The Voices in Frank's Head

It all started back in 2003, for me. On the set of "Checking In" At the time, I was working on a feature-length documentary entitled  Checking In: The Story of the Book-Cadillac Hotel , which focused on the historic Book-Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit. The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, which was the quasi-governmental agency that was working on redeveloping the hotel, wouldn't talk to me on camera about the project so I turned to some of the historic preservation groups, who were all too happy to talk about the hotel. Back then, I had already decided that I was going to leave Detroit permanently as soon as this project was done. Regardless, during that time, I met Francis Grunow . He invited me to attend a meeting of this new group called Detroit Synergy . I was hooked after that first meeting. I met so many people who had such energy, enthusiasm, and determination to get things done. I got involved in organizing a pub crawl where I met a man who ...

Horray!  The Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit was named Best Hotel of 2010 by Michigan Meeting & Events Magazine . They won in the more than 200 rooms category. There can be no doubt that they deserve every accolade. I congratulate everyone involved in their efforts.

The year is almost over. 2008 in Detroit was the kind of year that someone was thinking of when they came up with the curse, "May you live in interesting times." Some folks in this town are dwelling on the negative or even planning a move to Dubai. As for me, I take a more balanced outlook towards things. With that in mind, I present a look back at 2008 in my hometown. The Detroit Lions are the worst team in NFL history. However, the Detroit Red Wings won yet another Stanly Cup this year. The Detroit Tigers turned in a respectable performance. The Detroit Pistons came this close to another NBA Championship. Kwame Kilpatrick is in jail, but that saga is over. Now Detroiters get to look at everyone in Illinois and know that they're dealing with things that are much worse. The Detroit Public Schools are broke. However, Detroit still has charter schools, parochial schools, private schools and home schooling. Kirsten Haglund from Farmington Hills became Miss America...

I was reading one of those other blogs in this town this morning. Reportedly, party promoters Matt A and Michael Zografos are spending $40,000 to build a tent in the Whitney's parking lot. This is, of course, not your average tent since it will have chandeliers, hardwood floors and such. Some folks are impressed by this. But those are the people who were impressed by the idea of spending an hour standing in line to get a "free" drink and who didn't think that an event with roughly 600 people attending needed to have bathrooms available at it. Since I've done a fair number of special events in Detroit, I know that on a budget of $10 - $20,000 one can rent: Any of the ballrooms in the Westin Book Cadillac; Colony Club; Detroit Club; Gem Theatre; Most of the rooms in the Masonic Temple; or Any of a dozen or so other options. All of these are facilities where chandeliers and flooring come standard. Plus, they also have ample access to restrooms, better acoustic...

This past weekend was the kind of weekend that I really needed after a hellish work week. The coolness began on Thursday actually, when I skipped out on Detroit Synergy's Third Thursday event at Pewabic Pottery so I could head to the Gem Theatre for the 2008 Preservation Awards. I was lucky enough to accept an award on behalf of the Friends of the Book-Cadillac Hotel. The FoBC was honored for their work in historic preservation advocacy through education. The whole thing was just a tad bit ironic because a) I skipped out of an event at Pewabic Pottery to go to the awards banquet and b) the award that I accepted included a custom piece of Pewabic Pottery. Yes, there was irony in the air that evening. As an added bonus, the food at this banquet was simply top notch - and there was an open bar. I lost track of how many gin and tonics I had that evening. All I know is that when it came time to give an acceptance speech, the sober people told me that I managed to do a decent job ...

I've been wanting to try Michael Symon's new restaurant Roast ever since I met him and saw his menu. I had drinks there during the Access Detroit event, but they weren't officially open so no food at that time. However, I took a date there last week and I have to say it was unbelievable. One of my friends from school, who relocated to Cleveland, has raved for years now about how good of a chef Michael Symon really is. I used to think she was exaggerating, but now I know that - if anything - she was underselling it. Anyway, the atmosphere is unbelievable, the service is impeccable and the food is even better. Michael Symon is known for his meat dishes. However, if you go there, I will simply say this: no matter what you order, get a side of their macaroni and cheese. Heck, you could just order a couple of sides of his macaroni and cheese and make a meal out of them. He makes it using goat cheese and it is really, really good. I think this might actually be the start ...

The New York Times published a glowing article yesterday about the recently reborn Westin Book Cadillac Hotel . The article referred to 700 people gathering to celebrate the hotel's transformation; an event that the Times referred to as a civic catharsis. I wonder if it was the Access Detroit event or the opening gala they referred to. I'm not sure if the phrase "civic catharsis" adequately describes either event, though. A catharsis involves purging emotions, usually through some type of art. Unfortunately, as I talk to people in and around town, I still encounter all of the same negative emotions about Detroit after the hotel's opening as I did before it. What the hotel's rebirth does do is provide a working model of how large, derelict structures can be revitalized. It provides a template to follow; one that shows up how to revitalize our community and to create sustainable jobs in the process. The challenge, of course, is for Detroit to repeat this s...

I posted a few days ago about Access Detroit and how the folks at Detroit's version of Metromix managed to screw up what was quiet possibly the most idiot proof event of the year. Specifically, I chastised them for making the "big surprise" at the end of the evening be the D Brand logo that was projected onto the side of a building. I have since received confirmation that this wasn't Metromix's idea. They had nothing to do with it. It was someone else. It was a group of people who are usually one of the best event producers in the country; who simply must have left their brains at home that day. I'm afraid I've simply reached that point in my life and career where, if I see something go wrong and someone from Metromix is within 100 feet of it, I assume that they're responsible for it. Usually, this trend serves me well. The kids at Metromix have a unique ability to screw up just about anything and they seem to go out of their way to do it. But t...

