Capitol Park is a small patch of land surrounded by a triangle of buildings. It’s hard to see any other buildings or streets. It feels like Manhattan… self-contained. But it’s just 1 block from Woodward and one block from the Book-Cadilac Hotel. Here’s Richard Karp.

“It’s a little lost forgotten little triangular park right in the middle of everything and the way the buildings surround it create their own little independent micro-community. The size of the buildings and the situation of the park create an interesting pedestrian scale. It will be a great epicenter of housing and retail activity. It’s just perfect.”

Richard Karp’s biggest project to date is the Durant Hotel in Flint. For Capitol Park he beat out Dan Gilbert, John Ferchill and the Ilitchs.

“I feel pretty good about it. I think the DEGC (Detroit Economic Growth Authority run by George Jackson) made the right decision.”

Karp lives in Lansing and grew up in Southfield.

For a long description of the Farwell and other iconic Detroit buildings click below.

http://historicdetroit.org/building/farwell-building/

I am Na Ree. And I am Hyun Woo.

(Na Ree)We went to the Walker Building on the corner of Grand River and North Washington. Workers were drilling holes and sawing boards.

Gene Townsend is in charge of the project.

(Hyun Woo)We asked why is it so important to revitalize this building?

“This building sets on one of the main corners of old town, for many years it’s been derelict but it’s essentially a strong building and so we thought it was important to bring this building back to a useful life.”

(Hyun Woo) Townsend wants to keep all the architecture in old town.

“This building has stood on this corner for over a century. And a lot of people that lived in Old Town and some of the people that have worked on this building remember when there was a grocery store here and that it was a popular place for people to come to buy groceries. And then after a grocery store it was a union hall here on the second floor and people would come to the union hall for parties.”

(Na Ree) The City of Lansing gave $190,000 to restore windows and bricks and to remove hazards like lead based paint and asbestos. The building owner is investing $540,000 himself.

(Hyun Woo) There will be two different businesses and five one-bedroom apartments. MSHDA or The Michigan State Housing Development Authority added $300,000. It wants a mix of low and high income people in Old Town.

(Hyun Woo) Not all Americans like old buildings. And not all Koreans like old buildings either.

(Na Ree)This was a radio news report in 2009 from Seoul. The government wanted to tear down an old neighborhood of two story buildings. They wanted to replace it with  skyscrapers. Five people died in the struggle. Gene Townsend was not surprised by the events in our country.

“One problem with vertical buildings is that there is very little interaction from one floor plate to another. Wide floor plates create more innovation than small floor plates in a vertical format because people run into each other more they’ve got hall ways and people when they meet at hallways have longer conversations than when they meet in elevators.”

(Hyun Woo) Korea has tried to copy the U.S. with tall buildings. But we don’t have a choice. We are running out of space. Michigan has only 10 million people. But we have 50 million living on the same sized territory.  New apartments in Korea are 30 floors or higher.

“There is a community life at the side walk level. Where People run into each other and learn something new almost every time they walk out of the door. In a city of skyscrapers that happens less often. And so I think for that reason urban revitalization that’s taken place in America that’s included high rise has not proven very successful.”

(Hyun Woo) The Walker Building left footprints that become blueprints for buildings in the future. Old ideas are still good for building communities.

I would like to live in a village filled with American style houses so I can see the sky sometimes…

(Na Ree) I want to live in an apartment for many years in the future.   But at the end of my life I would like to have my feet back on the ground.

For Michigan Now, I’m Na Ree Lee.

And I’m Hyun Woo Park.

A German guy born and raised in Detroit was the country’s biggest star when he produced this hit song. His name was Rudy Wiedoeft.  It was 1926, the same year the German community built St. Anthony High School. It was near Gratiot and East Grand Blvd.

In 1969, the school was renamed East Catholic.

In September 2011, this guy, who calls himself I.M. Broke, made a video of the destruction inside.

“You know that’s one thing I always say too. They don’t make buildings or structures like this anymore. They just don’t.”

East Catholic was four stories of red brick and limestone. The windows in the auditorium were 25 feet high.

