I LOCAL/STATE The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 26, 1997-5 ~U' alum 4U') alum helps to renovate Oetroit 'By Sam England .For the Daily Raynal Harris and Dorian Moore, recent graduates of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, are spearheading efforts to renovate and -restore Detroit to its status as a preem- j'nent American city. 9 Harris, a 1994 graduate, explained some of the efforts he and his firm, SHG Incorporated, are performing in conjunction with the city government. "There are several initiatives that the city has going on,' Harris said. To illustrate his point, he turned on the room lights, illuminating an expansive model of the city. Hovering over miniature wooden -uildings, Harris pointed out newly ,.Wilt shopping centers, the prospective ,football arena and baseball park along a stretch of expressway, and the nearly finished Detroit Police Customer Service Center. Harris led a tour of the Police Customer Service Center, which he designed. "People come to Detroit and talk about what's not here," Harris said, driving past the central business dis- 'ct, onto a street near Gratiot Avenue. ' arris motioned to a strip of gas sta- tions and old fast food restaurants, ,,,,surrounded by neighborhoods of neglected houses, overgrown lots and windowless liquor stores. "Yeah, Detroit is, immediately, not a Chicago. It's not an Atlanta. But it has its own flavor. ... People have pride in this city," Harris said. At the Police Customer Service , nter, Harris led a tour through administrative offices, conference rooms and a dispatch center for emer- gency calls. The facility covers approximately 25,000 square feet of converted warehouse space. Turning toward a curved open hall- way lined with skylights, he pointed out locker rooms, a lounge and a stress-relief room for employees: Telephone operators, he said, some- es work 12-hour shifts fielding ergency calls. "I'm the designer. All these ideas are mine," Harris said, when asked about the center's features. Harris explained that the nearly fin- Notre Dame, 'U' fans expected to overwhelm stadium By William Nash Daily Staff Reporter Like an Ann Arbor gold rush, Notre Dame fans will swarm to campus and Michigan football stadium to support their team. As much as any other game this year, tomorrow's match-up between Notre Dame and Michigan will attract out-of- towners to Wolverine territory - call it an Irish invasion. Plan on seeing a few navy and gold sweatshirts on the way to the game tomorrow, because a couple thousand tickets have been sold to Notre Dame fans. Local businesses are experiencing a boom in business thanks to the game. "This weekend will be crazy," said Dan Switzer, manager of Steve and Barry's University Sportswear. "I'm expecting a 20-30 percent increase (in sales) this weekend. It's a big game. Michigan's team is good this year. You'll see an increase if the team's successful." The local Sheraton Inn is expecting to be completely booked. "This is definitely one of the busiest weekends. The Notre Dame game cre- ates the most activity from alumni, and out-of-towners," said Sheraton general manager Jim Cone. Correen Borst, a secretary at Holiday Inn, predicted a packed house. "Notre Dame brings even more than Colorado. We'll definitely sell out," Borst said. Other local businesses are also gear- ing up for a busy weekend. At the Brown Jug, manager Beth Swanson said she expects it to be "very, very busy." "Some games bring in more than others. Because (Notre Dame) is so close, I would assume there will be more out-of-towners," Swanson said. Tomorrow's game is proving to be so popular that many University alumni are unable to attend. Alumni groups often buy tickets in large blocks, but the high demand for seats at tomorrow's game leaves many of them in a lurch. "Tickets for the game are so tight that purchasing 50 would be impossible," said Helen Peters, assistant executive director of the Alumni Association. MARGARET MYERS/Daily University alumnus Raynal Harris, who graduated from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, stands in the Detroit Police Customer Service Center, which he designed as part of Detroit's revitalization program. ished construction had been remark- ably quick. "Typically, for a project of this size, it takes six to eight months. We're trying to do it in four." A few minutes later, a group of city employees, led by police officer Sgt. Norton, stopped in to see their future workplace. "Hope you enjoy it," Harris calls down the hallway. "Oh, they will," Norton said. "Everyone has so far." Addressing the larger reemergence of Detroit as a city, Harris was confi- dent. "The thing that's really interest- ing is that this is all going to happen by the year 2000. That's unprecedent- "The city1 ed." He qual- ified his way to go, remark, cit- ing Atlanta's thing we 'V4 rebirth with the 1996 differenti g S u m m e r Olympics as potential III the only prior exam- ple of a city's c o m p l ete turnaround. "We cannot depend on large single developments to be the answer. They're the stimulus, but not the answer." LSA sophomore and Detroit native Delacie Johnson said he is far more skeptical than Harris about the effec- tiveness-of these projects. "Obviously, it'll be welcomed," Johnson said. "But one thing is being overlooked - it's that they're not improving (Detroit) all over. Unless they're improving all over and improv- ing the public schools, I could care less." Harris is far from alone in his efforts to revitalize the city: Moore, whose firm Archive D.S. has been involved with several civic initiatives, also has ambitious plans for promot- ing the city's comeback. The Detroit resident and native was quick to describe his city as a stand- out. "We're in it for the long haul," Moore said. "The city has a long way to go, but one thing we've seen differ- ent is the potential in Detroit." The firm's projects have sslonincI u d e d restoration of but one a largely Mexican U1 Nonetheless, Moore said his experi- ences at the University left him with impressions that went beyond an edu- cation. "The one thing about U of M, I always felt a sense of community. There's kind of a sense of pride there that you can't really feel unless you're there," Moore said. "What I look back at, when I am doing these projects, is trying to instill that sense of commu- nity in depressed areas." Moore has been redesigning a near- ly deserted office building on Woodward Ave. in the heart of down- town Detroit, making room in its upper floors for more than 20 contem- porary loft apartments. "Most of this two-block district is vacant. We're trying to turn it into a loft district," he said. College of Architecture and Urban Planning Prof. Bob Beckley, himself a proponent of Detroit's projects, said that Harris and Moore's efforts are encouraging, but not unexpect- ed. "It doesn't surprise me that they've taken leadership roles, because they were both good student leaders while I was (teaching) in the program." Beckley also noted the positive effect of having black leaders spear- head efforts in Detroit. "The thing that's marvelous is African Americans are assuming a leadership role in a city that is an African American majority. With that leadership comes great responsibility. They have risen to that occasion," Beckley said. FAN'S Continued from Page 1 Dame does its licensing independent- ly," Eiler said. "Notre Dame manages their program in-house, and Michigan runs its licensing program through the CLC, which has 50 people on staff working in different types of licensing" Since the University of Notre Dame is a private institution, it doesn't release its annual revenue from athletic licens- ing. John Heisler, sports information director of Notre Dame, said the school wants more than a healthy profit. "The excess (revenue) goes to the University for the entire school," Heisler said. "We're on a budget from one year to the next. The university will deal with us in the same manner as the math or English department." At Michigan, funds raised through ticket sales and merchandising remain in the Athletic Department. "We don't do marketing in the sense that other people do it," Heisler said. "We do have a shoe contract and Champion provides the vast amount of our jerseys, but advertising is on a lim- ited basis." Schager wouldn't provide Michigan's revenue from corporate sponsors, but said Michigan does have major sponsors. "Corporate sponsorship is an inclu- sive term," Schager said. "It includes TV revenue, radio, program sales, and the true corporate sponsorships with the University, such as Nike or Pepsi:' -Daily Staff Reporter William Nash contributed to this report. n .wen American public high the school in southwestern efroitf, Detroit, a - Dorian Moore s t r u c t u r e University alumnus which dates back to 1915. MI o o r e also related his University experience to his efforts, one that included undergrad- uate and architectural study. "I think one of the things that was good, in a way, about being (at the University is) it took me out of Detroit," he said. But Moore expressed dismay that few of his University-trained peers have followed him to Detroit. 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