14250 Plymouth Road
Kelvinator Headquarters, Nash-Kelvinator Headquarters, American Motors Corporation Headquarters, Chrysler
A few weeks ago, I photographed this building amidst breathtaking autumnal colors. I knew then that it was slated for demolition—but until this week, I had hope that NorthPoint would save at least a small portion of the structure. Unfortunately, to use the old cliche, another one bites the dust.
Although most known as AMC Headquarters, the structure was built for Kelvinator. It was designed by the firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls and completed in 1927. In 1936, Kelvinator merged with Nash Motors to create the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. In 1954, Hudson Motor Car Company was acquired, and the titan of industrial power was renamed American Motors Corporation or AMC. Kelvinator would be sold in 1968 and go defunct in 1986 after multiple mergers.
AMC Headquarters left the building at 14250 Plymouth Road in the mid-1970s, but the factory and offices remained active. In 1987, Crysler purchased AMC, and the property would remain in service until the late 2000s.
After closure, the property was scrapped, vandalized, and fell into the city’s lap. Since the city took ownership, scrapping continued, the ornate details from the office building were long gone, and it was left open to the elements. “I understand if they tear down the factory, but the office complex is worth saving,” is a phrase I constantly heard from friends and on the internet when discussing the property. How couldn’t you agree? It was one of a kind.
After abandonment, the tower became a canvas for graffiti artists. Hanging precariously over the edge, painters risked it all to have their name in lights—or paint, in this case, atop the tower.
The demolition of this building has made me extraordinarily sad. I don’t often get emotional when I see buildings in Detroit come down—I’ve seen enough to be numb to it—but this one feels different. I always thought that the tower looked like one of the campaniles in Venice or the belfry in Brugge. It was visible for miles and was an iconic part of the landscape of Detroit’s west side.
I understand that Detroit needs to change its image—abandoned buildings, graffiti, and city-owned blight weren’t cut out of a magazine and pasted onto Mayor Duggan’s vision board. The new jobs created by the manufacturing facility NorthPoint is building will be a positive for the city. However, it’s excruciatingly tough for me to believe there wasn’t a way that the office building, or hell, even just the tower, could have been saved.
Alas, it isn’t my money at the end of the day. But damn, this one feels like a big miss.
Mid-October to Mid-December 2022. Photos by Eric Hergenreder.
