Film Exchange Building
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This seven-story building was built at the corner of Cass and Montcalm in 1926 for the distribution and booking of movies for the Detroit area.The building featured fireproof vaults for the nitrate films for all its tenants, and detailing such as a sculpture above the main Cass Avenue entrance, a lobby in Travertine marble and brass elevator doors.
The building was mainly occupied by unions by 1964, around the time the occupancy rates began to fall.
The building closed in the mid-1970s.
Around 2000, the roof was replaced, and the building received new windows.
During March and April 2005, the facade of the building was painted, and broken windows boarded up with black plywood.
Currently the owner has no plans for the building, but is keeping the building sealed from the elements and vandals. He has expressed an idea to build electric billboards on the roof since the location is visible from the nearby Lodge Freeway. In late summer 2009, the building was unfortunately painted a bright white.