“There’s the stage,” says I.M. Broke in the narration of his Youtube video.

Arches above dozens of doors and windows were designed to invite students in and bless them.

“You look at the different designs on the ceiling like that one there.”

Plaster of Paris was made on the ceilings and walls. Artisans knew how to mix lime, gypsum, cattle and hog hair.

But now, the Catholic archdiocese has paid the Adamo Demolition Company to bring its bulldozers and backhoes to the school. A retired GM worker named Mr. Anderson lives across street.

“Well they got the thieves and metal scrappers, they are the ones that knocked the windows out of it and took all that metal out of it. It sat there for a long time before they tore it down. That school been closed. Both my daughters graduated from there.

“The thieves are going in there late at night. And we was all woke over here trying to find out what was going on. We call the police they never even show up. Sometimes when they would show they (the scrappers) would be gone.”

Mr. Anderson provides an explanation of why people are dismantling old buildings in Detroit.

“ Jobs. People need jobs. If they had a job or somewhere to go to work everyday they wouldn’t have time to be stealing and killing. They wouldn’t have time. They’d be working and when they get off work they would be tired and go home and go to bed or go wherever they go. But they wouldn’t have time. We need jobs here. That’s the key. Jobs.”

“Kind of strange looking at the corner over here. We’re trying to see if we can find that one cornerstone. Big difference from yesterday what it is today. It looks like everything got reburied. They’re separating all the metal and stuff from the school.”

Lew Iler left the neighborhood 40 years ago for suburban St. Clair Shores. But he’s been back lately to watch the demolition. One cornerstone had these words inscribed. Unless The Lord Build the House, They Labour in Vain That Build It.  Psalms, 126, 1.

“I was born and raised here,” Iler said.

“I went to the elementary school that used to be in the far corner over there. Saint Anthony’s grade school. Then they had the convent over here in the corner on the side of the church. And of course the church and the rectory. And the high school there.”

30 nuns taught and fed students and cleaned the school.

“It was a huge community in the 1960’s and 70’s and prior to that.  I was an alter boy here. I was in the choir.”

In 2010, a break away catholic group bought the church but not the school. Joe Kohn is a spokesman for the archdiocese. He said it is willing to sell its real estate.

“Charter schools or head start programs-there is generally a use for them. The East Catholic property was an exception and it may have been, in recent years, because of the condition of the building.”

Scrappers, photographers and alumni have been stopping by the site off Gratiot lately to look at the bricks, stone and twisted metal bars on the ground. This man wanted the archdiocese to save the building.

“You leave your car unlocked and somebody steals it then you’re at fault. You left your car unlocked. You leave your car unlocked and somebody steals your car and wrecks it and kills somebody you’re responsible. Do you know that? Somebody walked away, left it unoccupied, whoever that was, they are the ones responsible for walking away in the first place.”

The man says skilled tradesmen and homeless guys alike, will break the law to destroy buildings. You can’t stop them. So the man says it’s the archdiocese, Detroit public schools or whoever owns a place who should occupy or at least secure it.

SEE THIS MOVING PHOTO GALLERY

http://detroiturbex.com/content/schools/eastcath/index.html

Economic growth is inching up and unemployment is inching down. State republicans say credit their $1.7 billion tax cut last year. Now they want to cut $400 million more. They want to eliminate the tax on new business equipment like a lathe, a saw or a drill press.  State Senator Mike Nofs is a republican from Battle Creek. Nofs and the lieutenant governor spoke together to mayors, managers, and city council members. Nofs says small manufacturers deserve tax cuts now.

“They’re the sustaining groups that we need in our communities that help us provide the jobs and once you have the jobs you know people are working. They can pay for the schools and government and everything else that we cherish every day. So we need to give them relief.”

