Detroit Renailed finds new ways to reuse fine wood from old structures
Deconstruction has become a cause dejour for Detroit’s environmentalist and historic preservationist sets, but a certain aspect of recycling old buildings has really caught their attention lately. The wood. Specifically, reclaiming the 100-year-old wood that came from old-growth trees in Michigan.
“That means it’s slow growth wood that has been around for hundreds of years, so it’s very strong,” says Karen Nagher, former executive director of Preservation Wayne who is also one of the organizers behind the new Detroit Renailed Competition.
Detroit Renailed aims to find innovative new uses for this heart wood that is generally in buildings that predate 1930. Too often this valuable and beautiful wood ends up landfills as these older structures fall by the wayside in Detroit. The competition is looking for proposals from artists and building professionals on how best to stop wasting this valuable resource.
“This wood is just fabulous stuff,” Nagher says.
The WARM Training Center, Sugar Hill Gallery, Zachary &Associates, Henry Ford Community College and Hamtramck Community & Economic Development Department have teamed up to make Detroit Renailed possible. Enteries for proposals are due by Dec. 16 and the winners will be displayed at the 71 Garfield building in Midtown in February.
For information, call (313) 831-6100 or click here.
Source: Karen Nagher, former executive director of Preservation Wayne
Writer: Jon Zemke
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