Click above images to enlarge G.A.R. Building 1942 Grand River Avenue, Detroit - Wayne County Property Type stone building Historic Use RECREATION AND CULTURE Current Use COMMERCE/TRADE/business Style Romanesque Architect/Builder Julius Hess Narrative Description The G.A.R. Building has a triangular shape resulting from the its placement on a site where Cass and Grand River meet in a "V" and are crossed on the northwest by Adams Street. The limestone and sandstone building is designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The corners of the front facade have crenelated engaged towers rising from the second story to above the roofline. There is arcading beneath the battlements and the towers are punctured with a variety of window shapes and openings. Smaller round buttresses flank gabled pavilions on all three sides of the building, and a turret forms the northwest corner. The major opening in the south facade is the large, arched entrance at the base of the gabled pavilion. Fenestration of the rest of the building is almost symmetrically arranged and includes a variety of niches and openings. The exterior walls are of rock-faced gray limestone on the street level and rock-face, reddish-brown sandstone-- trimmed with smooth-face beltcourses at window sill and lintel level-- above. The foundation walls are of uncoursed rubble. The building's textured exterior treatment is enhanced by carved foliage detailing on the capitals of the Romanesque columns flanking the entrance portal and subdividing the paired window above it and on the bases of the round buttresses flanking the ends of the gable-roof, central sections of all three facades. Statement of Significance The G.A.R. Building is significant to Detroit and Michigan for being in historical and architectural terms the pre-eminent G.A.R. hall building in the entire state of Michigan. Built in 1897 to 1900, the building is a notable example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Detroit, and is a very important work of its architect, Julius Hess, who designed a large number of imposing churches in Detroit in the late nineteenth century. It is by far the largest G.A.R. hall ever constructed in Michigan. The Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) was founded in 1866 as a society for men who fought for the North in the Civil War. Detroit and Michigan veterans groups lobbied the City of Detroit to erect them a memorial meeting building in 1891. The building was erected at a cost of $44,000 with $38,00 coming from the sale of city bonds. From the time of its opening, the G.A.R. Building was utilized as a gathering place for parties, dances, weekly or monthly meetings, and celebrations of national holidays by various veterans groups. The Detroit Parks and Recreation Department took over the building in 1943 for use as a recreation center. The structure was sold during the 1980s to private developers to be rehabilitated for private office space. Period of Significance 1866-1900 Significant Date(s) Built 1899 Registry Type(s) 02/13/1986 National Register listed Site ID# P25122