Detroit's abandoned Packard plant, remnant of industrial glory days

[BlkJag08]

I heard that's it's scheduled to come down soon :(

Will cost about 6 million dollars to do so.

Strangely, I wish they wouldn't. Seeing old buildings like this makes you think of how Detroit was once thriving. It's a part of Detroits history.

The high schools in Detroit, like Cass Tech are sweet. The detail and woodwork into these schools was awesome. Why did they leave? The new Cass tech is fugly!

[sjcottsi]

This guy is sick. He needs to get out of that war zone before he rots away like that old plant.

[jnny3000]

@sjcottsi whats wrong with having a fascination with history?

[thompson777]

What is the name of the song playing within the background?

[tiearruda]

thank you so much for this video. it's awesome. i lived in ann arbor for a while and always had to go to detroit for immigration stuff with my parents (i was in high school) and i remember looking at all the warehouses from the highway and imagining what was inside and what used to go on in there back in the day. i mean, i that was my favorite thing..... no joke :)

[bigchad007]

Look up the Riots in Detroit by Blacks, and you will soon learn why this town ended up this way.

[nuttablets]

@bigchad007 Quit with the Black riots theory.... It was the erosion of manufacturing our products in this country coupled with the fact that we seem to want to distibute and buy other countries made products rather than our own.....

[bluthndr]

Thanks for the piece Michael. Very enjoyable.

[darcygoesfast]

one word...fantastic!

[Jrhynie]

I can relate to this factory even though I don't live in the US. We have the same problems in the UK. You can't go head to head with labour costs in the far east and elsewhere. Ghost towns, factories are sure to follow.

Its painful yet interesting to watch, many thanks.

[pete5668]

These buildings should be torn down. You can look at pictures if you want. I would like to see something new go up there.

[NigelEMack]

@pete5668

I disagree, this place is a historical landmark. I've gone on adventures through this place countless times with alot of friends and I have to say is it's fun to explore and see the age, rust, and art. And besides if they tore it down they wouldn't do much with it after that.

[pete5668]

@NigelEMack It's a run down old blight on the landscape that needs to be torn down. Something new needs to be put in.

[OlegKostoglatov]

@pete5668 It's Detroit, the land is worth nothing, it would cost them more to tear it down then they would get from selling the vacant piece of land. You can go down streets there and see nothing but block after block of empty or near empty city blocks. Nothing new will ever be built there for decades, if ever, because there is no reason to.

[pete5668]

@OlegKostoglatov The land is worth whatever the market will bear. Nothing will be built if the value remains zero. How to increase the value of the land, you may ask? Elect conservative officials in Detroit who know how to create a business-friendly environment with low taxes and less regulations, then go play golf. By the time you reach the proverbial 19th hole and raise your glass, Detroit is back.

[OlegKostoglatov]

Yes, the land is worth whatever the market will bear, and right now with all of the vacant land industrial, residential, and commercial land in Detroit the value is next to zero. Even if you did elect officials that have a positive attiitude towards business it would take decades to turn it around, mainly because the place has been rotting for decades, 40 years ago detroit had close to 3 million people living there, not 2/3 of the people have left almong with alsmost all the business.

[pete5668]

@OlegKostoglatov Every journey begins with a single step. Have faith!

[OlegKostoglatov]

It's rather a catch 22, without business, industry, and jobs people won't move back, and businesses won't move in unless they have a customer base, that will take a long time to undo no matter what government you have, even the criminal element has moved out. I'm not even sure whether that Packard plant is even inside the city of Detroit anymore, Detroit has been reducing it's boundaries lately because of the shrinking tax base and the lack of funds to maintain infrastructure.

[patsaxon]

Sadly too many American name brand products are being made in China, no more American assembly jobs as greed of the American manufacture decided to out source for lower wages, even lower than minimum wage.

[pete5668]

@patsaxon the reason why the jobs went overseas is that unions insisted on being paid more than the work is worth.

[turboslag]

Wonderful to see this, testament to mans ingenuity, labour, achievment and pride. Wouldn't it be great if they were just still making the cars today that they were when this place closed !

One of the oldest car companies in the UK closed about 3 years ago, Rover as it was at the time but originally was Austin. Went through many changes of owner, including BMW at one point, and transformations, but ultimately failed. The site had been occupied for almost 100 years but is now levelled. So sad !

[moptrucks]

nicely sald

[65emkay]

I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO PRESERVE AT LEAST A PART OF THE STRUCTURES RELATED TO DETROIT'S PAST, SINCE THEY GIVE AN UNIQUE IDENTITY TO THE URBAN PANORAMA, ALL THE OLD THEATERS, FACTORIES, TRAIN TERMINALS, STUDENTS CLUBS... DETROIT COULD BE A MODERN TIMES OPEN AIR MUSEUM HAVING A LONG FASCINATING STORY TO TELL, AT A LEVEL OF CERTAIN EUROPEAN CITIES, A PITY TO SEE THIS GEM SUFFERING UNDER A "THROW AWAY" MENTALITY, GOOD LUCK, MOTOWN...

[Jamjar107]

With all the homeless, why havent these giant buildings been turned inti homes for them/

[FrankeeFraud]

@Jamjar107 Well who's stopping you, pal, go do it! Or better yet, invite these dirty bums to move into YOUR house!

[arcadie07]

Interesting video. Well done, Thanks for posting.

[zenmachinefilms]

Fascinating. Strangely beautiful.

Can one just walk right in there and look around? I've been to some old steel mills in Pennsylvania and WV and they usually have fences and tough security to keep people out.

