Fate of Detroit bead museum building awaits ruling

Detroit — The fate of a bejeweled building by Detroit’s African Bead Museum remains is in limbo awaiting a decision on demolition or the chance to turn it into a gallery on the city’s northwest side.

Building 101, located at 6559 Grand River Ave., showcases artwork by Olayami Dabls, who founded the MBAD African Bead Museum. The art is embedded in the brick but the building is in “a state of significant collapse” after the roof and floor caved in, city inspectors said.

The building’s future was debated for three hours during an administrative hearing before the Department of Appeals on Wednesday. Hearing Officer Joilynn Hunt said she would issue a ruling within five days.

During the hearing, the city presented three building inspectors and a project manager who flew a drone over the building. The inspectors noted the building is open to trespassing at the rear, there’s a collapsed roof, and interior walls and floors. Inspectors testified they also observed a slightly leaning façade that could fall over onto the sidewalk.

“Exterior walls are standing as an empty shell,” said Nabil Jaafar, a city inspector of dangerous buildings. “The building has lost the roof and floors. The exterior walls become structurally unsound and unstable without any support. Being open to the elements can cause further deterioration and you’re going to end up with either total or partial collapse. The corner of Grand River and Vinewood Street is a particular concern as it is near apartments, a school and a church.”

The building was inspected in September and May, when officials noted that Dabls invited inspectors to review the building in its entirety.

Bryce Anderson Small, known professionally as Bryce Detroit who is a member of the museum, assisted Dabls in representation at the hearing saying they are excited and proud that they have been organizing a plan to remedy the site.

“We submitted an appeal to have the demolition order stopped because there’s a plan for how this building is to be stabilized and renovated into an actual museum. We have a structural engineer to show the absolute viability of our immediate solution and a letter of our fiscal sponsor and funds committed to support the necessary step forward,” Small said.

Still, the city argues that the building is in dire shape with numerous violations and needs to be demolished to protect residents.

“The fact that this is an art installation is not relevant to this building being a danger to the community,” said city attorney Lorinda Lindsay.

The bead museum, which opened 31 years ago, is known for its unique exterior, featuring a large, colorful mural includes beads, African symbols, artwork and jagged mirrors that cover the building. Dabls said he uses mirrors because they give people a chance to look at themselves in perhaps a way they never have.

Since 1998, the museum has drawn thousands of visitors from around the world. But Dabls never got around to opening the museum in the building. He has a retail shop in the next building. The centerpiece of the museum’s campus is a sculpture garden with 18 installations, all conceived and created by Dabls.

In an online post earlier this month, he issued a call for help to restore the front building, but did not expect the city to be drawn to the fully collapsed roof. Within 48 hours, the city’s Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department issued an emergency demolition order for the building, which is separate from the Dabls’ retail shop and not slated for demolition.

City officials “moved so fast. I only had a week to respond to the demolition order because they said it was a safety emergency,” said Dabls on Tuesday. “I still appealed but, weirdly, they think this is an emergency when the building has been here for 25 years and has been in a state of collapse for the last 13 years.”

The demolition was delayed after Dabls quickly submitted an appeal. Notable artists and community leaders stopped by early Tuesday to show support of saving the structure, including architectural metal design artist Carlos Nielbock; Jessica Care Moore, the city’s poet laureate; and musician Audra Kubat.

“It’s his life’s work, his purpose,” Nielbock said. “That’s why we come to show support and just because they delayed it, doesn’t mean it’s time to celebrate.”

Earlier this summer, Dabls launched a GoFundMe to raise $200,000 for the first phase of renovations to the front building to create a space for African-based exhibitions and arts education programs for children and community groups.

“We’ve never had a lot of visitors, but I hope this a resurgence of something new,” Dabls said.

srahal@detroitnews.com

X: @SarahRahal_