all you need is love... and $4 mil in renovations

Welcome to David Broderick Tower. Located on Woodward Avenue in Grand Circus Park, this 37-story building opened as Detroit's second-tallest building in 1928. Like many of Detroit's skyscrapers, it has amazing neo-classical architecture inside and out. Motown Construction Inc recently purchased the building and plans to renovate the tower into apartments in 2008. Pre-renovation work started several months ago on the ground floor with a restaurant that opened especially for the Super Bowl in Detroit. But for now, it's still known as "the tallest abandoned building in America."

You may recognize Broderick Tower for the huge "Whaling Wall" mural of humpback whales on the rear facade of the building. This was painted in 1997 by Metro-Detroit native Wyland, an eco-artist who has painted whales on the buildings of most major U.S. cities. The mural was covered by an ad for Jeep before the Tigers went to the World Series in Fall 2006 (you can see the building from the baseball stadium).

I identified myself to the lone security guard as an insurance adjuster for one of the contractors and met up with Cave and Vanessa who had already successfully passed security. It was a great day for "urban exploring" We climbed 36 flights of steps in blackness with nothing but a flash light to guide our way. We stopped every few floors to snap some pics and give our lungs a break from the airborne dust. A few freakish moments of "did you hear that" and some creepy leftovers from squatters and junkies kept us on our toes. Many of these images show how the building was left in the early eighties when Detroit's economy collapsed. Many of these images tell a story of the glorious days when the Broderick was bustling, while many more images raise more questions than answers... Many had spelunked this building before us, but it was nice to be one of the last to capture its rooms in all their decaying glory before this building sees a rebirth. Enjoy!