The Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building is a class-A skyscraper located at 477 Michigan Avenue in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, designed by the Detroit architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman and Grylls. It opened in 1976 to consolidate the offices of federal agencies which were scattered in several locations in the area. It houses offices of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Army Corps of Engineers, Defense Contract Management Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD), Internal Revenue Service, Peace Corps, Railroad Retirement Board, Veteran Affairs (VA), The American Legion Department of Michigan and Social Security Administration. It is named for Patrick V. McNamara, a Democratic United States Senator from the State of Michigan from 1955 to 1966.
Video Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building
Occupants
- Army Corps of Engineers
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Detroit Immigration Court, Department of Homeland Security
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- FBI field office: 26th floor
- Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD): 17th floor
- Internal Revenue Service
- National Labor Relations Board
- People Driven Credit Union
- Railroad Retirement Board
- Secret Service
- Small Business Administration
- Social Security Administration
- U.S. Senator Gary Peters
- U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow
Maps Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building
Architecture
The tower contains approximately 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2) on 27 floors and is in the brutalist architectural style. The corners are recessed providing additional strength to the structure and eliminating the battle for corner offices.
The building is surrounded by a large plaza which covers the concourse level, parking garage, loading dock and a sunken fountain. In 1987, the 14 ft (4.3 m) tall modern sculpture Detroit Deliquescence by John Chamberlain was installed on the plaza. The sculpture, which consists of crushed auto body panels, was commissioned under the Art in Architecture program by General Services Administration (GSA) in 1977 for $100,000. However, it could not be placed at its intended location due to deterioration of the plaza. After the GSA and building's contractor reached a settlement for repairs, it was installed in 1987. Between the time of its completion in 1983 and 1987, the sculpture was placed at Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs on the campus of nearby Wayne State University. From the time of its installation at Wayne State, the sculpture proved unpopular with critics and members of the public.
During additional repairs to the plaza in 2001, the sculpture was removed and sent for conservation. The years of exposure to the elements caused damage and GSA made the decision to relocate it to an interior space. After a two-year search for a recipient, the College for Creative Studies agreed to accept the work for its new A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education. It was installed for the center's opening in 2009.
The lobby of the building houses two works, an acrylic and fiber painting by Sam Gilliam entitled Box Cars Grand and an oil on panel piece by Harold Cohn called Decorative Map of Belle Isle.
On September 22, 2001, a Federal Officer was killed in the lobby by a visitor who became angry when told he would not be able to take his gun into the building.
See also
- List of tallest buildings in Detroit
References
Further reading
- Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
- Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.
External links
- Official Building site
- McNamara Federal Building at Emporis.com
- SkyscraperPage.com's Profile on the McNamara Federal Building
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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