There’s been a lot of progress here in Detroit, but not much new to report. So, most of what I’m going to share this week is what we are going to do at U-Haul Moving and Storage of Detroit; makes me feel like a politician during the last week of a political campaign.
Look for the Signs on the Roof
Photo courtesy of Robert Klatt.
The biggest news is that we cleared all of the reviews with the city for our roof-top signs and they are being fabricated as I write this. It’s a custom design that will take four-five weeks to produce. As soon as I have photos, I will post them.
The signs are going to be HUGE. They have to be, to match the former National Biscuit Company signs and to be visible to the surrounding area. The challenge will be how to get them here and up on the roof. I’ve suggested that our team review how the space shuttle Endeavour was moved through the streets of LA, or that we rent a couple of helicopters. I was only partially kidding.
No Pane, No Gain
Our building’s windows are one of its distinctive features, particularly the cathederal-style showroom windows.
To bring them back to their former glory, we’re going to replace the lower sections of the showroom windows and use those panes to replace broken panes higher up.
This will be like putting a puzzle together because the panes are not uniform in size. The panes in the outer windows are larger than the panes of the inner windows.
We’re also replacing the broken glass in the sixth floor windows with double-pane glass. This is not only energy efficient, but will really “open up” the floor with light.
Weighing In
We discovered two Buffalo Scale Company scales in the building that we plan to keep as interior design features. They are pretty cool. The Buffalo Scale Company was organized in 1860 and shipped scales to all parts of the world. In the 1880s, the company made an average of 19,000 scales a year. A large number of them were bought by the United States government as standard equipment. As the company grew, it specialized in heavy-type weighers such as railway truck, motor truck, wagon, hopper and platform scales like the ones used in this and other NBC-Nabisco plants.
We Want Your Input
That’s it for this week. If I were a politician, I’d ask for your vote. Instead, I’ll just ask for your opinion. Let me know what you think. This blog was created to let the community know that U-Haul is in Detroit, and to share our plans with you and to get input from the community. We want to hear from you. Tell us what you like and don’t like about our posts, building plans or anything else you want to share about Detroit. We are excited to be part of the Detroit community and want to learn from you!
Stay tuned. Next update 11/05.
–Pref
