Tag: Abandoned Hotel

Lee Plaza Hotel (Part II)

Published on by Nina AraicaLeave a comment

This is my second visit to what remains of the once majestic Lee Plaza Hotel. As always, I was happy to see that it was still standing, but saddened to see that more destruction has occurred since my last visit in late 2013.  Sometimes it baffles me that people feel the need to be destructive :/  I love this building…and this trip I was fortunate to find a lot more furniture than before, which is always awesome!

I find this building to be absolutely beautiful and I feel a slight sense of peace and reverence as I walk down the hallways (stepping on top of and over tons and tons of broken concrete, pieces of broken doors and other assorted debris).  Now don’t get me wrong, it’s scary – for a few different reasons!  One of the reasons is the creepy sound the wind makes (which gets stronger the higher you go up) as it billows in and out of every single window frame, making hanging debris clang together.  It’s almost like a spooky wind tunnel lol. The other reason is because if something were to happen to you inside of this building (i.e. you were attacked, you hurt yourself, etc), NOBODY WOULD KNOW so NOBODY WOULD COME TO HELP!  So needless to say, it’s safe to explore with a buddy, keep quiet when possible (respect your surroundings) and don’t lag…meaning – get in, shoot, get out.  I hope you enjoy this latest round of pics from the infamous Lee Plaza.

@FilthyBean

LOCATION HISTORY:

Built in 1929 as an upscale residential hotel, closed it’s doors to residents in 1997.  During the final years of the 19th century, society’s view of hotel life transformed from one of disgust and disdain to admiration. No longer the abode of the damned, they were, where one went, for all manner of functions. By the early 20th century it was actually fashionable to reside permanently in hotels. Thus it seems natural that hotels would be built specially for residents. Such was the case with the this hotel. Essentially an apartment building with hotel services. On May 1 (circa 1928), ground was broken on the art deco masterpiece that would rise above the stately elms of the boulevard below. The price tag would be $2.5 million (a whopping $31 million today). The idea of residential hotels was a popular one at the time. In residential hotels, well-off residents could live in luxurious apartments that had many of the features of hotels, such as room service and concierges.

The hotel opened with 220 luxury-class apartments ranging from one to four rooms. The one and two-room apartments came furnished; the three- and four-room option did not. The basement had a beauty parlor, a game room with driving nets for golfers and billiards; a white-walled playroom for children at the front of the building with a specially trained supervisor; and a meat market and grocer for the tenants so they didn’t have to leave the hotels comfy confines. There also was a circulating library, a flower shop, a cigar stand and a beauty parlor.

But with the onset of the Great Depression, the hotel was plagued by problems almost from the start because of the owner’s lavish spending. The hotel would help bring down one of Detroit’s biggest real estate barons. Shortly after it was built, it was sold, however the new company/owner was delinquent on payments. By fall 1935 the hotel was bankrupt, and would be the subject of over 8yrs of court battles. In 1969 it became housing for low-income senior citizens. However, in February of 1987 tragedy struck when an 84-year-old resident was found murdered in her room, suffocated with a pillow. The hotel continued to lose residents and head downhill.

In 1997, its entrances and ground-floor windows were barricaded with cinder blocks, but they couldn’t keep the scavengers at bay. For five years a solid fortification of cinder block held off the thieves and protected the 1920’s elegance inside. However, as the mighty walls of Rome failed, so did the hotel’s fortifications. Once the walls were breached, nothing could spare the landmark from trespass and from that point on, few buildings in Detroit have been more ravaged than this hotel. By the fall of 2000 countless exterior terra-cotta pieces as well as interior plaster work were gone. Gradually the aluminum framed windows disappeared and only gaping holes remained.

Lee Plaza Hotel (Part I)

Published on by Nina AraicaLeave a comment

Built in 1929 as an upscale residential hotel, closed it’s doors to residents in 1997.

During the final years of the 19th century, society’s view of hotel life transformed from one of disgust and disdain to admiration. No longer the abode of the damned, they were, where one went, for all manner of functions. By the early 20th century it was actually fashionable to reside permanently in hotels. Thus it seems natural that hotels would be built specially for residents.  Such was the case with the this hotel. Essentially an apartment building with hotel services.  On May 1 (circa 1928), ground was broken on the art deco masterpiece that would rise above the stately elms of the boulevard below. The price tag would be $2.5 million (a whopping $31 million today).  The idea of residential hotels was a popular one at the time. In residential hotels, well-off residents could live in luxurious apartments that had many of the features of hotels, such as room service and concierges.

The hotel opened with 220 luxury-class apartments ranging from one to four rooms. The one- and two-room apartments came furnished; the three- and four-room option did not. The basement had a beauty parlor, a game room with driving nets for golfers and billiards; a white-walled playroom for children at the front of the building with a specially trained supervisor; and a meat market and grocer for the tenants so they didn’t have to leave the hotels comfy confines. There also was a circulating library, a flower shop, a cigar stand and a beauty parlor.

