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Say 'goodbye' to the Hudson's building

My specific destination was downtown Detroit's Renais-sance Center. I went to the top of the Renaissance Center, 72 stories above the city. I stayed in the observation lounge for over an hour. It was quiet, and it offers the absolute best view of Detroit available. I thought about some things I know about the city in the perspective of my god's view. Enough of this bird's eye view business; I decided to go out onto the streets. I strapped on my rollerblades and proceeded to Hart Plaza, the park adjacent to the Renaissance Center and bordering the Detroit River. I skated through the park down to the river just in time to witness a stupendous Great Lakes freighter wallow by. Of course, Detroit is no Ann Arbor, and a college boy like myself rollerblading through the city is quite a spectacle.

I skated down to Cobo Hall, past Joe Louis' huge fist and the Spirit of Detroit sculptures, up to Woodward Avenue. I decided to go up Woodward a couple of blocks, but while I was waiting to cross Jefferson Avenue, I noticed a headline of a local newspaper. It read something like "Hudson's building slated for demolition." This struck a chord with me. The Hudson's building represents Detroit perhaps more appropriately than the auto industry. It represents the vast amounts of wealth the city produced, the division of wealth the city produced, the racial segregation of the city and even the death of the city, as when Hudson's opened a suburban store just outside of Detroit.

The Hudson's building, with its once high-flying American flag, was slated for demolition. Of course, it isn't the first (or hopefully last) time the building has been slated for destruction, but this headline had particular impact on me because I was in the city, within sight of the Hudson's building, when I read it. It hit me hard. I skated further up Woodward to get a closer view of the building, and to perhaps take some pictures of it (fortuitously, I packed my camera in my backpack). I personally relate to the building, though I am far too young to remember its heyday, with its Christmas celebrations and the window displays. I did see one Christmas exhibit at the downtown Hudson's, though, in what may have been the last year the building was open. I remember that many of the floors of the building were closed off. But the magic of that building hasn't left me to this day. When I skated closer to the building, I noticed the window displays were empty or often simply covered-up.

I'm not sure why I get so sentimental about the destruction of inanimate objects, but maybe it's because they contain parts of every person that ever had anything to do with it. Inanimate objects like the Hudson's building represent more than just the architect or the company; they represent the essence of the community of which they are a part. And it is certainly sad to see something like this go down in rubble. It's probably time for the city of Detroit to move on, raze the Hudson's building, and put something much more beneficial to the city in its place. But all I want is a promise - a promise that whatever takes the place of the Hudson's building captures the essence of the Motor City as well as this building does.

-Greg Parker can be reached
via e-mail at glparker@umich.edu.