Originally designed by Albert Kahn in 1912, Letts Industries acquired the building in 1989, undertaking massive renovations within the last three years-, while keeping the historical integrity of the building in tact. This building is unique in that it was a first-gen modern auto factory, incorporating steel-reinforced concrete in its design.
The building still retains the original "martini-shaped" columns Kahn designed, a design element which appears to be one of his trademarks. Walking around, the colest thing I saw was that the ceilings still had the line shafts and tracks created for Standard. I seriously could not get over that- it was amazing to be able to see that LIVE! I have always imagined the Highland Park building Kahn designed for Ford- such an important piece of history in the automotive industry- but I had never seen it. This gave me an actual opportunity to see it instead of just imagine what it was like.