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Sign Of
The Times

Architect’s “transgender”
transit shelter needs a home.

JOYCE WISWELL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

ransgendered” was the last
thing on Alexander Pollock’s
mind when he designed a bus
shelter more than three decades ago.
In fact, he didn’t even know what the
word meant — and when he looked it
up in the dictionary, it wasn’t
there.
This was back in the
1970s, when the federal gov-
ernment offered to fund new
transit shelters throughout
Detroit. Pollock loved the
idea of creating whimsical
structures that related to
a building’s function — an
Alexander
accordion for Orchestra
Pollock
Hall, can-can dancers for the
Fox Theatre, a bookworm
for the public library, and the male
and female symbols for the Detroit
Medical Center.
“Then someone told me it was the
transgender symbol,” said Pollock,
who lives in Chelsea. Though he
couldn’t find it in the dictionary then,
“now, it’s a hot topic.”
Indeed. Merriam-Webster, which
says its first known use was in 1979,
defines transgender as one “who
identifies with or expresses a gender
identity that differs from the one
which corresponds to the person’s sex
at birth.” In other words, people who
believe they were born in the wrong
body. The transgendered community
has made great gains in social accep-
tance and legal protection in recent
years.
That is all beside the point to
Pollock, who calls himself “a licensed
architect who went astray.” The male
and female symbols beautifully illus-
trate the concept of human health, he
said, so he prefers to call his design
merely “Gender.”
“I just thought it was cute to com-
bine the male and female symbols,” he
said.
Detroit didn’t move quickly enough,
and federal funding has long since dis-
appeared for the shelter project. But
Pollock, who spent most of his career

Some hand-colored sketches
from Alexander Pollock for
transit shelters around Detroit

38

January 26 • 2017

jn

Pollock fabricated
his sculptural transit
shelter idea he called
“Gender.” He hoped it
would be placed at the
Detroit Medical Center.
He learned it was the
symbol for transgender.

with Detroit’s Planning Department,
just couldn’t get the idea out of his
mind.
“What makes a city world-class is
the unexpected image people discover
when they visit — San Francisco and
the cable car, St. Louis and
the Arch — something that
clearly sets the city apart. It
gives people happiness, joy, a
smile on their face; and that is
what these shelters would have
done,” said Pollock, 73, who
retired four years ago. “Can you
imagine how nice these shel-
ters along Woodward Avenue
would be?”
Pollock believes so strongly
in the idea that he spent
$20,000 of his own money to have
the “gender” shelter built by a metal
fabricator. He chose that one simply
because it was the least-expensive to
construct of all his designs.
“It is 9 feet high, 7 feet long, 6 feet
wide and weighs 800 pounds,” he said.
“The people at Special Fabricators in
Madison Heights are really upset with
me because this thing has been sitting
there for three years, and they want it
out of their building.”
Pollock would be thrilled to accom-
modate them, but he just can’t find
a home for the shelter. Though he’s
offered it for free, it’s been turned
down by a number of hospitals, medi-
cal schools, the Southeast Michigan
Transportation Authority and various
municipalities, including the city of
Ferndale, which just took a pass in
December. But Pollock is not giving
up.
“This little bus shelter represents
what architecture is supposed to do —
stimulate discussion — even though
I didn’t know I was making a trans-
gender logo,” he said. “This little bus
shelter deserves a home. It’s a piece of
art.” •

To reach Pollock about the sculpture, email
Keri Guten Cohen at kcohen@renmedia.us.
Put ”sculpture“ in the subject line.

Dr. Guy Stern
To Get French
Legion Medal

The Holocaust
Memorial
Center
Zekelman
Family Campus
will observe
International
Holocaust
Dr. Guy Stern
Remembrance
Day on Fri.,
Jan. 27, which will include a
docent-led tour at 1 p.m. To
commemorate the victims of
the Holocaust, Jan. 27 was des-
ignated International Holocaust
Remembrance Day by the United
Nations General Assembly in
2005.
At a special ceremony taking
place at 2 p.m., Dr. Guy Stern,
director of the International
Institute of the Righteous at the
HMC, will receive the French
Knight of the Legion of Honor
medal. Presented by the French
Consul General, the award was
created by Napoleon in 1802 and
is the highest honor the coun-
try can bestow upon those who
achieved remarkable deeds for
France. Dr. Stern is being hon-
ored for his role in liberating the
country during World War II.
“I am truly honored and
touched to be receiving the
Legion of Honor medal,” Stern
said. “For many years now, I
have been dedicated to teach-
ing others about my experi-
ences during the war as well as
detailing the atrocities that took
place during the Holocaust. This
ceremony surely will be one of
the most memorable moments
of my life.”
During the event, Stern will
speak about his service in a spe-
cial military intelligence unit of
the U.S. Armed Forces in France
during World War II called The
Ritchie Boys. This event is free
to members or with museum
admission.
The program is supported
by the David Horodoker
Organization. For details, call
(248) 553-2400. •