City leaders want to revive Fisher Body Plant

Detroit city leaders say they see more than just graffiti and broken glass at the old Fisher Body Plant.

City leaders are working to revive the once thriving auto plant along I-75 near Piquette.

What looks like a ghostly structure used to be home to a thriving operation in the early 1900s.

"It's one of the many buildings that really has a great historical legacy and has a lot of potential," said David Williams, Sr. Advisor to Mayor Mike Duggan.

The plant that used to turn out cars is now owned by the city of Detroit. Officials hope post-bankruptcy that the building can bounce back.

"For example the Brewster Wheeler Rec. Center," Williams said. "We brought in a developer who is going to turn it into a restaurant and community space so it's one of these things that have potential but it takes holistic strategies and developers."

Just last year a German businessman expressed an interest in turning the former plant into a techno club. But that plan did not bear any fruit.

"We have received some unsolicited business interest on the building, but none that we felt we were ready to move on," Williams said.

As the city continues its efforts to map out a future for the plant, it is also working to get other nearby graffiti covered buildings cleaned up.

"We give owners of property correction orders and they have seven days to clean their own property,” said Brad Dick of the General Services Department.

City officials hope as the area is cleaned up; it will be more enticing for someone looking to restore a key part of Detroit's history and could be a key part of the city's future.