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In 1903 the Packard brothers moved their automobile operation from Ohio to Detroit and began rolling out their vision of the automobile. Albert Kahn created the first industrial structure that used reinforced concrete for the Packard's. This location, on the east side of Detroit, is where the Packard’s would manufacture cars for more than half a century. It was the same year Henry Ford perfected the assembly line transforming the auto industry forever. Contrasting Ford’s design based off of the concept of affordability, the Packard’s cornered the luxury car market for decades, mainly competing with brands like Cadillac and Chrysler. By the 1950’s the Packard plant had grown to include dozens of buildings across more than 36 acres. At one point Packard had other buildings throughout Detroit including a test track in Utica and facility now long razed that was once located on the Detroit River across from Belle Isle. The main factory, on East Grand Boulevard, was the primary plant for Packard; if you ever have ridden in a classic 12-cylinder gas guzzling Packard, it was likley made in this industrial wasteland.

		But by the mid 1950s the future of Packard Motors was unclear. In order to compete with Detroit’s bigger and more established brands, Studebaker, a South Bend Indiana based automaker purchased Packard in 1955. 1957 was the last year the Packard nameplate was manufactured, and after that point the cars produced were badged as Studebakers. Finally by 1962 the last car was rolled off the line in the wake of Studebaker’s decision to quickly exit the automobile industry. After the carmaker shut down, the space was slowly filled and partitioned off for various small tenants that manufactured many things from conveyers for new factories, industrial and electrical components, stampings, and even electro plating.

Today, there are only two tenants left in the entire complex, one in the north end, and Chemical Processing, a chrome plating shop in the south section. Most of the former remaining businesses were forced out by the City of Detroit in an unsuccessful attempt to condemn the building and tear it down in the late 90s. Then in 2007, the city lost a critical court case that would have transferred control of the property. Given all the safety code violations and hazardous materials inside, the only likely reason for it to be sparred the wrecking ball is because it is too costly for the owner to tear it down and properly dispose of the toxic materials. Instead these carcinogens slowly seep into the ground and poison the city.

		The massive Packard factory’s center is located on East Grand Boulevard. Its south portion has been open to vandals and scrappers since shortly after the city forced out the final renters. The north half just recently became unguarded when the city lost their claim to the property in 2007. Even with the efforts to secure the grounds, tons of copper, steel and other metals have been removed leaving a severely compromised structure. Over time what’s left has been filled with debris from illegal dumping, and covered in tags ranging in quality, some left by experienced writers and others by street punks who are more interested in scribbling their names. Even the giant water tower high above has been bombed leaving behind pale faded paint. Nobody has had the courage to cover it for some time now.

If you are looking to explore the Packard, there is not really any one point you should start; the complex is so massive that there is just not enough time to see it all in a day, or even a weekend. Within the southern section on the west side of Bellevue Street, (the alley that runs north and south through the center of South Packard) is a tall five-floor red brick structure. This is the tallest formation in the south half of the complex, usually the spot I choose to enter because of an area close by that is relatively safe to park at. There are also several openings along Concord Street one could enter, and many more openings off of Bellevue Street. It is funny to watch the city and the building’s owners board it up in some areas while leaving multiple entrances in other places.

		In this particular brick building, there is almost no free space left to write on. As far as graff goes, it’s a good place to throw down. The roof of this building has collapsed into piles of debris in multiple places onto the upper floor, a familiar symptom of neglect. From the top there is an eye opening view revealing how massive the Packard compound truly is. A bridge is attached several floors below that leads to the east side of the factory over Bellevue Street. The eastern portion contains the main path that leads to just about any part of the old factory. Large rooms span off the main thoroughfare where workers once forged and assembled cars. Some of these corridors are empty, some dark, some open, and some are filled with junk, debris, and old car parts. Although the bridge connects on the second and third floor, it is on the second floor concourse where you can freely travel to nearly any building in the complex while avoiding obstacles like holes, dead ends and blocked stairwells.

The Norfolk Southern Railroad runs north and south along the west side of the factory. Currently it is mostly unused, but this once was the primary railroad link between Milwaukee Junction in midtown, and the industrial zone located along the Detroit River. Nestled behind the tracks await a historical cemetery containing tombstones dating back to the 1860s. Also adjacent to the tracks is a part of the Packard that makes up a large room that was used to load and unload trains. A set of tracks branches off leading inside through a pair of doors large enough to accommodate railcars. Constructed tall and open, including windows high above that allow bright daylight inside, this room long ago fulfilled its industrial purpose. Spanning the length of the room are overhead rails that allowed cranes to quickly load and unload materials from the railcars for the plant. In the past there were several of these cranes suspended above, but while scrappers practiced their craft, these cars were wedged from the tracks and fell to the floor below. All the wiring, controls, and any metals of value have been removed, leaving behind heaping piles of asbestos and mounds of garbage on the floor. Asbestos is one of the many hazardous materials contained in the Packard. The main reason you should have breathing protection specifically rated to filter asbestos and other fine particles if you venture inside.

		The fact is the Packard is not a clean place. There are sections that have chemical barrels dumped that slowly leak their contents, creating awful odors that saturate the stale air. Another room nearby the receiving area is pilled with old television sets containing components made with hazardous materials including P.C.B.s and other known cancer causing substances. When the final additions to the Packard were built, lead paint was not yet banned, so it is not far off to assume the entire complex has lead contamination. All the dust and dirt on the floor is without doubt saturated with paint chips, pigeon feces, asbestos, and who knows what else. All this material sticks to your shoes and your clothes, so it is a good idea to have a special set of gear including gloves for exploring… and a pair of shoes that you wont wears around your house, especially if you have pets.

Another of the large rooms located on the south end has often been a place for the homeless to squat in third world shanties constructed from garbage. One day a friend decided to take a peek inside one of these huts and discovered a crude marijuana grow operation. Apparently just enough light makes it into this room, and the toxicity is low enough for plant life to be possible. There are plenty of trees on the roof, but it is more impressive to see pot growing among all the contamination. At the far end of the room is a set of stairs leading to a basement. You can’t really go far below because water from a broken water main covers the stairs halfway down. It actually sounds like a river flowing, eating away and constantly eroding the ground that the foundation was built on. I know for a fact that this water main has been broken for at least two years, perhaps longer. All that water is going somewhere, sweeping away the ground and likely creating a massive sinkhole that one day will consume the structure.

		Large portions of the building constructed as one-floor warehouse space are now mostly missing. I have witnessed scrappers working here on numerous occasions over the past two or three years. There is no doubt that there is a professional crew dismantling the Packard, piece by piece. Observing from two or three floors up, I had a perfect view of a crew at work one day. They were not just removing pipes and wires; they were actually demolishing the building, from the steel beams that support the structure to the roof itself. On this day, there were three pickup trucks being filled with scrap, at least five or six people working, including a couple who had scaled dangling beams to cut the scrap with torches. Other workers were breaking these larger pieces down and loading them into the trucks. They used saw-zalls while some only had hand tools. Guard dogs were running around freely providing security for these criminals while they loot the city.

On another day, the same crew was working in this section of building when I happened to be on my way out. The problem was that there were uniformed police officers in the alley arguing with one of them, and there was no way for me to exit without being seen. I was stuck until the cops left, so I quietly waited on the first floor of the building across the alley. At some point they resolved their issues. The next thing I know, the cops are gone, and the scrappers continued their business like nothing happened. At that point in time, there was still a good portion of that section if building in tact, but now it is all virtually gone. Just brick walls left waiting to collapse with the absence of support. Some day the scrappers will take the bricks too. A nearby brickyard on Chene pays a penny for every brick with no mortar left attached and at least three corners undamaged. It's a lot of work, but an option for the desperate to clean and haul them to the yard for a living.

		The Packard is filled with Detroit’s underworld. Left behind are the occasionally abandoned car, boat, trailer and camper. Most are here because hey were stolen, and the walls of the Packard offer isolation for thieves to strip the cars before selling their parts to junkyards. Some of the cars and boats are on upper floors; likely driven in on the ramp in North Packard, given that it has been decades since the lifts were functional. There is even a room I like to call Camp Packard because it contains a beat up RV and a boat parked on a trailer right next door. Everything you could need for a road trip. Making way through these urban caverns you may notice that the factory once had hard wood floors, much like the floors you would see in a house. As time past, the wooden floors have absorbed moisture from the air and the leaky roof, swelling and buckling up off of the concrete sub floor. Other parts of the building have wooden blocks instead. The blocks were used because of their ability to absorbed oil, grease, and other fluids that spilled. It was easy and cheap for workers to swap out the tarnished blocks with fresh ones when spills would occur. The Piquette Warehouse must have been filled with these little wooden accelerants when it went up flames.

Dogfights are also a sad reality at the Packard. I have never seen a fight myself, but it is clear that are held here. On the second or third floor we came across a square wall of unsecured cinder blocks forming a ring about 10 to 15’ across. There was a blood-covered tarp inside, bloody paw prints, and ropes keeping an area clear near the ring. The only conclusion, this space was used for dogfights. On a later visit, the fighting ring was taken down, but I would not be surprised to see this activity again. I hate to say it, but this is a good spot for that sort of thing. The Packard is clearly a place where you will find shady activity, any day you go. It’s a place to scrap, paint, strip cars, turn tricks, sell drugs, fight dogs; it was even once a place for underground parties. But for a lot of people it's a place to take a walk, shoot some pictures or just enjoy a nice day. Even though the Packard, or the “Motor City Industrial Park” as it once was called, has been doomed for some time, it is still a dynamic place that is constantly changing. When I walk around here I try to imagine what it looked like when it was operating, when it was filled with workers and machines and parts. Now that they are all gone, and the Packard is just a symbol of Old Detroit, the Detroit that is gone forever.