Over at the El Moore, a sustainable urban living project now under construction in Detroit at the corner of 2nd Avenue and West Alexandrine, we are also re-building a community. In his 2009 book, Community: The Structure of Belonging, Peter Block describes the plight of many of today’s communities: fragmented, trapped in dysfunctional and outdated […]
The Process of Detroit Community Building, Part 2 Read More »
The El Moore, a sustainable urban living reconstruction project in Detroit at the corner of 2nd Avenue and West Alexandrine, is a beautiful example of late 19th and early 20th century history in Detroit. But Detroit’s history, of course, goes much, much further back—starting with the original people to inhabit this area: the First Nations
The Voices of Detroit: The People of the Council of the Three Fires Read More »
During the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the El Moore building on 2nd Avenue and Alexandrine, we are building more than a residential complex. We are building a community. How do you “build” a community? Over the past few years in Detroit, especially in Midtown and downtown, there has been a boom of new businesses, rehabbing
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Work continued last week on the alley behind the El Moore. Following the removal of the concrete alley surface, deep holes were dug 15 feet down to expose the sewer line. This allows us to create a new sewer connection for the El Moore building. It also allowed us to open a section of the line
More from the Underground Read More »
The El Moore, a reconstruction project focusing on historic rehabilitation and modern urban sustainability, is based on the history of Detroit as a city of neighborhoods, and how that history shapes how Detroit is reinventing itself yet again. This is the first in a series of posts on the “Voice of Detroit” and how that
The Voice of Detroit Community Building Read More »
We were delighted to see that the El Moore project was mentioned in three news outlets over the last few weeks! At the end of August, both Crain’s and the Free Press ran pieces that included the El Moore as part of the wider story of current Detroit development projects. And just this past Tuesday, this very blog was
El Moore in the news! Read More »
One of my favorite features of the El Moore is its name, carved from the stone above its historic entrance in an ornate, exotic font that perfectly complements the building’s Spanish Medieval style. This is a small detail that makes a big difference, helping define the El Moore as more than just a building — it’s the El Moore, a distinctive place
Meet the named neighbors of the El Moore Read More »
Continuing our journey into the history of the El Moore, here is a snapshot of Detroit in 1898, the birthday year of the El Moore! Demographics: In 1898, immigrants were continuing to come to Detroit in large numbers, just as they had been doing throughout the 19th century. In the last decade of the
When the El Moore Was Born Read More »