Mike Nofs and the lieutenant governor are asking for local governments to have faith in small manufacturers. Here’s the chain reaction they describe: a local machine shop can avoid new taxes on a drill press. The shop makes more money. The shop hires new workers. New businesses start up. More money is circulated. Local governments are able to bring in taxes from a larger pie. Then most budget problems will be solved. Senator Nofs says:

“It’s going to keep our businesses on the cutting edge and be competitive. If you stay back and use the old presses maybe it takes a lot longer to make that widget. Well with a new press you could make 5 widgets compared to what it used to take where you could only make one. Now you can sell 5 and you can make more money but we’re going to tax you today because you bought that new press. But under this package of bills we won’t say that. We’ll say thanks for buying that. Thanks for staying competitive. Thanks for staying in Michigan.”

Senator Nofs and the lieutenant governor mentioned replacing the income local governments would lose. But they didn’t explain how. People at the Michigan Municipal League Conference are worried. Rogers City would lose $112,000. The city manager would have to lay of 2 of his 24 city employees.  The Mayor of Dearborn said he would lose about $15 million. Summer Minnick is the MML’s director of state affairs. She disagrees with the senator and lieutenant governor’s proposals.

“This is a problem they’re creating. And right now we have a pot of money that is retained locally and spent locally that they want to take away, shrink and redistribute.”

Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley told the audience that Michigan can’t run fund state and local governments in the same familiar way, hoping things will improve. Calley said it will just mean more budget deficits. The Municipal League’s Summer Minnick says:

“Since 1939 we’ve been giving up local taxing authority for a revenue sharing agreement and we keep getting cut. So that’s our position as well. We can’t keep signing on to that type of agreement.”

State Representative Bob Constan came to the conference. His district is in Allen Park, Inkster, Garden City and Dearborn Heights.

“Changing the current way we tax industrial personal property, it’s my opinion that will not create one job. It will not make any difference to any manufacturer to employ more people here in the state of Michigan.”

Constan argues that government can fall victim to companies who say they’ll invest only if they get tax cuts. They can be manipulative and play governments off against one another other. Such accusations were made against companies like Electrolux and Federal Mogul in the last few years. Constan describes a negative experience with the movie industry.

“I had in my district, Unity Studios. We were always in these meetings with this scam artist who was the head of Unity Studios, Jimmy Lifton, and he was talking about, well we’re gonna go to Shreveport Louisiana.”

Representative Constan says that businesses chose a location based on the quality of the workforce and quality of life in the area.

“I believe a business, if they’re gonna locate in the state, looks at a variety of things and the industrial personal property tax is way down on the list.”

The MML’s Summer Minnick agrees with Constan. Her organization has spent years trying to convince the state legislature that tax cuts don’t create jobs. Instead, vibrant cities attract smart people who then create jobs. She says Michigan should not throw out the tax on equipment for manufacturers.

“The fact still is, 37 states still has some form of PPT. So the vast majority of states still tax that industry. And the other thing is, instead of comparing ourselves to Ohio and Indiana we really need to start talking about how we compete globally. And the only way to compete globally for the best and the brightest ideas and people is if we start making investments in those places where people want to be.”

The Waxies filled the cavernous structure built in 1925 with fiddles, flutes, strings, beers and fine foods.

Proceeds from the sale of tickets are going to the St. Patrick’s Parade Association and The Friends of Celtic Culture. The Great Lakes Bay Regional Wellness Alliance sponsored the event.

Here’s a description on the Waxies website:

Waxies History

In 19th-Century Dublin, a union of cobblers (known as “waxies” for their waterproofing wax) watched a caravan of rich townsfolk leave for their annual picnic on the River Dargle, and they got an idea. They loaded cart after cart with family and friends, carried them off to a grassy plane outside the city, and had a party of their own. The annual bash grew famous among the commonfolk as the Waxies’ Dargle, inspiring the popular Irish pub song of the same name.

Then, in 21st-Century Grand Rapids, a new incarnation of The Waxies got together to share the same spirit of fun. An Irish folk lineup combined with modern punk-rock energy make for a knock-down, drag-out, hell-of-a-good-time show. Though the lineup has changed often since The Waxies’ birth in 2007, their continued success is ensured by their enthusiasm for good music and good times, their loyal West Michigan fanbase, and their niche in the indie-folk genre growing in popularity.

