Free Press Flashback: Detroit's Renaissance Center opens to champagne, hope in 1977

Optimism was in the air and some boosters were calling Detroit “the renaissance city” when VIPs officially opened the Renaissance Center. This story ran on Page 1 on April 16, 1977.

Henry Ford II, Mayor Young and a retired laborer who migrated to Detroit 30 years ago to seek a better life were among the hundreds of people who joined together Friday for the formal dedication of Renaissance Center the towering symbol of what is hoped to be Detroit's new lease on life.

The center's four office buildings and the 73-story hotel had cost $337 million to construct and had taken nearly 52 years to grow from an idea in Henry Ford's head to concrete and steel reality.

A crowd of 800 people was friendly and appreciative as the dignitaries including Ford, Young and the mayor of Florence, Italy spoke at the brief dedication at the E. Jefferson entrance to the center.

The Rev. Malcolm Carron, president of the University of Detroit, blessed the complex where, he said, "we join together as brothers and sisters in the renaissance of our city."

Then Father Carron, Ford and Young stepped over to a large, royal blue curtain, grabbed a gold braid and together unveiled three bronze plaques listing the 51 names of the partners in the center.

After that, Ford invited the crowd into the center for "free champagne."

The hotel served 14 cases of Mums Cordon Rouge and Blanc de Blanc to its guests and also supplied 200 dozen cookies, made in the shape of the office towers.

The end of suburban flight?

During the dedication and at a press conference immediately preceding the dedication, Ford spoke of the center as a catalyst for the renewed growth of Detroit. "I personally feel Detroit has reached the bottom and is on the way up," Ford said.

"If we all co-operate together and do things together, we can once again make this the great city it was during World War II," he said.

Ford said the center already has served as a catalyst, citing the fact that $603 million in new construction and expansion has been completed or launched in Detroit in the last 15 months. The $603 million does not include Renaissance Center, he said.

"All of this indicates that the flow of business and commercial operations to the suburbs has slowed down very considerably and might well be in the process of reversing itself," according to a prepared statement that Ford was supposed to deliver but did not.

Ford said the central business district also needs housing and "people downtown after dark or in the late afternoon," walking around and window shopping. Asked if he has any plans to move downtown, now that his family has grown and no longer is living at the Fords' Grosse Pointe Farms mansion, Ford said: "I haven't thought about it."

Young, who was seated next to Ford during the press conference, stifled a grin.

Harry Mulliken, president of Western International Hotels, which is operating the Detroit Plaza Hotel, said many hotel employees are living downtown.

"Maybe they don't know they're not supposed to live downtown," he said, and the audience broke into laughter.

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A small protest and a glitch

A special guest at the dedication was Mayor Elio Gabbugiani of Florence, who arrived, with a special visa from the State Department, bearing a sculpture to be unveiled Sunday.

The presence of the mayor of Florence triggered a small demonstration by the right-wing group Breakthrough. The half-dozen demonstrators hanged in effigy both Young and Gabbugiani.

Gabbugiani is a communist, and Breakthrough said his visit was a "step in the process of communist psychological warfare" against Americans.

About 600 persons attended a Detroit Symphony Orchestra benefit at the Renaissance Ballroom Friday night.

Comedian Bob Hope was at the hotel to provide additional entertainment at the black-tie, $150-a-person affair. The patrons dined off sterling silver plates and passed by a giant ice sculpture of a violin and music stand enroute to dinner. There was only one major mishap through Friday night.

A computer at the Plaza registration desk broke down, stalling registration for more than an hour.

A renaissance replica

Vice President Walter F. Mondale was expected to arrive at the complex Saturday at 12:45 p.m. for a two-hour tour and meetings with Ford and Young.

President Carter sent a telegram, applauding the "vision and bold leadership" responsible for the completion of the project.

And Don Loucks, 62, of Detroit, came down with a cardboard replica of the center. Loucks said he made the replica to say thanks to the businessmen who built Renaissance Center.

Harvey Warnley, a 58-year-old retired laborer from Detroit, wasn't on the list of dignitaries, but he was among the hundreds present.

"I think this whole thing is a great help for Detroit," he said. "It's a wonderful building, the best I've seen since I moved here in 1917."

Don King, 24, of Dearborn came for two reasons — to see the dedication and to see about lining up for a job as a chef in one of the many kitchens that service the Detroit Plaza Hotel.

"I think it's great, and I'd really like to work here," he said.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's Renaissance Center opens to champagne, hope in 1977