Jul
08
2008
In connection with my 1st “Detroit Neighborhoods” post about an area with many homes more than 100 years old, I want to tell you about a hardware store tailor-made for owners of historic homes and restored lofts.
Walking into Detroit Hardware, located at 6432 Woodward just south of “the Boulevard”, is akin to stepping back in time several decades. Uneven wooden plank floors, glass front display cases, a vintage tin ceiling with ceiling fans, two floors connected with a somewhat rickety staircase, rows and rows of nails, nuts and bolts, old-fashioned washboard, hard-to-find plumbing fixtures greet grateful DIY-ers and contractors.
Most of all, there are wonderful, helpful men and women who actually know every inch of the store and take the time to answer every question. Whether you need that whistling “thingy” for the top of your pressure cooker, clawfeet for your antique bathtub, extra keys cut, or even a hunting or fishing license, you’ll find what you’re looking for at Detroit Hardware.
We in the “D” are certainly glad that one of the “big-box” home improvement centers decided to locate one of their stores in the City, but we are equally glad to have a delightfully charming, family-owned and operated real neighborhood hardware store in the Woodward Gateway Retail District within the Midtown/New Center area.
You can enter the store from Woodward, or park in lot behind the store off Milwaukee and enter through the creaky steel back door. The beautiful and distinctive red-and-white striped awning on the storefront on Woodward was purchased a few years ago with funds obtained from the New Center Council; funds raised partially through the annual Cityfest.
For more information and hours, call 313.875.0838
Jul
06
2008
…and it was so much fun!
We just returned from one of the closing acts of the 2008 Comerica Cityfest–George Clinton’s P-Funk Tour!
There were thousands and thousands and thousands of people there from all over the Detroit Metroplex!
All ages, races, cultures met on The Boulevard in the Fisher Building Parking Lot between 2nd and 3rd…perfect weather…perfect FREE Concert!
The Mothership can land at your house…(see sidebar)
Jul
03
2008
There are so many wonderful events happening every weekend in and around Detroit, but how about joining me at the annual celebration of the historic New Center Area of Midtown: The Comerica Cityfest?
The Cityfest, formerly known as the “Tastefest” is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The festival started out as a fundraiser for the New Center Council, which supports the neighborhood servives provided by the New Center Council. This is the 10th year that the Cityfest/Tastefest has been sponsored by Comerica.
Admission is free; “Taste Tickets” cost $10 for 16 tickets. The extended hours this year are Wednesday - Saturday: 11:30 - 11:00 pm; on Sunday: 11:30 - 8:00 pm.
Over 60 performers will be at the Festival which showcases local food and culture, as well as local, national, and international performance artists. The Cityfest will even be “going green”: rejecting Styrofoam containers, and using 100% natural fiber bags and recycled paper.
Award-winning local interior designer and fiber artist Carole Harris will be having a open house for the New Center location of her company, the Harris Design Group.
Entertainment lovers will especially enjoy seeing local poet/spoken-word legend Khary Kimani Turner,
old-skool crooner Billy Paul,
and Funkmaster George Clinton; at least those are three shows I will definitely be seeing.
For more information on the 2008 Comerica Cityfest, click here for the full website.
(All photos except of the performers/artists are courtesy of New Center Council, Inc.)
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