In 2009, The Waxies were named “Best Celtic Rock Band in Michigan” at the Ionia Free Fair Celtic Battle of the Bands (judged by audience enthusiasm and hosted by Waxies godfather Liam the XL Leprechaun) and in 2011, voters from all over Michigan awarded The Waxies a Shammy Award for “Favorite Irish Rock Act in Michigan.”

With St. Paddy’s Day right around the corner and their second studio album Wasted Saints near completion, The Waxies show no sign of slowing down.

Governor Snyder sent an emergency manager to Flint in December. In February, the manager held community meetings. Residents raised many issues. One was crime. Wantwaz Davis helps convicted felons when they got out of prison.

“What are your plans in having a pro-active program instead of a reactive program in dealing with the crime rate in our community?”

The emergency manager stood at podiums in 9 different places. His name is Michael Brown. He held this meeting last week at Bethel United Methodist Church, 1309 N. Ballenger Hiway.

“That’s a good question. I think we need more than just police officers and jail space.”

Though more jail space is what Governor Snyder could be announcing. Flint has revitalized its downtown with the multi-story, century old brick buildings around Saginaw Street. But on the north side, empty malls and torched homes are easy to spot. Carter McWright has run his record and CD shop on the north side for 30 years. He asked emergency manager Michael Brown:

“On a scale from 1 to 10, ten being the highest, how safe are the citizens of Flint.”

“One,” says someone else in the audience.

“Depends on what part,” says another.

“Not just the Northside,” says McWright.

Carter McWright stayed at the microphone amidst the other 100 or so people in the audience.

“You know when we hear all this crime. We see this crime. We witness this crime. We live in these crimes. It’s almost like as soon as it gets dark people stay home anyway. So are we close to having the National Guard come in? Something has to be done in the City of Flint. We can talk and have all these sessions. But we want to see some action.”

The National Guard quelled labor unrest in 1937 and racial unrest in ’67. Now, with 90% of the GM jobs gone, there’s more crime. People don’t want to lose their lives too.

Michael Brown answered the store owner’s question. Brown said he just had a meeting with….

“Colonel Etue of the State Police this week. They have some presence in the community. We’d like to see that expanded. The governor has some plans for urban areas around crime. We’re hoping that will mean more resources for us. Obama has put out some federal funds….”

McWright, the music store owner says preventing crime is still not enough. He says Flint could hire a lot of:

“Police officers and whatever. But we need jobs.”

McWright returned to his question. Grading public safety on a scale of 1-10.  Emergency Manager Michael Brown said,

“I give it a four.”

Flint police have said they’ve done community policing for years. At other community meetings, the police chief said witnesses are protecting criminals. But several people at the meeting didn’t agree.  Eric Mayes says residents like him are willing to solve disputes in the neighborhood. But police ignore their help.

“Now remember. When we talk black and white that don’t mean I’m racist or prejudiced. I’m just telling you it’s a different understanding of the community. See I go into the Palm Tree Club. I go into the Van Club. I’m out there around people who people are scared of when they see them on the sidewalk.”

Mayes pointed to Brown then a well dressed white woman in the audience.

“If indeed you want to know, and they told us at all the forums, tell on the people who’s shooting and killing. Tell on the people who’s selling dope. She don’t know who that is. She can’t call them by name. You’ve got to include us.”

Emergency managers are forcing Michigan cities to do more with less. Flint police have been cut 30% in the last couple years. Eric Mayes told Brown he’d donate his time to police.

Another man said he has a master’s degree and once worked at GM. Michael Brown makes $170,000 a year. The man told him:

“I’m a retiree. I’m concerned about the city of Flint and I would have done your job for nothing.”

For Michigan Now I’m Chris McCarus.

About 100 people filled the auditorium of Freeman Elementary School in Flint. They’d seen Mike Brown before. He was an interim mayor in 2009. But since Governor Rick Snyder appointed him the emergency manager in November, this was Brown’s first town hall meeting with citizens. Brown is trying to shrink an $11 million budget deficit.

“We have 3,000 retirees and about 750 employees. We’re challenged. That’s one of the structural problems that we have.”

Health care costs keep going up. While tax revenues keep going down. Brown’s job is to cut costs. Public Act #4, passed into law a year ago, allows Brown to renegotiate labor contracts with city employees. He could even cancel them. Though his mild manner didn’t reveal that Thursday night.

“We’ll try to continue this dialogue throughout the community to have an open and fair exchange of ideas. We’ll listen to you. We’ll try to implement some of those ideas and try to do the best job we can moving forward.”

Some residents are upset that Brown is their un-elected leader. And that he already sent his plan to the Michigan Department of Treasury before he talked to the community. Chris Del Morone says that makes this series of meetings even less democratic. And:

“My concern is they will attempt to regionalize what’s going on in the city of Flint and Flint will lose much of its autonomy in regards to quite possibly police and fire. We’ve seen the loss of our paramedics. There’s concern of our water plant being sold or given away.”

Emergency Manager Brown’s plan is to help the water department fill a $6 million hole from last year. Flint’s water comes in a pipeline from Detroit. Detroit raised its rates and Flint residents are paying 30% more this year. This woman says water bills have become inaccurate.

“I don’t use $91. It was $80 last month and then it just keeps going up. I have a friend. She’s a widow. She hardly uses any water at all. Her water bill is more than mine.”

Emergency Manager Brown might cancel the water contract with Detroit. Then Flint might make a deal with Genesee, Lapeer and Sanilac Counties. They would all pay for a future pipeline from Lake Huron. The last question of the night came from a resident named John Fennessy.

“This is a question directed to the chief. What exactly are we trying to do to deter the high homicide rate with Flint being number one?”

When Michael Brown was interim Mayor in 2009, he named Alvern Lock as chief of police. Lock still has the job. Lock says if witnesses are scared of being snitches then criminals won’t be punished.

“We as a police department have been doing all that we can do. Initially we got some help. But then again now no one wants to call and give us the information to go in and help them. But we need everybody in here’s help.”

In the last couple years, The Flint PD has shrunk from 180 to 125 officers. 40 years ago, Flint had a population of almost 200,000. Now it has about 100,000. 40 years ago, General Motors employed about 80,000 people in Flint. Now it employs about 7,000.

“One of the consistencies that we’re seeing in a lot of the local units that do fall under review is there is a loss of residency, a loss of citizenry.”

Terry Stanton is a former tv anchor who works for the Treasury Department in Lansing. He didn’t mention that these communities are mainly black. But Stanton agrees they need jobs and downtown revitalization.

“The most important thing is to get a local unit on firm financial footing. That is the key. Because without that you may not be able to attract residents or business investment those critical pieces that important for all local units.”

Flint is attracting college students on several campuses. Suburbanites in Flint and Detroit are doing reverse white flight. They want mass transit and they like gardens and old buildings. These look like the only ingredients for economic growth. But emergency managers don’t use them.

Monday night, two men were guarding backhoes and a half demolished building.  The City of Highland Park is paying about $60,000 to smash and haul away bricks and limestone put together there in 1917. That was the height of Henry Ford’s empire in the city.

“This was the police station I think….the old Highland Park Police Department.”

The men keep watch while sitting in a car. The older man won’t give his name. He says he’s worked on Tiger Stadium and several other demolitions done by the company with this contract. The Farrow Group. The man says the demolition company is a job creator.

“All them machines you think one man is running all them? Yeah they give jobs. That company gives a lot of jobs to people.”

The man says he’s not emotionally attached to old buildings like this.

“Tear it down you know. It wasn’t no good for nothing else.”

In 2001, former Governor John Engler appointed an emergency financial manager to run the City of Highland Park. The EFM at the time ordered the police station closed. It was also a jail. Until about Friday, it will stand across from the old city hall and the fire station. Scrappers have taken clay roof tiles, bricks, doors, windows and much more from all three buildings. The City decided this is the best site to build its new fire station.

