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The Harmonie Club is a club located at 267 East Grand River Avenue in Downtown
Augustus Woodward's plan for Detroit's streets created oddly-shaped triangular blocks, including Capitol Park on the west and Harmonie Park on the east.The Harmonie Club
from Detroit1701.org Starting in the 1830s and 1940s, this area was home to a growing number of German immigrants to Detroit. In 1849, to preserve their ethnic traditions, a group of Detroit Germans founded a singing group, the ''Gesang-Verein Harmonie''. The club built a frame clubhouse at the corner of Lafayette and Beaubien in 1874. This frame Harmonie Club structure burned in 1893, and the club almost immediately organized a competition, open to German architects, to design a new building. Richard Raseman (the architect of the Grand Army of the Republic Building) won the competition; the resulting building sits across from Harmonie Park.
from the city of Detroit and stone. The curved corner is particularly shaped to the geometry of the site.Eric J. Hill, John Gallagher, American Institute of Architects Detroit Chapter
''AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture,'' Wayne State University Press, 2002, , , p. 48 The first two stories are embellished with stonework, and the top two stories feature additional banding and arched windows on the top floor. Corinthian columns and a balustraded balcony over the entry add a classical feel. The interior of the club features classical plasterwork, dark oak paneling and Pewabic tile. The club also offered fine dining, a tavern, card rooms, bowling alley and lounges.
"Harmonie Park plans get a boost," ''The Detroit News,'' March 16, 2007 The club was recognized as an historical property by the state of Michigan in 1975, was placed on the
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
, Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1980.
History
Augustus Woodward's plan for Detroit's streets created oddly-shaped triangular blocks, including Capitol Park on the west and Harmonie Park on the east.The Harmonie Clubfrom Detroit1701.org Starting in the 1830s and 1940s, this area was home to a growing number of German immigrants to Detroit. In 1849, to preserve their ethnic traditions, a group of Detroit Germans founded a singing group, the ''Gesang-Verein Harmonie''. The club built a frame clubhouse at the corner of Lafayette and Beaubien in 1874. This frame Harmonie Club structure burned in 1893, and the club almost immediately organized a competition, open to German architects, to design a new building. Richard Raseman (the architect of the Grand Army of the Republic Building) won the competition; the resulting building sits across from Harmonie Park.
Architecture
The Harmonie Club is a four-story, hipped-roof building with a basement, built of buff-colored brickThe Harmonie Clubfrom the city of Detroit and stone. The curved corner is particularly shaped to the geometry of the site.Eric J. Hill, John Gallagher, American Institute of Architects Detroit Chapter
''AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture,'' Wayne State University Press, 2002, , , p. 48 The first two stories are embellished with stonework, and the top two stories feature additional banding and arched windows on the top floor. Corinthian columns and a balustraded balcony over the entry add a classical feel. The interior of the club features classical plasterwork, dark oak paneling and Pewabic tile. The club also offered fine dining, a tavern, card rooms, bowling alley and lounges.
Current use
Over time, membership in the Harmonie Club dwindled, and the club was sold in 1974. The building remained vacant until the 1990s; as of 2007, the city of Detroit planned a cultural district around Harmonie Park, to include the Harmonie Club.Louis Aguilar"Harmonie Park plans get a boost," ''The Detroit News,'' March 16, 2007 The club was recognized as an historical property by the state of Michigan in 1975, was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1980, and was recognized by the city of Detroit in 1988.
See also
* Harmonie Centre *Music of Detroit
Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock (or proto-punk), and techno.
The Metro Detroit area has a rich musical hi ...
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit German-American culture in Detroit Cultural infrastructure completed in 1894 Michigan State Historic Sites German-American organizations Clubhouses in Michigan Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan