BREWSTER-DOUGLASS HOUSING PROJECTS

'Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects' is a residential housing project owned by the City of Detroit, located in the Midtown-University section of Detroit, Michigan near the Chrysler Freeway, Vernor Highway and Saint Antoine Street. The housing project is named after Frederick Douglass, African American abolitionist, author, and reformer.
The complex was home for Lily Tomlin, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Smokey Robinson during their early years. RuPaul mentions the Brewster Projects in the intro of her biggest hit, the 1992 "Supermodel (You Better Work)".

Contents

History

Hastings Street

Constituent buildings

Further reading

External links

History

Built between 1935 and 1938, the original Brewster Homes were 2 story row houses and 3 story apartment buildings. The Douglass apartment buildings were built in 1952 by Harley, Ellington & Day Architects. These six, 14-story high rises were accompanied by two story row houses bringing the inhabitation of the Brewster-Douglass Homes between 8,000 – 10,000 people.
The towers were part of the larger Brewster-Douglass Housing Project originally, which included over 700 low-rise units named the Brewster Projects. The combined Brewster-Douglass Project was five city blocks long, and three city blocks wide; also part of the complex were 6-story housing project towers at the northwestern end completed in 1942.
In 1952, the public housing tower complex consisted of six, 14-story towers, two have been demolished (303 and 304). Frederick Douglass Projects were built for the "working poor"; the Detroit Housing Commission required an employed parent for each family before establishing tenancy. As the Commission became less selective, crime became a problem in the 1960s and 1970s, and the projects eventually fell into disrepair. Two towers were demolished and two more are scheduled for demolition. Many of the brick row houses from the 1952 addition to the site have been boarded and abandoned. The 1991 rebuild of the Brewster Homes is inhabited, but suffering from the problems of low-income housing in urban centers like Detroit. There are plans in place by students at the Rhode Island School of Design to make a radical critique of the conditions.
'From historic marker on the site of Brewster Homes'

Hastings Street

Hastings Street was the center of black culture in Detroit between the 1920s and 1950s. Located at the southern edge of the Brewster-Douglass Homes the street was the home of innumerable salons and entertainment venues. With the addition of the high-rises and an influx of people moving into the housing, Hastings Street was billed as the place you could fulfill any conceivable need. The I-75 corridor is now in place of this important African American landmark. The (Walter P.) Chrysler Freeway was constructed between 1963 and 1968.

Constituent buildings

The four towers are designed in the Modern movement architectural style and made of brick. They are identical in look and each rise to the height of 14 floors. Technically, the structural heights are measured to the small, four foot masonry chimneys atop the machine, mechanical penthouses of each tower. An additional two foot metal chimney chute rises above the masonry chimneys.

Building Name	Address	Year Completed
Frederick Douglass Apartments - Tower 306	Chrysler Freeway & Vernon Highway	1952
Frederick Douglass Apartments - Tower 305	Chrysler Freeway & Vernon Highway	1952
Frederick Douglass Apartments - Tower 302	2702 Saint Antoine Street	1952
Frederick Douglass Apartments - Tower 301	Chrysler Drive at Alfred Street	1952
Tower 304, Tower 303	Demolished	1952

Further reading

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External links

★ Google Maps location of Frederick Douglass Homes

★ SkyscraperPage.com's pages on Frederick Douglass Homes

★ Frederick Douglass Homes at Emporis.com

★ Frederick Douglass Homes at the City of Detroit Housing Commission.