|
Action
planned
against
owners
of old
Packard
plant
By COREY
WILLIAMS
Associated
Press
Writer
DETROIT
(AP) --
Detroit
officials
say a
company's
admission
in a
civil
lawsuit
against
a small
art
gallery
to
owning
the
long-abandoned
Packard
Motor
Car
plant
could
jump-start
the
process
of
getting
the
blighted
structure
torn
down.
Bioresource
Inc.
earlier
this
week
filed a
lawsuit
against
the
operators
of the
555 Arts
gallery
for the
return
of an
8-foot
section
of wall
featuring
artwork
and a
message
by
elusive
British
graffiti
artist
Banksy.
In the
suit,
Bioresource
claimed
to be
the
property's
owner
and
listed
local
land
speculator
Romel
Casab as
president.
"The
City of
Detroit
has had
a long
history
of
litigation
with
Bioresource
Inc.
over the
ownership
of this
land and
the
condition
of the
structures
on the
property,"
Detroit
Buildings
& Safety
Engineering
Director
Karla
Henderson
told The
Associated
Press on
Thursday.
"Now
that it
is clear
and
publicly
acknowledged
who the
responsible
party
is, we
will
pursue
all
applicable
areas of
enforcement
to hold
the
property
owner
accountable
for this
unsightly
and
dangerous
situation."
The city
wants
the east
side
plant
torn
down and
likely
will
move it
through
Detroit's
condemnation
procedure,
which
entails
a number
of
hearings
and
appearances
before
the City
Council,
Henderson
said.
Bioresource
officials,
including
Casab,
also may
be asked
to come
forward
and give
depositions.
Demolition
and
cleanup
of the
site
could
cost
upward
of $20
million,
Henderson
said.
The
Associated
Press
left a
message
seeking
comment
from
Bioresource
lawyer
Barry
Steinway.
Operators
of 555
Arts,
using a
masonry
saw,
helped
cut the
section
of
cinderblock
wall
from the
building
in May
after
learning
Banksy
had
visited
Detroit
and
stenciled
a figure
of a
child
holding
a bucket
of red
paint
and
brush
alongside
the
message:
"I
remember
when all
this was
trees."
The wall
and
artwork
was
moved to
their
gallery
in
southwest
Detroit
where it
is on
display.
"We
saved
the
piece,"
said
Carl
Goines,
the
gallery's
executive
director.
"All
evidence
shows it
was an
abandoned
and
neglected
building."
But the
gallery
was
notified
in June
that the
Packard
plant's
owners
wanted
the wall
and
artwork
back.
The
subsequent
lawsuit
claims
the
section
of wall
could be
worth
$100,000
or more.
"If it's
of
monetary
value,
it's not
surprising
someone
would
step up
and
claim
it,"
Goines
said of
the
Banksy
wall.
The
Packard
plant
was
built in
the
early
1900s on
the
40-acre
site and
covered
several
city
blocks.
The last
Packard
automobile
was
built in
the
mid-1950s.
When the
car
company
shut
down
operations
in the
sprawling
facility,
other
smaller
industrial
businesses
set up
shop.
Four
decades
later,
few
tenants
were
left and
the
plant
increasingly
became
the
target
of
thieves,
metal
scrappers,
urban
explorers
and
graffiti
artists.
Now most
exterior
doors
and
loading
docks
are open
to
trespass.
The site
also has
become a
dumping
ground
for
trash,
tires
and even
thousands
of
shoes.
|