Cityscape

97 Years of Detroit News History At an Albert Kahn Landmark End This Week

October 20, 2014, 9:41 PM by  Alan Stamm

Imagine leaving a home that has been your family for nearly 100 years.

That’s what Detroit News employees will do this week, so their visible emotions are no surprise.

Although they’re not owners of the 1917 landmark on West Lafayette, or relatives of the founding Scripps family, journalists can be softly sentimental under what may seem like a crusty exterior.

The pressure, pride and odd hours of reporting news breed camaraderie – a brotherhood, it’s still called, though there are about as many women as men. Combine that with the colorful legacy of a historic industry and it doesn’t take much to tap a spigot of nostalgia.


An early past comtroller or other business executive would recognize his old office, except for the TV. (Facebook photo by Gary Miles)

A newsroom with emptying desks, packing boxes and found surprises is sure to start the flow. So is a final chance to admire elegant windows, cathedral-like wood panels and stone steps showing wear from generations of Detroit News soles.

The paper this weekend moves five blocks east to the former Federal Reserve Building on Fort Street, and so does the Free Press – which has shared The News’ home since 1998. (Business operations have been combined since 1989 under a Joint Operating Agreement designed to keep struggling papers alive.)

Final keyboard key stokes

Thursday is the last day most newsroom writers will work on Lafayette, while many editors and designers wrap up on Friday. Sports staffers finish Saturday. 

In the meantime, keepsakes such as a bronze bust of founder James E. Scripps are tagged for moving. "Much of our archival material will be available for the first time for the public to see and use as research, because the bulk of it is going to the state Archives of Michigan and is being digitized and preserved for our access and the future," Susan Whitall writes Tuesday in The News.

On Facebook, she adds a personal sentiment: "I love our old building, but I want to remember it bursting with reporters and bustle."

As the last days are marked at the square-block showplace designed by Albert Kahn, reminiscences are shared online.  

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“When I first came to the Detroit News, I took comfort in the worn-down stairs,” says Mark Hinojosa, director of interactive media, who arrived from Chicago in 2008. That recollection is at his impressive Tumblr display of five dozen images, including the one at right. 

‘We are a fraternity’

Hinojosa, whose journalism career began in New York nearly three decades ago, writes:

How many reporters had run these stairs on deadline? How many stories started with a trip down these steps? These stairs are my link to those who came before me, we are a fraternity of storytellers. . . .

What we leave behind is a small attempt to chronicle the beauty of this Albert Kahn building, as well as a bit of our history.

Managing editor Gary Miles joins the appreciation at Facebook, postng the Instagram desk shot above and another of the fireplace in early publisher George Booth's old office, now a conference room.

News veterans returning last week on farewell pilgrimages include Rebecca Powers, a reporter from 1980-95, and Kim Trent, a city hall reporter from 1991-95. “It was eerily quiet,” says a Facebook comment by Trent, a WSU trustee.

These other alumni and staff reflections are on Facebook:

  • Bob Giles, editor/publisher (1989-97): I loved that building. Its oak panel wall and high ceilings and tall windows were so genuine and true to an older world of newspapers."
  • Nancy Hanus, new media director (2002-06) and director of photography (2006-08): That is one of the most beautiful newsrooms I've ever been in. I loved its classiness. 
  • Alan Lessig, photographer (1993-2002): I often thought of the earlier generations of journalists who had wore down those steps when I climbed up to the old photo department. Sad to see the place being sold off. 
  • David Kordalski, design/graphics assistant managing editor (1995-99): I learned more about quality journalism from all the amazing Detroit News colleagues that populated this building than in any other place. Rest easy in semi-retirement, 615 West Lafayette. You've earned it. 
  • Karl Leif Bates, reporter (1995-99): The other Albert Khan gem I newspapered in is now a bank.
  • Richard Epps, presentation editor (at The News since 1995): I have spent more hours in this building than any other structure, office or home, in my life. I have always been in awe of its tradition and majesty, and for those who have had a chance to walk inside this building, you know what I mean. To be able to say I have contributed to a little tiny corner of the history in this building is very humbling, and I will be savoring the last few hours I have here.
  • Tom Greenwood, reporter/columnist: It has been an honor to work at this historic building for the past 29 years. I am going to miss it. 

The building's charm was extolled by its owner a year after its debut in a 88-page hard-bound book commemorating the paper's new home. "The main lobby has the cathedral quality of winning greater devotion the longer one abides," Lee A. White wrote in "The Detroit News 1873-1917, A Record of Progress." He added: "The metalwork in the lobby is of the hghest decorative importance, and in craftsmanship is comparable to fine achievements of the Middle Ages."    

The cost-saving plan to move was announced in January 2013. The building was bough in June by Bedrock Real Estate Services, owned by Dan Gilbert.

The first new tenant, Molina Healthcare, moves in this fall. It’ll use just 30,000 square feet of the 144,484-square-foot site that produced newspapers for nearly 100 years. 

These images by Mark Hinojosa are posted with more than 50 others at "What we leave behind."

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