The $50-million renovation of Michigan Bell Telephone Co. 's former office high-rise office on Oakman Boulevard in Detroit is recognized with a Governor Award for Historic Preservation.
Stylish residential entrance to the NSO Bell Building. [Photo by Christopher Lark]
Gov. Rick Snyder presents the annual honor to that that project and five others around the state at a State Capitol Rotunda ceremony on May 1.
The long-vacant landmark alongside the Lodge Freeway was built in 1929-30 in Art Deco style.
It reopened last year with 155 one-bedroom apartments for previously homeless men and women. It's also the new headquarters for Neighborhood Service Organization, a 200-person nonprofit human service agency with 200 employees.
Conversion work at what's now called the NSO Bell Building is shown in the video below. The state award cites key roles by three firm:
- Fusco, Shaffer and Pappas, architects in Farmington Hills.
- O'Brien Edwards Construction of Detroit.
- Kristine Kidorf Preservation Consulting of Detroit.
"The rehabilitation and reuse of existing buildings, particularly in our cities, is vital to spurring economic development and preserving a sense of place," Snyder says in a statement.
