What Happened to Cadillac's Chair?-- Part 2

From the Buildings of Detroit website. This is a good one to find out any and every thing you ever wanted to know about the architecture of downtown Detroit.

www.buildingsofdetroit.com

To mark the bicentennial of the city's founding, July 24, 1701, it was decided to build some structure honoring Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. The first plan involved a 220-foot 24 foot wide marble column on Belle Island which was to be decorated with Detroit's icons with a natural gas light on the top.

The $1 million price tag was considered too much, so the city opted for a large red sandstone chair for $1300. It was erected July 24, 1901 at the west end of Cadillac square, east of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and on the site of the former City Hall 1835 to 1871.

By the 1930s, the limestone was starting to fall apart, and as earlier reported, undesirables started occupying it.

On November 1, 1941, city workers attacked it with sledge hammers and took it down. Whether word of the impending demise was let out is not known to me. As I said, the pieces supposedly went to the Detroit Institute of Arts, but no record of it exists.

Considered the method of demolition, it is very likely that the pieces were never intended for restoration.

There's an idea for a project. Bring back Cadillac's Chair.

We Will Stand to Bring Back That Chair!! --RoadDog