[MrGutley]

Yes, the Packard ruins are magnificent. I saw them on my US holiday, and this was possibly the highlight, better than the Parthenon. See them while you can. The place is generally safe during daylight hours, but wear thick boots. Demolition costs have proven so prohibitive precisely because it was so solidly built. The only people I saw there were a friendly local riding his bike and some white salvage workers STILL stripping out the fittings 55 years after closure.

[Idelia412]

The trouble with America is people want shiny and new, if not new send it to the junk heap. It is like the old movie palaces of yesteryear. When new theaters opened in suburbs no one went downtown anymore. The theaters hung on in the 70's only by showing porn movies and then most were torn down. The Historic Society used to have an ad that said "Look up before it is all gone." I loved Europe for not tearing eveything down when I was over there, unlike the U.S.

[HattieLovesCattie]

Detroit and Bethlehem were the first to see things go downhill.Now we are seeing it nationwide.Thanks to those idiots that move American companies overseas to make a buck.I feel sorry for anyone with the last name of Buck.

[Proedge352]

awesome video man . one of the best on youtube

[Rich8951]

The commentator sees something "heroic" in these dangerous ruins? Is he blind?

The buildings should be torn down. The streets should be torn up. This land should be returned to the state it was in 400 years ago. Maybe a corn field?

[Seasurf88]

The plant should be restored as much as possible. I would pay money to walk through it if it was safe and there were displays about what it looked like when cars were made there. Tour guides would be nice, too. I think of it as a combination museum / architectural gem. There won't be any more built like this, ever, so we should preserve it.

[Rich8951]

@Seasurf88

Architectural gem? These were common warehouses, built as cheaply as possible.

They are of NO value.

[Seasurf88]

@Rich8951 If they had been built as cheaply as possible, the buildings would have been built with corrugated metal and concrete in a few long rectangular big boxes, not with red brick with repeating accents, and buildings connected with arches and skyways. There would have been no wood panneling in the actual offices (not cubicles). There would have been no ornate main entrance (now removed). They don't make 'em like this anymore. It was built with pride.

[Rich8951]

@Seasurf88

Nevertheless, they should be disassembled and removed.

Packard is long gone.  We can build magnificient structures today using beautiful wood, etc.

That property should be returned to a corn field.

[WeaponSamurai]

I plan on going there but I will be armed

[stmotorsports]

Great piece

[stuytown23]

Your work could at any moment be the last (Best) archive.  Also Grandpa's first new car 1955 Patrician still in family hands.

[NowThePeople]

This is what happens when jobs are moved overseas and the middle class is crapped on.

[ThunderAppeal]

Of course the city of Detroit has to at least try to severe its ties with liberal-leftist entitlement programs that brought Detroit in to the situation it is in today.

[ThunderAppeal]

I find it bizarre that anyone would suggest that this complex be torn down when the construction was clearly of a design where the buildings would last for centuries never mind decades. These things are solid and the whole complex could be converted in to 'loft workspace' like has been done across the country in numerous areas where buildings that were once factories now stand.

[joeguinn39]

new york tight compressed glamourising garbage these buildings need to go idiot

[pumkinvine]

Tear that dump down, there's probably a million dollars in steal alone.

[ImForwardlook]

@pumkinvine Your slogan is "Your luck is how you treat people"? So, why come here and pee people who love history, Packards and architecture in the face? I am planning to visit Detroit from Europe with one of the most important stops being to see the great Packard complex before idiots without respect for history tear it down completely.

[pumkinvine]

@ImForwardlook Well, I would rank your desire to visit "the great Packard complex" microscopic compared to the financial and social problems the city of Detroit is facing. That said, what little historical and architectural value, and the fact that there are no Packards still in the complex, makes your statement that I "pee people who love" these things by suggesting it be torn down is ridiculous. Thanks for visiting my channel!

[pumkinvine]

@pumkinvine And by the way Forwardlook, my grandfather spent 16 years of his life working at the Packard plant fyi, so mine is no random comment.

[7isosceles]

that plant should be restored as a recycling plant.

becuase like you said it is a half mile long.

[arlingtontrains7]

shoot dont tear it down.. fix it up.. it may not be a plant.. but like a motel or shelter orsomething you know?..

[sanewton1]

Mr. Hodges

Thank you for and excellent description of the old plant. My family was an automotive supplier and I must agree, this really was at one point was the heart of America. Although that heart beat has been disrupted with technology it is still is very nice nice to see what really made America the country that it is,,,Thank You

[JosephineBlaugh]

Boy did you miss it! For YEARS the Defense Contract Administration and United Technologies BOTH rented and used the building. Also, across the street was a department store and grocery store - which was quite successful. Down the street, used to be the Ludington Press distribution facility. Shame you didn't do your research and simply waxed emotional. Your superficiality was sincere though.

[krystynlynne]

@JosephineBlaugh wow aren't we critical..The video was excellent and just enough information..It was an informational clip NOT a DOCUMENTARY..Instead of being so critical why don't you use your energies to create that video that is the way you propose it should be..It doesn't take much talent to sit back and be overly critical . Gee its to bad in this day and age when someone gets emotional about something...Like I said if you can do a better job then do it ! TALK is Cheap !

[wilde4200]

Be careful and use your head? I just carry a gun and shoot to kill

[12194Carlos]

I know about wild dogs cause me and my cousin were chased by a pack just the other day at an abandon train yard.

[mard420]

nice piece, good fliming and coverage.

[yoyo762]

What poetic nonsense.

As always, some liberal reporter waxes nostalgic about a heap of rubble.

Just like when the Dodge main was being torn down.

Reporters started calling it the " historic " Dodge main plant. They forgot all about what a eye sore rat nest it was for decades.

No doubt this idiot reporter goes to his clean, white neighborhood and would call the city on a neighbor who didn't cut his grass one week.

[pumkinvine]

@yoyo762 Amen brother!