeveloping the site.
Despite the skeptics, Carlomusto said Friday that work to bring the plant down is moving along. He said a fence will be installed around the perimeter of the plant starting next week, and he’ll spend the next 45 days determining how much scrap metal remains there.
Carlomusto said he needs to know whether “the juice is worth the squeeze.”
John Adamo Jr., president of Adamo Industrial Services, a Detroit demolition company, said Carlomusto won’t find a lot of scrap left inside the plant, which is built of reinforced concrete.
“The value of the steel left in the Packard plant is not nearly enough to pay for the demolition,” Adamo said Friday.
Once the fencing is up, Carlomusto said, no one will be allowed on the property without authorization. “That is a hazardous place,” he said.
Cristini obtained Bioresource following the 1998 death of Edward Portwood, who had been managing the facility. At that time, the Packard plant had dozens of tenants who used it for storage, manufacturing and paint-ball war games.
That same year, the state prepared to tear down the plant and clean up environmental contamination. Cristini fought those plans and the city’s efforts to evict him from the plant. At one point, the city’s gang squad patrolled the plant while Cristini was holed up inside the executive offices.
The city argued it owned the plant.
In 2000, three businessmen or their companies paid $700,000 in back taxes on the plant. The legal wrangling over ownership, however, continued for several more years. In 2007, the city turned possession of the plant to Bioresource.
And that legal battle, according to his attorney at the time, took a toll on Cristini. In 2004, Cristini was accused of dealing the drug Ecstasy out of an abandoned school near the plant, where he also held rave parties.
He pleaded guilty in federal court in Detroit in 2006 and was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison. He was released last year.
At his sentencing in 2006, his attorney described Cristini as the product of an abusive childhood and said Cristini’s fight for the Packard plant led to depression and serious substance abuse issues, according to federal court records.
“The impact of this litigation on all aspects of Mr. Cristini’s life cannot be underestimated,” Cristini’s lawyer told the court.
^
Source
[last edit 3/3/2012 2:11 PM by phrenzee - edited 5 times]
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Stangguy
| | R.I.P Packard Plant
<Reply # 14 on 3/7/2012 4:13 AM >
| | | | sad news this week, Detroit has apparently given the green light to demolish the Packard plant, kind of sad, my favorite building on the planet, lets get some good pics before its all gone.
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secretdestroyers
Location: Baltimore
Gender: Male
| | | Re: R.I.P Packard Plant
<Reply # 15 on 3/7/2012 4:39 AM >
| | | | I'll believe it what i see it. the cost to take it down is going to be very high. even after they get everything all set to go it could be years before anything happens to it.
SD
F this I"m going exploring! |
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Stangguy
| | Re: R.I.P Packard Plant
<Reply # 17 on 3/7/2012 5:06 AM >
| | | | Posted by secretdestroyers
I'll believe it what i see it. the cost to take it down is going to be very high. even after they get everything all set to go it could be years before anything happens to it.
SD
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I hope you're right, I don't want it to come down, I also heard the same thing that it would cost almost 10 million dollars to demolish, lets hope they don't do it.
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DrainStormer
Location: Detroit, Michigan
| | Re: Packard to be demolished
<Reply # 18 on 3/7/2012 5:22 AM >
| | | | here's some pics showing the piles of suburban/hipster/Ferndalite imbeciles who flocked the place on Saturday, running around like Chicken Little, thinking the sky is falling:
http://www.detroitfunk.com/?p=8845
"Back in '98 my crew numbered 12, now it is just me and Andy. Most were lost on the eastside but there was an especially bad day at the UA back in 03. I don't like to talk about that day." DK-- |
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DrainStormer
Location: Detroit, Michigan
| | Re: R.I.P Packard Plant
<Reply # 19 on 3/7/2012 5:29 AM >
| | | | http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=99845
Please.
They've been talking about demolishing that motherfucker since the 1960s.
[last edit 3/7/2012 5:32 AM by DrainStormer - edited 3 times]
"Back in '98 my crew numbered 12, now it is just me and Andy. Most were lost on the eastside but there was an especially bad day at the UA back in 03. I don't like to talk about that day." DK-- |
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