Cultural Center Historic District (Detroit)

Detroit Public Library

The Public Library was built in 1921, designed by Cass Gilbert in an Italian Renaissance style. The exterior is faced with white marble and the interior is decorated with murals, tiles and mosaics. Another wing was added in 1963.[3]

The Detroit Institute of Arts was built in 1927. Architect Paul Philippe Cret designed it to closely resemble its neighbor. Cret created galleries of varying sizes and shapes to provide a proper setting for the art collection.[3] Two wings were later added, one in 1965 and one in 1971, and a large addition opened in 2008.

Rackham Education Memorial Building in Detroit's Cultural Center Historic District

The Rackham Building was named after Horace Rackham, a local philanthropist and an early investor in Ford Motor Company. The building opened in 1941, serving as the headquarters for the Engineering Society of Detroit and the University of Michigan Extension Service.[3]

It was designed by the firm of Harley and Ellington Architects and Engineers and is faced with white Georgia marble with black granite accents. The windows are cast bronze and the exterior features sculptures by Detroit artist Marshall Fredericks. The structure is 404 ft (123 m) in length and between 65 ft (20 m) and 150 ft (46 m) in depth.

In the central section holds a 1,000-seat auditorium on the main level and a ballroom with a capacity of 700 on the lower level. The University of Michigan occupies the western wing with three classrooms, a lecture hall and studio classroom on the lower level. Offices for the Extension Center and Institute for Public and Social Administration are on the main level along with a lounge, and three classrooms. The second floor contains study rooms, a library and seminar rooms.

The Engineering Society of Detroit occupied the eastern wing until 1994. Its space included six bowling lanes, activities room and billiards room on the lower level, a writing room, dining room, 300-seat auditorium and lounge on the main floor and the Society's administration offices and library on the second floor.

Currently, Wayne State University's psychological clinic occupies a portion of the space vacated by the Engineering Society. The university's Communication Sciences and Disorders department also occupies portions of the building, with offices, conference rooms, a study area, and a library in the second floor west wing and additional offices and labs on the lower level east and west wings.[4] The department's Speech and Language Center is housed in the main floor east and west wings and the Audiology Clinic housed in the lower level west wing.[5]

The main auditorium and ballroom are in need of renovation and have not been used in several years.

On the wall facing Warren Avenue is a trio of 13 ft (4.0 m) high figures sculpted by Marshall Fredericks representing science, education and mankind. The figures are largely hidden due to the construction of a parking garage south of the building in the 1980s.[6]

• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
• College for Creative Studies
• David Whitney House
• Michigan Science Center
• Detroit Historical Museum
• East Ferry Avenue Historic District
• Midtown Detroit
• Scarab Club
• Wayne State University

• Hill, Eric J.; Gallagher, John (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3.
• Ferry, Hon A.I.A., W. Hawkins (1980). Introduction. Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. By Meyer, Katherine Mattingly; McElroy, Martin C. P. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.

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