- City:
- Detroit, MI
- Site Type:
- Art Works, Murals, Sculpture and Bas Relief
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Artists:
- David Fredenthal, Edgar Yaeger, Gustave Hildebrand, John Tabaczuk
Description
“The new armory opened in 1930, and was used as both a training facility and civic event site. The indoor drill floor was used for dances, USO mixers, auto shows, and political and sporting events.[3] In 1932, future heavyweight champion Joe Louis fought his first career bout.[3] With the onset of the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration funded numerous artistic additions to the armory, including three murals, plaster carvings, and extensive wood carvings;[3] this collection of WPA art is the largest collection of federally-funded Depression-era artwork of any building in the state…
The Detroit Naval Armory is a limestone structure with four main sections: a vestibule, a drill hall, an office / penthouse section, and a company drill hall.[2] The building mixes Art Moderne and Art Deco influences, and contains a large array of Depression-era WPA art[2] by artists such as John Tabaczuk, Edgar Yaeger, David Fredenthal, and Gustave Hildebrand,[4] all with nautical themes.[6] The building faces East Jefferson; the entrance is heavily decorated in military and naval themes using Pewabic tiles.[4] In front of the building is a semi-circular drive encircling a flagpole erected in 1943 and a large Navy anchor from the USS Yantic, a Civil War gunboat whose hull is buried in a filled-in boat slip in Gabriel Richard Park.”
The Armory is now commonly known as the R. Thornton Brodhead Armory.
Source notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Naval_Armory
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You might also want to include the name that it is now also commonly known by: R. Thornton Brodhead Armory
Thanks for pointing this out! We’ve included this information.
How does one save the art considering the building is adbandoned and is raided.
The Brodhead Association and The Brodhead Armory Preservation Society are in the early stages of restoration of this National Historic Landmark. We began cutting through the red tape in 2018, and have recently finished getting the grounds under control. And will soon begin replacing the broken windows.