New Center

01 / The story of this place

Make time for these

New Center was Detroit's big 1920s experiment: a second downtown on West Grand Boulevard, with room to grow and quick access to both downtown and the factories. General Motors moved into Albert Kahn's enormous headquarters, today's Cadillac Place, and stayed until 1996, while the Fisher brothers answered from across the street with the gilded Fisher Building. The name itself comes from the New Center News, a free paper started in 1933. Henry Ford Hospital anchors the west end, and farther west along the Boulevard, Berry Gordy turned a modest house into Hitsville U.S.A. in 1959. Today the area mixes state offices, the College for Creative Studies, Broadway tours at the Fisher Theatre and long nights at Northern Lights Lounge.

1. Look up at the marble, mosaics and gold leaf inside the Fisher Building; Pure Detroit runs free tours of the building.
2. Catch a touring Broadway show at the Fisher Theatre.
3. Walk past Cadillac Place, GM's headquarters for seven decades, and the Argonaut Building, now the College for Creative Studies' design campus.
4. Head west on Grand Boulevard to the Motown Museum at Hitsville U.S.A.
5. End the night at Northern Lights Lounge or on the dance floor at The Norwood, and sleep at the Hotel St. Regis, steps from the Fisher.