The State Historic Preservation Office has approved the project. It’s based in Lansing and nicknamed SHPO.

“SHPO actually came down last May and June and did a walk through of that entire site.”

Sandy McDonald is Highland Park’s Director of Community and Economic Development. SHPO works with non-profits and developers who try to save old architecture. SHPO is a division of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. They have some power to halt demolition when they try. McDonald said.

“SHPO agreed that that site was past saving.”

That was last year. FEMA had offered the $1.6 million for the new fire station in 2009.   But McDonald says the State Historic Preservation office gave Highland Park a list of things to do that

“included everything from hiring an historical consultant to record the history of the building, take photos of the building, to do a narrative of the building and we had to submit all of that to SHPO before they would allow us to demolish the building.”

“It’s so sad. It’s such a beautiful building. It’s so sad it has to come down.”

Nancy Finegood runs the Michigan Historic Preservation Network in Lansing. She grew up in Oak Park.

“Not every building can be saved. We know that. Some are truly safety hazards. We try to save all the historic buildings. But some are beyond help and that’s due to lack of people that care about the building and maintenance and almost allowing them to deteriorate to that point so they do need to be taken down.”

Please follow the 3-part series.

Aired Jan 6, 2009

INTRO: According to RealtyTrac, Michigan had the nation’s 7th highest foreclosure rate in the nation for the 3rd quarter of 2008. In Michigan in particular, copper theft has made foreclosure and abandonment even worse. Yesterday, Governor Granholm signed a law to clamp down on scrap yard. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports.

Foreclosed homes stick out in Detroit’s grandest neighborhoods. They’ve got for sale signs, junk mail piled up on the porch. Broken windows and doors. Rochester realtor Karen Nihls is showing the Wonderbread Mansion on Boston Blvd. On the outside, so far, thieves have only gotten the solid wood front door. Nihls is opening the side door.

“You never know what you’re gonna find when you walk in. This is anywhere in metro Detroit or just Detroit? No. Any vacant house. Any vacant house I don’t like to go in by myself. The bank owned property ones.”

The basement of this house is dry and clean. But thieves have struck here too. The boiler is just a shell. Its copper parts inside are gone. A newly installed boiler costs about $7,000. You can Blame the auto industry for Detroit’s real estate collapse. But copper theft is driving down home values further and faster. Karen Nihls reads what this house was selling for in 2007.

“It started out on the market in September at 297 and it sold in November, 2 months after it went on the market at 297. Then they put it back on the market. So from 325 asking to 101. It’s amazing.”

Deal after deal is falling through. Damage by scrappers discourages banks. They don’t want to have to pay for repairs to make a house liveable again. So the house stays on the market a few more months. And the scrappers get more time to cannibalize. A single house can plummet in value and bring the block down with it. Cash is the quickest way to buy a house. But who has any of that these days? Michigan had 145,000 new foreclosures in 2008, that’s according to the foreclosure database–Realty Trac. In the city of Detroit, you can find hundreds of foreclosed properties in a single zip code. Realtor Karen Nils says the suburbs haven’t been spared either.

“I sold a house in Warren where they had stripped out pretty much everything. They had stripped out all the copper plumbing. They had taken out all the doors off the back. They had it boarded all up. It was a mess.”

Interim Mayor…. Ken Cockrel Jr seems to recognize the problem.

“To those of you who are bad actors. To those of you who are stealing gutters and air conditioning units and wiring from our citizens and our businesses, to those of you who are terrorizing our senior citizens to the point where they don’t feel comfortable walking out their front door, we’re coming after you.”

Cockrel set up a copper theft task force with the Police Department. The force gets help from Wayne County prosecutors.

“just after last christmas someone stole the county’s christmas lights for the metal.”

Assistant Prosecutor Dennis Doherty authorizes the police to serve warrants on suspects.

“We had a case where somebody stole an 8 foot statue of Jesus off one of the local churches. It was painted green. It was actually plastic but because it was painted green the thieves thought it was copper. The cross ended up for sale on Craig’s list the next day. But they must have got smart because police recovered it in an ally the next day. And the rest of the cases are a lot of wire cuts.”

