Demolition on Brewster projects to begin

(WXYZ) - Detroit Mayor Dave Bing isexpected to hold a press conference Wednesday morning to formally cue the first stage of demolition on the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan is also expected to be in attendance at the press conference which will begin at 10:30 a.m. near the intersection of Beaubien and Alfred Streets in Detroit.

Bing has said in the past that the city was committed to working with Housing and Urban Development officials and the Detroit Housing Commission on the demolition.

The tall brick and mortar units which have six story buildings and four-14 story towers had been one of the oldest public housing projects in the country.

It was once the home of hundreds of auto, manufacturing, and other workers providing for their families. The low-income housings sat a little northeast of downtown Detroit.

It was also once the home of Diana Ross and The Supremes. Smokey Robinson visited family there, and Joe Louis learned to box at the recreation center. But that was decades ago. Now they have become an eyesore with their broken out windows, graffiti walls, and trash everywhere.

The buildings have been vacant since 2008 when people moved out and crime took over.

On Wednesday, crews will level the buildings as part of a plan to fight blight. Mayor Dave Bing has promised to demolish three thousand abandoned structures in Detroit during his time in office.

The project is funded by a federal grant of $6.5 million dollars.

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Demolition on Brewster projects to begin