Poster depicts garages and vintage cars in one of Saginaw's oldest neighborhoods
By Janet I. Martineau
The Saginaw News (Michigan)
December 18, 2008
What might seem an unlikely topic is the subject of the third Neighborhood Renewal Services of Saginaw poster, on sale this weekend just in time for Christmas.
"Garaged: A City Accommodates the Automobile" depicts 13 garages, a gas station and a parking ramp within six blocks of the historic South Jefferson Avenue area of Saginaw.
It joins the 1998 release of the "Windows of the Cathedral District" poster and the 2002 "Fireplaces of the Cathedral District" poster.
"Jefferson Avenue was designed as a pedestrian and horse drawn area of the city," explains Thomas F. Trombley, a construction specialist with NeighborhoodRenewal Services and the project director for the 18-inch by 24-inch poster.
"People walked to work and to shop and on occasion used a horse and buggy. And the area was densely constructed.
"It was simply not designed for cars. But then around 1910 the automobile came along and the affluent home owners on Jefferson embraced the auto and were among the first residents of the city to buy them."
So, says Trombley, the new poster shows how Saginaw once again reinvented itself but without destroying the fabric of the area and its magnificent homes.
Old homes already there adapted their property and new buildings that followed made sure the garages blended in.
The poster teams the garages with historic cars on loan from Saginaw collectors -- a 1911 Model J Dusenberg, a 1926 Ford Model A pickup, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, a 1960 Studebaker Champ pickup and a 1938 Bantam Roadster among them, all American made except for a 1968 Jaguar XKE.
"We made sure the car in each photograph did not predate the garage shown and was within a year or two of the construction period," says Trombley.
"You might say we paired the car with the structure like you pair wine with food."
Jeff Schrier, a photographer with The Saginaw News, took the photographs. And Dan Jacalone, a graphic designer with The Saginaw News, designed the poster.
Priced at $15, the posters are on sale a the Castle Museum of Saginaw County, 500 Federal. And Trombley is in the process of preparing a self-guided walking tour of the garages of South Jefferson that will post for download on the Public Libraries of Saginaw website (www.Saginawlibrary.org).
In May he also will offer a lecture and will guide a tour of the area.
The project was funded by a grant from the Detroit-based Motor Cities National Heritage Area.
Among the stories:
• The 1887-built Hill mansion acquired a piece of property several feet away to build its grange.
• The 43-unit Amadore apartments, built in 1931, constructed a heated indoor garage.
• The 1936-built unit block home designed by Alden B. Dow created a terrace on top of its garage roof that was off the home's master bedroom.
• A 1928-built gas station, Baum at Hayden, has unusual ornamentation and decoration and was designed by the Frantz and Spence architecture firm.
• The St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral Rectory was built in 1880 and its garage added in 1950. That added garage also featured a screened-in porch
Trombley says there were at least another five garages the project could have included.
"It is hoped that with this poster people take time to look at fragile and overlooked buildings in our city," says Trombley.
"We hope it creates an awareness of the need for preservation as well as tells another other part of Saginaw's automotive story."
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