I posted on Saturday about Metromix would inevitably resort to posting photos of random bar patrons because there weren't any people from their Access Detroit event at any of the bars other than Bookies. As of that time, the kids at Metromix hadn't posted those photos. But now they have. Please note the conspicuous absence of red lanyards, which got you the Access Detroit special, on any patrons at any of the bars other than the one (Bookies) that you could see from the block party. So much for getting people to explore downtown Detroit. Oh, and I also got a kick out of how they "forgot" to make any references in their post-event coverage to their "special surprise" of the evening. I also posted on Saturday about how I saw people scratching off, or otherwise obscuring, the Metromix swag that they got - essentially fixing their Metro mi x . With that in mind, please take a look at my "new" hip flask. I picked this up at a previous Metromix eve...

I have to admit that I cringed when I first heard that the kids at Detroit's version of Metromix were involved in the block party that would kick off the re-opening of the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. I've had experience with them a few times before. Everything they've ever done can fit into one of three categories: Lame; Mismanaged; or Both. I took comfort, however, in the fact that this was the re-opening of the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel . This was the most idiot-proof event of the year. There were so many people looking forward to this that almost anything they did would be a guaranteed success. In retrospect, as I think back to my previous description of this being an "idiot-proof" event, I am reminded of the words of Mark Twain who observed, "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." Yes, I'm afraid it's true. The kids from Metromix did manage to screw this one up. Without further ado, I give you my ...

Today is the 10th Anniversary of the demolition of the former J.L. Hudson's Department Store in downtown Detroit. It was built in 12 separate stages, from 1891 through 1946. After all of that history, the building came down after 28 seconds of blasting. When the site was demolished, it was promised that this would open the doors to unprecedented development in downtown Detroit. The years later, all that stand on the site are the support columns for an office tower that was never built. In many ways, they serve as tombstones for a portion of Detroit's past. The Hudson's site has been targeted as one of the possible sites for Rock Financial's new headquarters. However, if you believe any of the speculation on the various blogs such as D-Tales or the Detroitist , that might never happen. The bizarre coincidence comes into play when one remembers that shortly after the Hudson's demolition, then Mayor of Detroit Dennis Archer announced that he was targe...

This past week has been insane for me. There have been so many things that I really meant to blog about, but I simply haven't had a chance to sit down and recount them all. I mean, I did manage to find a chance to blog about the $5 million bra , but come on. I'm a guy. How could I not blog about that? Anyway, before my schedule blows up on my again , here is a recap of the past week. Thursday, October 16 The interesting portion of my day started at 10:30 a.m. That was when I arrived at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel for an interview with Detroit Today on WDET. It was another chance for me to talk about how much I love that hotel and how I think it will be the catalyst for great things in downtown Detroit. This, of course, was the third time that I had been on Detroit Today in the past year. Strangely enough, this was also the year that they won "Best Local Radio Talk Show" in the Metro Times Readers' Poll. Is this purely a coincidence? Well, of course it ...

I wanted to let everyone know that I will be on WDET-FM tomorrow morning at approximately 10 a.m. - live from the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Yes, I love my life.

The Westin Book Cadillac in once again open for business. It's the culmination of a 24 year long saga. And what does one do after a saga with more twists and turns that all of Cedar Pointe? Throw one hell of a party, that's what. It kicks off on Friday, October 24 at 8:30 p.m. with a huge block party on Washington Blvd., between Michigan Avenue and State Street. Because this is just that awesome of an event, it will include free concerts by the Killer Flamingos , Trick Trick and Paxahau DJs . Add in a few street performers and a respectable amount of alcohol ( Cintron is one of their sponsors - 'nuf said) and you have what promises to be the coolest party of the season. The whole thing is presented by Bank of America, which makes me feel a tiny bit better about that service charge they hit me with the other day. But I digress. Needless to say, I will be there. An RSVP for the event is encouraged by clicking here .

After having been dormant for 24 years, the historic Book-Cadillac Hotel re-opened its doors earlier this week as the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel . As someone who spent a couple of years working a documentary about this hotel and the efforts to bring it back - and who (pardon me for tooting my own horn) got nominated for two awards for this aforementioned film - there's no way I could possibly miss this one. I got to be one of the very first people to walk through its doors when they opened at 11 a.m. on Monday. I have to say that, all things considered, this was worth the wait. A few things got moved around inside of the hotel. The Italian Garden lost its sky light (a shame, but understandable in the grand scheme of things). The important thing is that the Book-Cadillac is back. I've heard one person after another over the past several years say that there was absolutely no way in which it would ever re-open; that it was destined to meet the wrecking ball. And now here it ...

I'm a bit like Garfield the Cat in that Mondays have never really been my favorite day of the week. Today, however, I find myself dreaming of this coming Monday. At long last, the historic Book-Cadillac Hote l will have a "soft" re-opening this coming Monday. There won't be any great fanfare. They're still working on the place. However, ordinary folks like me will be able to walk through the place once again. I have been looking forward to this day for more than 5 years now. I was too young to understand its significance when the hotel closed in 1984. However, when I started doing a documentary on the place in 2003, I inadvertently embarked on a journey that has made me much of what I am today. I look forward to walking into the hotel and just looking around. It's all the sense of closure that I've wanted for a couple of years now. My only regret is that my Dad is no longer with us . He would have loved to walk through that place with me. In a ...

The other day, as I was walking out of the Preservation Summit, a friend of mine and his wife were commenting on how they liked my documentary  on the Book-Cadillac Hotel. The weird, but really kind of cool, part when my friend's wife made the comment that she had a crush on the woman who narrated my film. I don't know what it is but there's just something so dang cool about one woman confessing to have a crush on another.