Doherty says recent Michigan law has allowed law enforcement to crack down.

“Maybe somebody’s causing significant amount of damage cutting down some wire or stealing something, some kind of metal, and if the value of the metal is under $1000 we can only charge that individual with a misdemeanor.

That was the law before a year and a half ago. Then the law got changed to include stolen metal of any dollar value.

“But in the case of stolen scrap metal there is no dollar value requirement so that allows us to charge people with a felonies when they are selling stolen scrap metal or stolen wire and that’s been a significant help.”

So that loop hole was closed.. On Thursday, Governor Granholm signed a new law. It could close another loop hole. Police can go after the big scrap dealers who’ve been buying from individual scrappers for years. Detroit Senator Buzz Thomas sponsored the legislation.

“Folks are gonna have to start proving ownership of that and there will be a waiting period before people can get paid if they don’t have that ownership. There will be a provision for a tagging period and a holding period so that law enforcement has the proper time and then yeah. There will be a punishment for people who are knowingly accepting stolen merchandise. Unfortunately, we know who they are.”

Thomas says large, expensive homes in the upscale neighborhoods of Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest and Green Acres have been hit hard.

“Three years ago houses were selling from $300,000 to $500-600,000. Some of those neighborhoods, University district as an example, has more than 150 of their 1,200 houses that are abandoned, foreclosed, many of them have been stripped of their copper, all of the great things that made these great historic homes. But they’re empty, vacant properties.”

These grand homes are enticing to some suburbanites and out of towners. Their destruction might make people dream less about fixing up Detroit.

“You gotta completely redo all of the plumbing, you gotta completely redo all of the heating and cooling that has been taken out and as a result now the economics don’t make any sense for doing that deal and that does happen because we’re letting scrappers come in.”

To see what someone dealing in illegal metals looks like, go to 36th district court Tuesday morning and look for 60 year old William Charles Heany. He’s facing up to 5 years in prison for allegedly buying stolen tools at his own plumbing supply shop on Gratiot Avenue.

INTRO: When they got their jobs in October, interim mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. and police chief James Barren put together a copper theft task force. In the last couple years, thieves have done tens of millions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses. They often steal copper piping just to get a quick $20 for drugs. In part 2 of a series on copper theft, Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus follows police to Southwest Detroit.

The Detroit police SWAT team is loading ice picks and claw hammers into what looks like a UPS truck. Lt. Derrek Hassan will follow in his own vehicle.

“We can get out here. We’ll get in the car. We caravan over there.”

The caravan slides out of the unmarked police building through unplowed streets. A few minutes later it turns just off Michigan Avenue. The Michigan Central Train Station stands nearby. Fifteen stories of broken windows. Its metals ripped out years ago.

“It’ll be showtime here in a minute.”

Lt Hassan heads the copper theft task force. He’s directed the SWAT team to a small white house on Wabash. They’ve anticipated every move the suspects inside might make. And where they’ll take em if they shoot em.

“Then our hospital of choice will be DRH. We’ll just shoot Rosa Parks to 75. 75 Mack.”

The truck has reached the house. A dozen men jump out of the back. They’re wearing vests, helmuts, gloves and automatic rifles. All in black. Lieutenant Hassan follows.

“Let’s go.”

Police are exiting the car then they break down the door.

The SWAT team hurls their icepicks and hammers into the front door. They surround the place. That’s not hard, cuz it’s tiny. Some people are inside. But the team is focusing on a German Shepherd and two pit bulls. They might have to shoot THEM. Lieutenant Hassan can’t see all this yet.

“alright we got a dog and we got somebody in the house.”

A dog is let out. The team holds their fire. Some of them are also Army Rangers. Trained to stay focused.

“We got at least one in the house. Dog coming out the back. Dog coming out the back…….all right what our SRT team will do is they’ll secure the house, the residence and anybody inside and we’ll go in and start our search.”

The house across the street is suspicious too. A man whose name I’ll change to Bill lives there and possibly runs this little white house as a scrap metal depot. Residents walk down the street and come out of other houses and stop and stare.

