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Grand plan to redevelop Packard plant is scrapped; eyesore goes back on market
- rmason 6y agoI don't think Detroit was ever behind saving the Packard plant. Now that Ford is saving the old Michigan depot the Packard plant is the largest piece of blight left in the city. But unlike the depot it's no where near downtown and the neighborhood surrounding it is pretty much destroyed. The Packard plant was an amazing place for a very long time. But in the last thirty years it's been an attraction for urban explorers and a rave site. Things could have been very different. The Packard plant had a secret: a large and especially nice Banksy painting. Before this guy could take charge of the plant a group of 'renegade artists' went out with air hammers and 'liberated' the Banksy and put it on display in their storefront museum. A large lawsuit ensued but they were allowed to keep it with the proviso that they not sell it. Kind of a unique Detroit only story of legalized theft. Of course in under a year they sold it for millions of dollars! If the new owner had that Banksy and sold it he could have gone a long way towards paying for demolition of the site. The state could have been persuaded to take care of pollution remediation and he would have had the largest single piece of property in the city. Perfect for perhaps an Amazon warehouse?