by Arthur Mullen

Historically, large scale institutional users have less than admirable records when it comes to managing the built environment surrounding their facilities. Wayne State has a marginal record at best. The University trumpets its work on Old Main and St. Andrews Church as evidence of its commitment to historic preservation. The current work on Old Main, however, utterly disregards the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. In addition, ongoing efforts may lead to the demolition of important buildings around campus.

In the University's continued misguided quest for surface parking at any cost, it plans to demolish a number of structures located to the north of the main campus. Despite efforts led by Preservation Wayne, the most widely identified historic building on the Wayne State Endangered Buildings list—the Gleaners Temple— has already been destroyed. This Woodward Avenue structure was eligible for both national and local historic designation.

More endangered WSU buildings lie along Cass Avenue north of I-94. Three industrial and commercial structures are threatened, and they strongly contribute to the urban quality that Cass possesses at that point. One of the buildings served as the headquarters of the Cadillac Motor Company. All three structures are to be replaced by surface parking, further separating Wayne's campus from New Center to the north. The former Carson Chop-house, located on Woodward Avenue, is also to meet the same fate.

Completion of a totally out-of-context residential structure adjacent to the Whitney (which is listed on the National Register for Historic Places) now has the University planning to demolish the remaining residential homes and apartments that are on the campus along Merrick Street. The smaller of these structures date from the turn-of-the-century and the larger structures from the 1920s and 1930s.