“we get a lot of this with the neighbors. You know. I’m sure some of the elated and some of them may have a connection with this house. Hard to say.”

The team uses a device to probe up into the attic and behind doors. The Lieutenant will wait a couple more minutes before going in.

“Hey stretch you guys secure back there?…..(beep) all right we’re holding it down up front.”

“A lot of this piping is difficult to identify. You know but many of these items came from nearby vacant homes. Even occupied churches and homes. It’s quite the epidemic.”

The SWAT team flows out of the house and stands in the front yard.

“Clear. Yeah we’re all set the house is clear now.”

Lieutenant Hassan walks in. Three middle aged black man are kneeling handcuffed facing the wall. They wear trousers, dark sweatshirts and knit caps. The taller one, wears no socks or shoes. They say they don’t know where Bill is. Hassan says Bill could be trading drugs for scrap metal. These guys are just here for the drugs.

“What you guys doing? Doing a little scrappin? I don’t scrap. You don’t scrap? I work in a bar. Do ya? Who’s doing the scrapping? Who lives here?”

A man who says his name is Van Johnson says he’s watching the house for a woman named Janet.

Looking up you’ll see bare rafters, no ceiling, no insulation. Just the roof built a hundred years ago. Same for the walls. Just wooden planks. On the floor, 200 or so pounds of copper piping. An assortment of sizes and angles in a pile. Cut with hacksaws or just ripped out.

“Looks like a residential line. They burn it in a pit and take it to the scrap yard. Cash.”

In April, copper sold for $4 a pound. Now it’s down to about a buck 25. That doesn’t necessarily mean copper scrapping is down too. The youngest and least grungy of the three men in handcuffs says he doesn’t have any warrants for his arrest. And he doesn’t want to go back to jail.

“I shouldn’t have any. I just did 6 months. He cut me loose. I just was down there.”

Down in the Wayne County jail. The man is ready to talk to police.

“Sgt. Can I have a word with you privately.”

This man walks to the back of the house with Sgt Cole. Another man, 10 or 15 years older, says he’s never been in trouble with the law.

….you might be able to get there but I’ll tell you what. I’m gonna give you a ticket.”

The older man doesn’t have any outstanding warrants for his arrest. The other two do but they are for misdemeanors. Sgt Cox has called in their names to the station and run a background check.

“What happened they were issued tickets. And they didn’t appear in court and a judge issued warrants for their arrest. And consequently they are in contact with police now and it’s up to my lieutenant whether we’re gonna kick ‘em or lock em up on misdemeanor warrants.”

Van Johnson gets arrested for operating without a scrap dealer’s licence. Amongst some rags on the floor he finds two socks and shoes to slip on. An officer escorts him to a police car. Before the raid, the men were sitting on soiled upholstered chairs watching tv. They had an illegal hook up to the gas line. They tore the door off a gas stove and set it next to them and the tv to stay warm. Sgt Worboys says:

“probably more than half the houses that burn up in the city in the winter time are due to people trying to heat it with a stove or portable heaters. The cords fray. The house goes up in a matter of minutes.”

Lieutenant Hassan wears rubber gloves. He’s looking for more scrap, money or other suspicious things. He finds an ammunition clip for a hand gun.

“There’s a lot of scrap in here. There’s a lot of hiding places. Bunch of food. They’re in hear for the long haul. A lot of sandwiches packed.”

Sandwiches, marijuana, some crack and a tv. That’s what these low level copper scrappers are living for.

“Yeah. They’re on the bottom of the operation. And we see that. But we eventually get to the top of the operation. So to get to the top you gotta go through the bottom. But that’s what we do. It’s a lot of hard work. But it pays off.”

Lt. Derrek Hassan has executed13th search warrant in 3 months. After this raid, he questioned Bill who denied involvement with the scrap house. In the meantime, AT&T says since the Detroit Police Copper Theft Task force started, destruction of their wires has gone down by 75%. The Police chief and the mayor are pleased. They want to keep up the show of force.