Jan. 29, 2008

The State Historic Preservation Office today announced the nomination of nine buildings to the National Register of Historic Places, the federally recognized list of historic properties. Approved by the State Historic Preservation Review Board at its last meeting, the nominated buildings include two Detroit landmarks - the brilliantly colored Art Deco Majestic Theater and the Garden Bowl, with its 1960s "jet age" gold-colored metal grillwork.

"These two buildings showcase Detroit's colorful entertainment and recreation history, and all of the sites nominated highlight the value of historic preservation in maintaining Michigan's unique character," said Department of History, Arts and Libraries Director William Anderson.  "These places are a significant part of our state's past and, through historic preservation, can play an important role in its future."

"This batch of nominations really demonstrates the diverse types of historic properties that Michigan has to offer throughout the state," said National Register Coordinator Robert Christensen. "Many of the nominations are being made in conjunction with historic rehabilitations, where the property owners want to use federal historic preservation tax credits. The popularity of that program will always keep the national register in business!"

According to the State Historic Preservation Office, in fiscal year 2006 alone, historic preservation tax credits stimulated more than $165 million in private investment in historic building rehabilitation projects in Michigan.  This private investment had an overall positive impact of $353 million on Michigan's economy. Likewise, the state historic preservation tax credit projects alone resulted in more than $35 million in direct investment and  $75.8 million in economic impact.

The sites nominated to the National Register of Historic Places include: 

• The Majestic Theater in Detroit, like the Garden Bowl, lost 35 feet off its front when Woodward Avenue was widened in 1934. The Majestic, originally built in 1915, received a new face with the installation of the enormous orange-red, blue and cream Macotta porcelain-enameled metal panels. Rebecca Binno Savage, the author of both the nomination and the book Art Deco in Detroit, wrote: "The Majestic's façade is the largest and certainly the most colorful example of the type and style in the Detroit metropolitan area, and is an important architectural and visual landmark along Detroit's main street in the Midtown area."
   
• With a continuous bowling history dating back to 1913, the Garden Bowl in Detroit is notable as a survivor, one of the last two bowling alleys in a city that, with nearly 100 alleys in the 1950s, was one of America's leading bowling cities.  Detroit's bowling history dates back to the early 1860s, and by 1955 the city was calling itself the "Bowling Capital of the World" with a quarter of a million bowlers.  In 1966 the Garden Bowl received a face-lift, designed to compete with modern suburban bowling alleys, that gave it its present appearance.  Under the ownership of the Zainea family for the past 62 years, it has evolved with changes in the city and remains an institution in Detroit's Midtown.  The urban young people who form the bulk of the clientele today, said Joe Zainea, "bowl, not quite like it was in the old days, but with the lights off, spinning mirror balls, smoke machines, lanes glowing in the dark, and a live DJ spinning their favorite music."
   
• Central School in Iron River was the city's largest public school building from its initial construction in 1904-05 until a new high school was completed in 1928. The building, enlarged in 1910-11 to its present size and form, is a distinguished example of early 20th-century public school architecture planned by two prominent Midwest school architecture specialists, Van Ryn & DeGelleke of Milwaukee (1904-05 school) and John D. Chubb of Chicago (1910-11 additions).
   
• The Smith-Dengler House, in Houghton County's Calumet Township, was built in 1899-1900 for the Wolverine Copper Mining Company to serve as the residence of Fred Smith, superintendent of the nearby Wolverine and Mohawk mines, and his family. The house is a particularly intact example of the large and stylish houses, built for the copper-mining elite of mine agents and superintendents in the 1890s and early 1900s, that stood out from the mass of modest and anonymous mine-worker housing in Copper Country communities.  It is a prominent example of the residential work of Charlton, Gilbert & Demar, the Upper Peninsula's leading architectural firm in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
   
• The Marquette and Western Railroad's Negaunee Depot is significant as a piece of the railroad network critical to this iron-mining community. It is one of the oldest buildings in Negaunee's downtown and one of the oldest depot buildings in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The largely intact Stick Style depot reflects Negaunee's early 1880s growth and development as a result of the expansion of the iron mining industry.
   
• The Hudsonville Christian School was constructed in 1917 for the Hudsonville Society for Christian Education, established four years earlier by members of the Hudsonville First Christian Reformed Church.  A typical wooden, early 20th-century school building, it was expanded in 1921 and 1943 to accommodate growing school enrollments.  Like the community's numerous Christian Reformed and Reformed churches, the school reflects the predominantly Dutch Protestant heritage both of Hudsonville itself and the broader West Michigan region in which it is located. Closed as a school in 2005, the building has been carefully restored during the last two years and now houses a daycare center.
   
• The 1911 Tinlinn Apartments and the 1928 Berridge Hotel in Flint are products of the early 20th-century boom that resulted from the rapid expansion of the city's automobile industry. Flint's population grew from 13,000 in 1900 to 165,000 in 1931.  While the auto-related boom resulted in the construction of literally thousands of new homes and some apartment buildings for the auto workers, the Tinlinn reflects a different aspect of the boom in that it was constructed by an officer of an automotive body company as a small, upscale apartment building and housed executives and upper-level officials of a number of the auto and auto-products companies. The Berridge Hotel is one of a small number of low-end residential hotels constructed in and near Flint's downtown during the 1920s that epitomize the city's explosive growth.
   
• The 21-story Central National Tower in Battle Creek is an architectural landmark in the city. The building is one of two Art Deco bank/office tower buildings that today continue to dominate the skyline of Battle Creek's downtown.  The tower was designed by the important Chicago architectural firm of Holabird & Root. Built in 1930-31 by the Central National Bank & Trust Company to house their banking quarters and additional office and commercial space, the building stands on the site previously occupied by the Marjorie Block, built in 1903 by Battle Creek cereal magnate Charles W. Post, one of the founders of the bank.
   
• The original Woodbridge Neighborhood Historic District in Detroit was listed in the national register in 1980.  The original district boundary along Trumbull Avenue excluded the one historic property left on the east side of the avenue near the Warren Avenue intersection. This recent nomination will add that property, the former St. Dominic's Church Complex, built between 1893 and 1928.

The National Register of Historic Places, maintained by the keeper of the National Register, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, is a nationwide list of sites evaluated against a standard criteria as historically significant and worthy of being preserved. Michigan has more than 1,500 listings in the register. The State Historic Preservation Office receives federal Historic Preservation Funds through Congressional appropriation to assist in operating Michigan's historic preservation program, including the national register.  Additional information about the National Register of Historic Places and historic preservation tax credits can be found at www.michigan.gov/shpo. 

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) assists in the identification, rehabilitation, and interpretation of Michigan's historic resources.  The SHPO is a division of the Michigan Historical Center, part of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).  Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, HAL also includes the Library of Michigan, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Michigan Film Office.  For more information about HAL, visit www.michigan.gov/hal.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).