The building that hosted Soupy Sales

I just love how much life this limestone building has lived! It stands on Woodward Avenue as a gorgeous piece of Art Deco and Romanesque history. When you look at the face of it, you can see the big arched windows and beautiful rose windows that make it feel so grand and welcoming.

It was born in 1927 for the Knights of the Maccabees, but it quickly became a buzzing hive of activity for so many different people. For years, it was a home for the WXYZ radio and television station. It is so cool to think about Soupy Sales performing in the lower level studios during the 1950s! It was a real centerpiece of the city's airwaves until 1959.

Later on, the building served as the headquarters for the Detroit Public School System for over forty years. It even had its own little radio tower on top that reached way up into the sky! Even though the insurance company moved away in 1960, the name stayed on the outside, like a little secret of its former life.

Today, it belongs to Wayne State University, and it is such a joy to see it being used by students and faculty. They even turned part of it into a television production studio in 2011 to keep those media traditions alive. It is a beautiful, working piece of history that still feels full of energy.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons