We are currently working with the Michigan Land Bank and Wayne County Land Banks to locate a specific abandoned house and property to use for the Ice House Detroit Project. Both of these organizations work to demolish a certain number of abandoned houses every year - especially those that are fire damaged or dangerous to the public. In the next week or two, we will be travelling back to Detroit to tour around and find an iconic house which fits the project.
After the project is complete, we will be demolishing and recycling materials from the house in association with the group Architectural Salvage Warehouse Detroit, a "501 (c)(3) non-profit organization founded to keep building materials out of landfills through architectural salvage". This will be one of the major costs of the project for us.
After the house has been deconstructed and the materials from it recycled, we hope to donate the remaining lot to one of the following organizations that are transforming the future of urban Detroit.
Greening of Detroit is an organization that aims "to guide and inspire others to create a 'greener' Detroit through planting and educational programs environmental leadership, advocacy, and by building community capacity."
We are also speaking to Earthworks Urban Farm, an organization that works with sustainable agricultural practices, feeding the homeless, school programming, and neighborhood self sufficiency. It is one of many groups that we feel points towards a different urban character for the future. We will have to make a decision on all of this related to where the house is that we pick for the project. The photo below is of a project we saw when we did our research trip to Detroit in September. This lot is not in the suburbs, or the country, but is actually a stone's throw from downtown Detroit.
Please remember that we need financial support for this project. Your support of this project will not only support an art project, but it will support some groundbreaking, visionary organizations that believe in the city and people of Detroit.
