Plans Call For Demolishing Detroit's Packard Plant
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A man who claims ownership of one of Detroit's most widely-known industrial ruins says he plans to demolish most or all of what remains of the sprawling facility.
Dominic Cristini, who claims ownership of the Packard plant through Bioresource Inc., is awaiting demolition permits, The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News reported Friday.
"I am going to demolish the building," Cristini told the News. "It's unsafe, and it's got to come down. I don't want anybody to get hurt. I am just trying to do the right and responsible thing."
Cristini said he wants to start demolition within a month, and hopes to be able to save portions of the building for historical value. He estimates it will cost $6 million to raze the plant.
The plant was built in the early 1900s and the last Packard automobile was built in the mid-1950s. Other smaller industrial businesses have used the facility since -- but as the years passed, the plant increasingly became the target of thieves, metal scrappers, urban explorers and graffiti artists.
Officials in Detroit say the plant has already gone through demolition hearings and was ordered down in April 2011.
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