It is truth universally acknowledged, that the best thing to do in a city you are visiting for the first time is to take a walking tour led by a local guide. Well, it’s acknowledged by me, anyway. I booked a downtown tour with City Tour Detroit. Lorrie was the guide for our group of about 10 people; she was very knowledgeable and pleasant.

We started in the Guardian Building, an art-deco masterpiece known as the “Cathedral of Finance” (since it started as the Union Trust Building), in comparison to the Woolworth Building’s “Cathedral of Commerce” moniker. The style – both exterior and interior – belong to that subset of art deco called “Mayan Revival”. Lots of rectangular shapes, bold colors, mosaics…. At the far end of the main lobby is a giant fresco with a stylized depiction of Michigan, showing all the industries that power the state’s economy.

They don’t make interiors like this anymore.

One bit of trivia Lorrie pointed out was the construction of the ceiling in that lobby, For a space that large, it’s unusually quiet – very little reverb coming off the walls and ceiling. That’s because the ceiling isn’t stone or tile – it’s actually canvas, with a couple of inches of horsehair padding behind it. That absorbs and deadens all the noise.

We next walked over to Hart Plaza, one of the three main public spaces in the city. There are a bunch of statues and a fountain (that’s finally working again after the city was able to conjure up the needed part); we spent some photo-op time at the “Spirit of Detroit” statue. Something of a local icon, he gets decked out in the appropriate jersey whenever a Detroit sports team makes the playoffs.

At the water’s edge, we could see both the Ambassador Bridge and a bit farther away, the new Gordie Howe Bridge crossing the river into Canada. The former is unusual in that it is privately owned; the latter is set to open next year (the span is complete; as of this writing they were installing all the electrical work).

Personally, I approve of naming bridges after local sports legends. Naming them for concepts is boring, and naming them for politicians can be fraught with problems. Someone is always going to complain about your choice, and most political figures don’t deserve the honor anyway.

Next, it was off to the Renaissance Center. A huge office-hotel-retail complex, that is at present the headquarters for General Motors. It was pretty empty on a Wednesday morning…. Naturally, there were a lot of GM cars – both new and old – on display. Some of the more unusual or vintage models were on a rotating display in the center.

WANT!

From the People Mover platform at the Ren Cen, we could see the Mariners Church of Detroit. This is the “maritime sailors’ cathedral” mentioned in Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitgerald”. If you don’t know by now, the song recounts a true case of a lost ship on the Great Lakes. And they still ring the bell twenty-nine times on the anniversary of the loss, to remind people that it’s still dangerous out there. Last year, though, they rang it one more time – in honor of the recently deceased Lightfoot.

I did not go inside, so I can’t tell if it’s a “musty old hall”.

Wander around the city enough, and you’ll see LOTS of murals. This “street art” is very often commissioned work. I guess paying an artist is cheaper than having to clean up graffiti all the time. And what graffiti “artist” is going to “tag” the paid for work of one of his fellows?

One of the more elaborate ones.

We wrapped up the tour at Campus Martius, the “center square” for Detroit – it’s where all the radial streets converge (mathematically if not actually). It takes its name because it used to be where the local military used to train; these days it brags about being the #1 Town Square in the country according to some survey. Whatever. It’s got room for a stage for events, an upscale eatery, a playground, and gardens. It’s nice enough.

Of note nearby is One Campus Martius, also known (for the time being, at any rate) as The Microsoft Building. Inside, you’ll find the artwork known as “Kites”, which has the distinction of being the tallest indoor waterfall in the US. Water runs down from one “kite” to the next, presumably helping to cool the interior and provide a soothing soundscape. The thing is pretty, anyway.

Didn’t see much water falling….

That’s all for now. Next time, we’ll get into the real reason I came to Detroit: baseball.