DETROIT – A building that some Detroit community members describe as an eclectic art house is in danger of being demolished.
The building is located at the corner of Grand River Avenue and West Grand Boulevard, and it can also be spotted from I-96.
The building is covered in mirrors, pieces of iron, wood, beads, and painted symbols.
The artist behind the installation, Olayami Dabls, said the building tells a story.
“The name of the exhibit that we have here is Iron Teaching Rock How to Rust,” said Dabls, who describes himself as a storyteller.
He’s been working on his building for 23 years. The main characters in his stories or his work are mirrors, stones, iron, and wood, which people worldwide have traveled to Detroit to see.
“We’ve had marriages in front of that building, graduations,” Dabls said. “It identifies the city, this landmark here.”
In some stories, you’ll find an exciting plot, for Dabls, that came last week when the city of Detroit issued an emergency Notice of Demolition for that building, which serves as the focal point for the Dabls African Bead Museum and complex.
Drone 4 video showed the city’s Building, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department shared on social media, which shows what many can’t see from the outside.
The roof of the corner building is gone. The city said the building is structurally unsound, unsafe, dangerous, and at risk of collapsing.
“I kind of was expecting it,” Dabls said. “But not realizing how it would come.”
On Tuesday (July 2), construction barrels and caution tape blocked the sidewalk outside the building.
Art lovers like Johnny Robinson showed up to check out Dabl’s work. He learned that the demolition could happen in the next two weeks.
“They put a lot of work into this,” Robinson shared. “For them to just demolish it is kind of disrespectful.”
With the looming demolition, Dabls said he hoped to raise $400,000 to help with repairs.
Now, he’s prepared to move forward, deciding not to think about negativity.
“My concern now is that 23 years of doing something in the community is being wiped out, and I know that there are people in position to save it,” Dabls said.
The storyteller has been using social media to ask for the community’s support.
Dabls said he’ll continue operating the African Bead Gallery from a different building on the site.
He’s currently working on another installation at an urban farm in the city.
Click here for more information about Dabls’ work and exhibits.