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Skillman Donation Resurrects Downtown Detroit BranchShuttered for the past five years, the Downtown branch of the Detroit Public Library reopened December 1, following a $8.5-million renovation. The facility has been renamed the Rose and Robert Skillman branch, after the founders of the Skillman Foundation, which donated $5 million to the project. Threatened by the demolition of the hazardously close J. L. Hudson building, the branch closed in 1998 with its future uncertain. But riding the crest of a downtown building boom that has included construction of a new headquarters for business-software company Compuware across the street from the library, the city was able to contribute $3.5 million through bonds and from the general fund, said DPL Director Nancy Skowronski. During the reopening ceremonies, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick called the library “the most important institution we can have in our city.” The resurrected branch contains a cybercafe and children’s room and is also the new home of DPL’s unique National Automotive History Collection. The SmithGroup–current incarnation of Smith Hinchman and Grylls, the architectural firm that designed the 1931 building–handled the restoration, which included a new roof, elevator, lighting, rest rooms, and a heating-and-cooling system, but retained the Greek-style library’s original wood, bronze, marble, and color scheme. Posted December 8, 2003. |
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