Hurlbut Memorial Gate

The well-proportioned Hurlbut Memorial Gate is architecturally significant because it is an unusual example of unaltered Beaux-Arts Classicism in Michigan. The Hurlbut Memorial Gate, at the main entrance of Water Works Park, was commissioned by the Water Board to be built in 1894. It was designed by Brede and Mueller, architects. Chauncy Hurlbut (1803-1885) was a dedicated member of the Board of Water Commissioners and was a moving force in having the pumping station located on Jefferson Avenue (then the Grosse Pointe Road).

He was elected by the Common Council in 1861 and served until his death in 1885; he was president from 1868-85. There was public opposition to moving the station so far out from the center of Detroit. But the pumping station was servicing the city in 1877, despite the opposition. Hurlbut Park, familiarly known as Water Works Park, was second only to Belle Isle among the twenty-three parks in Detroit in the hearts of the city residents, according to the Detroit News-Tribune of July 16, 1905.

Erected in 1894, this Beaux Arts/Baroque style entrance gate followed the prevailing taste of the day. Hurlbut Memorial Gate is cut Bedford limestone with a rusticated terrace twelve feet above grade. At grade level, in the center of the structure is a massive iron gate for pedestrians. At each side is a double iron gate for vehicles.

The two driveways originally converged into a single roadway. (The roadway now runs to the right of the monument.) The grade level of the gate is rusticated stone in a renaissance style. Enclosed, single flight stairs terminate on either side of the entrance, that open to the terrace. At the base of each stairway and on each side are grotto-like shells with stone benches in front of them. Two large metal lamps on the side pillars and small metal ones attached to the monument are also in the renaissance style.

The terrace or loggia level, however, has strong Baroque characteristics. The facade has two bays with a pair of Ionic columns separating the rounded central arch and the lower, rectangular, openings. Above these side openings are round openings with decorative cut stone surrounding them. The base of these columns, as well as the single columns on either side, have sculptured stone decoration and rest on a classical pedestal.

The structure is in fair condition with some chipping at the base and staining. Marble panels on the main facade, with 'Hurlbut Memorial Gate' engraved in them, are deteriorating.