But with the onset of the Great Depression, the hotel was plagued by problems almost from the start because of the owner’s lavish spending. The hotel would help bring down one of Detroit’s biggest real estate barons.  Shortly after it was built, it was sold, however the new company/owner was delinquent on payments. By fall 1935 the hotel was bankrupt, and would be the subject of over 8yrs of court battles. In 1969 it became housing for low-income senior citizens.  However, in February of 1987 tragedy struck when an 84-year-old resident was found murdered in her room, suffocated with a pillow. The hotel continued to lose residents and head downhill.

In 1997, its entrances and ground-floor windows were barricaded with cinder blocks, but they couldn’t keep the scavengers at bay. For five years a solid fortification of cinderblock held off the thieves and protected the 1920’s elegance inside. However, as the mighty walls of Rome failed, so did the hotel’s fortifications.  Once the walls were breached, nothing could spare the landmark from trespass and from that point on, few buildings in Detroit have been more ravaged than this hotel.  By the fall of 2000 countless exterior terra-cotta pieces as well as interior plasterwork were gone. Gradually the aluminum framed windows disappeared and only gaping holes remained.

Hotel [California] I

Published on by Nina AraicaLeave a comment

I have visited this location a handful of times over the past few years and I was fortunate to have met the property owner and his adorable daughter during my first visit.

Here’s how it happened lol – As I approached the structure [after a nice little walk], I heard several voices.  It worried me a little bit because I was exploring by myself, at a location where I had never been.  Who knows who I may have run into, and what circumstances I would encounter…  But I kept on walking.  When I entered, I discovered that there was a large group of taggers [graffiti artists] there.  They were spread out on several floors, and even outside of the building.  I politely said “Hi!” to one of them and showed them my camera, saying “I’m just here to take pictures”.  Because they clearly got hella nervous when they saw me. walking up to them.  They mumbled something back, and started notifying their friends in the building that someone else was in the building and I was only there to take pictures.  So, on my way, I went 🙂

I walked all around the bottom floor, up to the second floor and then up to the third and fourth.  As I came back down, I saw some of the guys running and yelling something to each other.  I wondered what was going on, until a few seconds later when I heard someone say “THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!”… my heart started beating fast, immediately as the thought of “oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit” crossed my mind lol.  Come to find out, it was the property owners.

The taggers all ran away and as I was walking out, camera in hand, a young lady approached me. She was the property owners daughter.  She came up to me and introduced herself.  We chatted for a bit and I told her I was a photographer, she told me that she was taking photography [in her Yearbook class] at school and then offered to show me where  a little abandoned house was on the property, so that I could photograph that too!  How awesome was that!!!  She totally made my day 🙂

Click here to view my photos from my 2nd & 3rd visits.

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So now, here’s a little bit of history about this beautiful structure:

In the history of this land, 3 hotels were built.  The first hotel , a wooden structure, was built in 1878.  The main floor housed guest rooms, the post office, which was founded August 17 1889, the hotel business offices, dining rooms and other public rooms. A portion of the second floor, consisting of six rooms, was occupied by Mr. Albert Bettens, the manager and his wife. The kitchen, pantry and cold storage were housed in one wing off the dining room. Directly over the main entrance was a tower like structure which added a partial third floor and afforded views east and west. A large veranda extended the full length of the building. Several cottages were placed at convenient spots in the grounds to accommodate families or large parties.  The hotel, a cottage containing twenty rooms, the laundry, gas plant and ice plant were destroyed by fire, July 25, 1901.

The second hotel was built in 1902.  The second hotel, built soon after the fire was situated on a small knoll directly across the square from the site of the first one.  It was a three story, frame-stucco structure facing east.  At about five o’clock Thursday morning, July 18, 1912, fire broke out in the Hotel and spread rapidly to all parts of the building, but the guests were warned in time to dress and escape and though no one suffered injury.

A new hotel was built opened for business by late 1914.  The third hotel is a four story, fireproof, brick and concrete structure (that exists still today).  In the 20’s the resort was quickly turned into a mecca for Hollywood stars and Northern California socialites. Golf was then the rage and the modest 9 hole golf link was expanded to 18 holes.

The decade of the 30’s was the decade of decline for the hotel.  As the first prisoners of war arrived in the United States, the War Department recognized a need for special camps for a specific purpose. Two such camps were set up and referred to in official records as ”Interrogation Centers.” One Center was created on each coast. The Interrogation Centers were considered by the Army as “Temporary Detention Centers” for the specific purpose of interrogating certain prisoners of war captured either by the army or navy.  The interrogation center was divided into two sections, the Japanese section and the German section. During 1944, there were about 921 Japanese prisoners and 645 Germans interrogated. The camp was ordered closed by September 1, 1945.