Workers Row House Experience - Greater Corktown Development Corporation

 This project entails restoration of the Row House, an important piece of nineteenth-century workers' history, to its original 1850s appearance. The house will be a location for people interested in Corktown to visit and to learn about available housing, entertainment options, investment potential, and/or to begin a self-guided audio tour of the historic neighborhood. It will be a staging area for the Annual Corktown Home and Garden Tour, and a location for community meetings, potluck dinners, and video viewings. The Greater Corktown Development Corporation (GCDC) will utilize the Workers Row House Experience as a satellite office, which will enable the organization to extend its neighborhood outreach efforts. The project is located in southwest Detroit, south of old Tiger Stadium. The catalyst grant will be used to preserve 3 units of the row house structures, one unit as a museum and two units as a satellite office.

Highlights:

• The Cool Cities catalyst project has resulted in local businesses, restaurants, bars, a children’s bookstore, and others reporting benefit in terms of foot traffic, inquiries, and sales in connection with cultural events, such as the annual Corktown Home tour – now billed as a cultural tour – bike tours, art tours, and historically focused guided tours conducted by private tour companies, as well as project-related events. Growing media coverage of anything related to Corktown is noticeable and generates more visitors and investors to area.
• The project has evolved from a simple preservation project of one historically significant building to include an additional building with revenue stream potential. Instead of serving just as an interpretive resource, the project includes a special-events site, a catering kitchen, a restaurant, retail space, and more. 
• The project attracted the Detroit Historical Museum and captured opportunities for an exhibit focused on the history of Corktown Neighborhood. The site is featured on existing bus tours and bike tours already in progress. It is a grand marketing tool for annual fundraising events in the community. This brings visitors to the community who then patronize the local businesses, restaurants, and bars. The project also alerts people to the other cultural aspects of Corktown, such as the art community.
• Cool Cities has been a great PR tool for the community and for the Corktown Mexicantown Greenlink.
• Greater Corktown Development Corporation has a new focus on cultural tourism. New developments include the old Tiger Stadium site, Roosevelt Hotel, Roosevelt Park, and “The House Next Door” visitor center (restaurant, meeting rooms); a total investment of over $20 million.
• A number of organizations were involved in the project: Greater Corktown Development Corporation, Wayne State University School of Anthropology, Detroit Historical Museum, Clannad Foundation, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Corktown Historical Society, Michigan AIA/David Evans Award, Michigan Architectural Foundation, Governor’s Award for Historical Preservation, June & Cecil McDole Foundation, Detroit Historical Society, Motor Cities National Heritage Area, The Henry Ford, and Detroit Historical Museum.