2615 Rosa Parks Boulevard
Detroit Ice Machine Company, DIMCO, National Truck Equipment & Supply Company
This property’s address contains 2615-27 Rosa Parks Boulevard.
This structure was completed in 1924 and was designed by the architect Robert C. Doremus. It was completed for the Detroit Ice Machine Company and housed their plant and offices, previously located inside the Marquette Building on Congress Street downtown. The company was founded by George B. Bright, Sr., who was also the president for a time. He was previously involved with the Huetteman & Cramer Company, another refrigeration operation. The Detroit Ice Machine Company was known around town and in the industry as DIMCO.
According to a piece in the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Ice Machine Company conducted more than $500,000 worth of business in 1924 and dealt “entirely in refrigeration for commercial purposes only,” supplying “meat markets, butcher shops, grocery stores, and restaurants.” The piece also mentioned that the new plant was designed for 60% of the exterior wall space to be windows for light.
By 1934, the Pfeiffer Brewing Company, at 3700 Beaufait, was completely renovated and modernized. Mildner & Eisen designed the remodel, Triangle Electric Company did the electrical work, and the Detroit Ice Machine Company did all the piping and installed the refrigeration equipment. Much of this brewery still stands today. Fresh off that contract, DIMCO started advertising the company as “Specialists in Brewery Engineering and Contracting.”
In 1937, James Palazzolo, a mushroom farmer at 9 Mile and Gratiot, contracted the Detroit Ice Machine Company to install refrigeration systems in three of his mushroom houses. The plans failed in two of them, causing him a reported $8,000 loss. He took them to court, and DIMCO had to pay out $2,592.
That same year, DIMCO did installations at Crowley Milner Department Store, Bond Clothing Store, the County Hospital in Eloise, Detroit Osteopathic Hospital in Highland Park, Walgreens Drug Store, Highland Oil Corp, the cold storage building at the Wayne County Poor Farm in Eloise, Shedd Products Company, and Radner Beef Company.
In November 1942, a bull’s-eye flag, “the treasury banner that indicates that every one working there is putting 10 percent of his pay into war bonds,” was raised outside the DIMCO plant pictured here alongside the American flag. Detroit was the powerhouse behind America’s war effort, and it wasn’t uncommon for plants like this to go all in on the war effort. Today, something like this feels unimaginable.
In 1944 and 1945, the company placed tons of ads in the newspaper hiring new workers. After that, things went quiet for a few years. I’m not certain when DIMCO left this property or what took over immediately after. The 1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows that there was a new portion of the structure built in 1950 extending from the back right of the building and a large loading dock.
In June 1956, George B. Bright, Sr., the company’s founder, died. He had retired and moved to Florida by that point.
At some point, DIMCO was sold to the Spitzley Corporation. In 1973, Glanz & Killian Company of Dearborn purchased the refrigeration operation of the company, renaming it the Detroit Ice Machine Company, which is what it was called before Spitzley bought it.
An advert in the Detroit Free Press indicated that the National Truck Equipment & Supply Company would be closed on Wednesday, May 17, 1967, due to the death of Mr. Max Kumove, the company’s founder. He died on May 15, and the address of his company was listed at the structure pictured here. I’ve found no other mention of that company at this address.
After that, I haven’t found any mention of this structure until 1998, when it was for sale in the Detroit Free Press. According to that ad, the property had plumbing, heating, and air conditioning. It was located inside an empowerment zone and was listed as close to the bridge, tunnel, and most freeways. At that time, the roof was new, and the loading dock was still functional.
To my knowledge, this structure hasn’t been used since then. Today, it’s owned by Bucharest Investments, LLC, a company headed by Peter Adamo of Adamo Group Demolition. Adamo has demolished thousands of buildings in Detroit since the company was founded by John Adamo in 1964.
The former DIMCO plant, pictured here, is currently for sale through O’Connor Real Estate for $950,000. Considering the location, the size of the structure, and how much land comes with it, maybe that isn’t an awful deal given the market today.
Hopefully, after a developer purchases this one and turns it into lofts or offices, they’ll name it something that pays homage to its history. The pheasant mural on the highway side of this structure was completed in 2015 by Bob Spence.
Even considering the destruction of history that the owner of this structure’s family is responsible for, I think this one is safe—for now.
