Exploring the AAA Building

I had a chance to go through what is commonly known as the AAA Building (139 Bagley) in downtown Detroit last month. At first, I wasn't going to do an entry on it - but there have been a couple of people asking about it over on the Detroit Yes forum that I figured I had to share a little narrative as well as the photos that I have from it.

I went through this building with the owner's son, Matt Pieroni. I hate to admit, but as soon I reached the ugly side of 30, crawling into a building through a window or something like that really lost its appeal. As a result, I'm grateful to the Pieroni family for allowing me the chance to go through their building.

For those not familiar with 139 Bagley, it's the only building that is still standing on the block previously occupided by the former Statler Hilton Hotel. It also the building that mysteriously caught fire while the Statler was being demolished.

The Pieroni's allege that materials dropped by welders working on the Statler's demolition ignited the wooden beams in the roof at 139 Bagley. The demolition contractor, Homrich, Inc., vehemently denies this. A lawsuit concerning the whole matter is currently pending in the Third Circuit Court.

The building is in reasonably good condition when you consider all that it's been through. Pretty much everything of any value, however, was stripped from the building by vandals.

The first floor has an impressive atrium that was clearly one of its stronger selling points when it opened almost 100 years ago. I didn't grab any photos of the first floor - partly because it was so dark on that floor, but mostly because I wasn't thinking properly when I first entered the building.

It was a lot easier to take photographs on the upper floor because there was more light available. You can see a considerable amount of debris on the floor. At least some of that is material that had fallen from the walls or ceiling above.

The building, unfortunately, has a considerable amount of water damage. Since there's no roof on the building anymore, every time it rains, water lands on the top floor and keeps falling until it hits the ground floor. Along the way, it erodes the plaster and other building materials - eventually yielding the results you see below.

Mitigating the water damage, in my opinion, will be the single biggest factor in terms of whether or not this building can be saved. I talked with the building's owner about protecting his building from water damage. He said that he intends to take care of it as soon as the court case surrounding the fire is resolved.

Quite frankly, I hope that happens quickly. It's a sad fact that this building will eventually reach the point where there is so much damage from elements that it has to come down. What's left of the roof certainly isn't going to provide this building with any protection from the elements.

I would have taken even more pictures of this building, but the batteries on my digital camera gave out on me.

And I forgot to bring a spare set along. (Y'all can call me an idiot if you like).

My gut tells me that there isn't much of a chance left to save this building. However, the Pieroni family is still optimistic about it and, quite frankly, I have been proven wrong before. After all, it wasn't that long ago that I went through Brush Park and would've bet anything that there was no way in the world any of those buildings could have been saved.

For whatever it might be worth, here's to hoping that something great happens on that site.