Dime Building
719 Griswold Street in downtown Detroit
Daniel Hudson Burnham, born in New York state in 1846, moved
to Chicago with his parents at age eight. He was a serious student, so he
applied to Yale and
Harvard. Both colleges rejected him so he moved West and unsuccessfully sought
political office. He returned to Chicago and began working as an apprentice draftsman
for an architectural firm in the early 1870s. This was a fortunate time to be
an architect in Chicago since Mrs. O’Leary's cow started the fire that
destroyed most of the city in 1871. Burnham went to work with William LeBaron
Jenney who
played
a key role in the development of skyscrapers since he helped to design steel-faced
buildings that evolved into the modern skyscraper. By 1873, Burnham began a partnership
with John Root, one that was both financially productive and extremely
innovative. They not only designed massive and elegant homes for Chicago’s
prosperous families, but then went on to design larger and larger multi-story
buildings using iron and steel so that external walls could bear weight. After
John Root’s death in 1891, Burnham headed his own firm and, for twenty
years, his company was, quite likely, the most productive and innovative architectural
business in the country. Root and Burnham designed the 20-story Masonic
Temple Building that opened in Chicago in 1893, arguably the nation’s
first skyscraper.
Burnham also became famous as a city planner. Indeed, his reputation as a planner
rivals or exceeds his reputation as an architect. He played an important role
in not only the design of the impressive buildings of the 1893 Chicago Exposition,
but
entire grounds. The City Beautiful movement—one that Burnham promoted—developed
from that 1893 worlds fair. Detroit’s Cultural
Center on Woodward is a
direct outcome of that movement. To improve the quality of life in his city and
make it attractive, Philip Breitmeyer—a florist who served as mayor in
1909 and 1910—appointed a commission to plan an impressive Detroit. Daniel
Burnham served on that commission, but I believe that Charles Blessing was the
key designer who proposed what we now see at the Cultural Center.
The Dime Bank wanted an appropriate building for their facilities. The first
floor was to serve as a banking floor where patrons would make their deposits
and withdrawals. The higher levels in this 23-story building provided the many
offices the bank needed for business, undoubtedly growing as the vehicle industry
boomed in Detroit. Burnham designed the attractive lobby that you see with its
skylight and numerous decorations. Electric elevators for tall buildings were
first successfully installed in the 1890s, so they were still a new invention
when Burnham designed this Dime Building. Note the impressive decorations that
he added to the doors of his elevators. I do not know if the warm green and cream
colors now used for the lobby were the hues that Burnham selected or a recent
innovation.
Air conditioning was unavailable in 1910 and electric lights were, apparently,
less efficient than the ones we have today. This motivated Burnham to incorporate
a design that provided a window for ventilation and light in every office. You
will notice the light well as soon as you enter the lobby of the Dime Building.
This one faces Griswold and clearly illustrates this typical feature of Burnham’s
Chicago style skyscrapers. Just to the east on Griswold, you will see the Ford
Building that Burnham designed for its 1909 opening. In that one, Burnham’s
light well is invisible from Griswold.
Daniel Burnham died in 1912, about one year before this building opened. Many
feared that if the efforts of the Detroit Renaissance group to build the Renaissance
Center were successful, firms would move their office from other downtown
office building into the Ren Center leaving the other structures vacant. The
market
for offices in downtown Detroit has had some downturns, but many of the classic
office buildings from the pre-Depression era in the city’s financial district,
including the Dime Building, the Guardian, the Buhl,
the Ford and the Penobscot, have
been refurbished and upgraded.
Architect: Daniel Burnham and Company
Architectural Style: Burnham style Chicago skyscraper of the first generation
with classical details
Date of Completion: 1913
Architects for the Renovation: Barton Malow Design
Date of the Renovation: 2001
City of Detroit: Local Historic District: Not listed
Michigan Register of Historic Sites: Not listed
National Register of Historic Sites: Not listed
Photograph: Andrew Chandler; July, 2004
Description: February, 2006
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