David Broderick Tower

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Broderick Tower
Information
Location	10 Witherell Street Detroit, Michigan  United States
Status	Complete
Constructed	1926 - 1928
Use	office
Roof	369 ft (112.6 m)
Floor count	35
Companies
Architect	Louis Kamper Paul Kamper

The David Broderick Tower is a vacant skyscraper in Detroit, Michigan. Construction began in 1926, and was completed in 1928. The tower was the second tallest building in Michigan when it was completed in 1928. It stands 35-stories tall, with two basement floors. The building is designed with Neo-classical architecture, Chicago school, and Beaux-Arts designs. Limestone is a prominent material in the building's surface. It was designed by architects Louis Kamper and Paul Kamper for Theodore Eaton.

The tower is located at the Southeast corner of Woodward Ave and Witherell St., facing Grand Circus Park, in downtown Detroit, and stands across the street from the David Whitney Building, and stands in the "Foxtown" neighbourhood of Detroit.

Recent plans to renovate the tower come from Motown Construction Inc. The project will renovate the existing building into 127 rental apartments on floors 5-34, with the lower 4 floors being upgraded for retail, entertainment, and office uses. Completion is expected in 2008.

An ad for Jeep was placed on the building in July 2006, covering up the Whaling Wall mural. The money generated from the ad will benefit the restoration of the building. A Verison ad was mounted in late 2006.

The memorable former humpback whale mural on the rear facade of the building was painted by Metro-Detroit native eco-artist, Wyland and was dedicated on October 13, 1997. The tower is not a square, but actually a parallelogram in shape.

Before the decorative cornices were removed, this building was 371'-6" to the top of the parapet wall, and 376'-7" tall to the very tip of the decorative cornice. This tower is topped by a Beaux Arts/Neo-classical inspired crown. Once the planned restoration is complete, the tower will contain retail and entertainment floors 1 through 4 (with a separate mezzanine above floor 1), office space on floors 5 and 6, and residential space on the top floors 7 through 34.

The tower was originally constructed as the Eaton Tower, named after Theodore Horation Eaton, Jr., an importer and dealer in chemicals and dyes. The building changed ownership and names in 1945, when the tower was purchased by David Broderick, a Detroit insurance broker, which he then renamed after himself. After his purchase of the tower in 1945, David Broderick created the Sky Top Club on the 33rd floor of the tower, which was a private club used for entertaining Mr. Broderick's associates and guests. After David Broderick's death in 1957, the tower changed hands many times between 1963 and 1976, finally ending up in the hands of the Higgins family, which retains a stake in the ownership to this day.

[edit] References

• Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. 
• Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4. 
• Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6. 

[edit] External links

• Google Maps location of the David Broderick Tower
• The David Broderick Tower at Emporis.com
• SkyscraperPage.com's Profile on the David Broderick Tower
• Broderick Tower homepage for the renovation project
• BuildingsOfDetroit.COM - David Broderick Tower

[edit] Education

Currently zoned to the following Detroit Public Schools:

• Chrysler Chrysler Elementary School
• Murray-Wright High School
• Owen Owen Academy at Pelham (6-8)