Looking back on the condition of the UA Building and especially the theatre at the time ownership changed hands to Olympia Entertainment makes it worse.
It’s an example of the old game developers played with downtown even the ones that actually did care you leave hard to redevelop buildings exposed to the elements and open to scrappers the building becomes a nuisance.
We all know the game at this point demolition is called for to clean up blight while making the area attractive for developers the new parking will be needed and proceeds will help pay for something better.
Olympia deserves credit for actually caring and trying but they bit off more than they could chew with their Fox Town dream. However just like with Ford and Michigan Central when The Book Cadillac was saved that was a turning point showing the game was bullshit.
It’s a damn shame they wasted so much goodwill and potential not just to the detriment of the city but their own. They city was culpable too for enabling by not enforcing its own codes it’s hard to forget sometimes how bad corruption was back then.
Just look at the kind of detail remained in the early 2000s
Water winter wonderland