Detroit Edison Company Willis Avenue Station

The Willis Avenue Plant is significant in that it was the first steam power substation utilized by the Detroit Edison Company for the production of steam heat in Detroit, Michigan. The Willis Avenue Plant is one of four steam heating plants designed and constructed by this company to serve the central heating district of Detroit; an area which extended from the river up to West Grand Boulevard by 1930. The Willis Avenue Plant has undergone numerous alterations and expansions to serve the expanding heating needs of the community and update the facility and equipment. The plant continues to serve the Cass Farm Survey Area with steam heat today and contributes to the Multiple Resource Nomination of this area within the context of Industry. The Detroit Edison Company was organized in 1903 for the purpose of building and operating an electric power plant to supply current to the two electric companies which were then operating in Detroit. Several small generating stations of those companies were reconstructed by Detroit Edison into substations which distributed the current received from the new main generating station. One of these stations was the Willis Avenue Station of the Edison Illuminating Company. The Edison Illuminating Company, the second electricity producer in Detroit, was organized in 1886 for the purpose, among others, of operating the Edison system of direct current lighting and power. It began in that year to deliver current through an underground network of tubes serving the central business area of the city. The service was extended northward with the construction of the electric light works on West Willis in 1890. In 1903, when Detroit Edison was formed, the light works building was reconstructed into a sub-station. The operation of the generating units at the Willis Avenue Station were continued and the exhaust was utilized for heating the buildings in the neighborhood. During the same year, the Central Heating Company was organized. A franchise was obtained from the City of Detroit permitting the company to install distribution lines in the streets and alleys. The Central Heating Company owned and operated the heating system and purchased the exhaust steam from the Edison Illuminating Company. In July 1915, all the plants and business of the Central Heating Company were bought by the Detroit Edison Company. When Detroit Edison commenced operation on December 10, 1903, 3,000 feet of mains were in place serving twelve customers. During the summer of 1904, an additional 10,000 feet of mains were added and the distribution system was steadily extended from year to year. By the mid 1940s, forty-two miles of underground mains and two and one-half miles of tunnels served approximately 1,650 customers. Steam heat was chosen as the medium for distributing heat versus hot water for a number of reasons. Steam lines were cheaper to install, station equipment was less expensive, buildings piped for hot water heat could be served by steam, steam service could be metered, steam will circulate to any elevation, the customer could control his own heat supply, the cost of equipping building with steam heat was less, and cooking apparatus and water heaters could be served by steam. In 1916, the original one story Willis Avenue Plant was reconstructed to accommodate for the increasing steam demand in the neighborhood it served, which at that time was expanding from a once residential district into a district of apartment buildings and stores. The new, reconstructed building was designed and constructed by the Detroit Edison Company. The engine-driven generators were removed and replaced by a separate, three story converting substation constructed of brick and steel. A number of additions were added to the building between 1916 and 1927 including: a three story, reinforced concrete and steel addition at an estimated construction cost of $65,000 (Building Permit #13722-A, June 10, 1922), a reinforced concrete extension to the fan house (Building Permit #740-A, March 16, 1926); and a reinforced concrete and brick addition at an estimated construction cost of $150,000 (Building Permit #12488-A, August 13, 1927). Records showing the location of the additions and the evolution of the heating plant are not available. Since 1916, the Willis Avenue Plant has been devoted exclusively to the generation of steam for heating the surrounding neighborhood by delivering steam directly from the boilers into the distribution system. The electricity produced by the generation of the steam is treated purely as a by-product as explained by E. E. Dubry in District Heating Service in Detroit. There would be of course a thermal advantage in passing all of the steam through turbogenerators and thus generating electricity at a high overall thermal efficiency. The commercial justification of such a practice has not, however, appeared to exist. One reason is the limited season during which such an investment could be used. Another reason is the fact that turbogenerators installed in the heating plants are necessarily of relatively small capacity and can not properly be regarded as saving any investment in the Company's electrical generating stations. The thermal advantage of their use would thus be largely offset by the investment costs. The Detroit Edison Company constructed three other steam heating power plants within the central heating district of Detroit. In 1917, the first boiler units were installed in a new plant at the corner of Congress Street and Cass Avenue. Additional boilers were added and in 1923 the final unit was installed. In 1926, a third plant with two boiler units was constructed on Beacon Street to care for large increases in steam requirements of the city. A third boiler was added to the Beacon Street Plant in 1927; a fourth in 1929. The fourth plant was constructed in the Grand Boulevard district to supply heat to the large office building of General Motors Corporation and the growing business center in the northern portion of the district.

The Willis Avenue Plant is a massive, Neo-Georgian Revival brick building composed of multistory units of varying height. The building is located on the north side of West Willis and is essentially square in plan. The site was originally occupied by the Edison Illuminating Company's Willis Avenue Station, a one story building constructed in 1890. However this original building is not visible today as the steam heating plant was completely reconstructed in 1916 and thereafter received a number of additions through 1927. The streetfront facade was also altered in 1952. Located at 50 West Willis, the Willis Avenue Plant is composed of a three story, broad-fronted but shallow section with blank side walls nearest West Willis with a four story, shallow section with blank side walls behind, and a large, tall four-story, rear section. Although the building essentially developed to its present form by 1927, records detailing the evolution of this building are not available. The three story, Neo-Georgian brick section fronting on West Willis features a limestone watertable and basement level. Above the basement is a rusticated section, the rusticated appearance a result of regular courses of recessed brick. This first story is separated from the upper two by a stone belt course. Above the entrances, located at the ends on the front facade, are two floors of tripartite windows: each bay contains a single rectangular window on the second story, although some are infilled. Above the third floor is a molded limestone cornice, and a tall parapet with stone coping which rises into a flat pediment towards the center. Set back substantially beyond the parapet wall is an additional story to the front section. Alterations made to the main entrance in 1952 consisted of the removal of copings and stonework and their replacement with new limestone. The new architrave is simpler and spare of the architectural detail that the original must have had. The east elevation of the front section is fenestrated while the west side elevation is not: its only detail is the subtle raised brick framed panels with small stone squares at their corners, a typically mid-to-late teens treatment. The large brick rear section is three stories tall above a high ground level floor. Windows are of an industrial type and are separated by brick pilasters with stone caps. Three tall stacks project above the roofline. The James Vernor Co. building at 77 West Canfield and the Graybar Electric Company building at 55 West Canfield lie to the north of the plant; a two story brick dwelling damaged by fire and vacant land lie to the east; West Willis is south of the plant; and vacant land is located on the west side of the building.