Phoenix Mill Restoration Takes Shape Ford-built historic structure readies for 2021 opening

By Michele Fecht

In the two years since its purchase, Phoenix Mill, the former 1922 Henry Ford village industry factory on Northville Road in Plymouth Township, has been painstakingly transformed to closely resemble the original historic structure. Gone are the boards that for decades covered the windows and limestone relief on the generator tower. Likewise, original steel doors found in a rubbish heap have been restored and hung, and some 1,300 windows have been replaced. And that’s just the short list. It is an impressive undertaking at a time of extraordinary uncertainty. The project was originally targeted for completion this year but like most everything else it was stalled for many months due to COVID. Phoenix is one of three Ford village industry structures — the others are Newburgh in Livonia and Wilcox in Plymouth — that were placed on the market in 2018 as part of Wayne County’s Mill Run Placemaking Project, a plan to redevelop the three historic sites along the Middle Rouge River. “For two to three months we could not have any contractors on our site (due to COVID),” said Greg Donofrio, co-principal with Rick Cox of Critical Mass, LLC, which purchased the Albert Kahn-designed structure in 2018. “And for awhile we couldn’t get contractors. Now it’s really coming along,” he said, adding that they are hoping to open the building in April 2021. Donofrio and Cox have collaborated for more than 20 years with projects including the restoration of the former 1940s Studebaker building in Northville. Their most recent acquisition is the Newburgh Mill purchased last December. Yes, they now have two of the three Mill Run project historic plants in their portfolio. Due to COVID and the due diligence period, the partners are still working through a time schedule for the Newburgh plant but hope to start the project next summer. Of course, Cox is no stranger to renovating historic Ford factories. He and his wife, Diane, reshaped Northville’s historic Ford Valve Plant (now the Water Wheel Centre) — another of Henry Ford’s village industry factories — into an award winning commercial site. ‘GOOD BONES’ Despite years of neglect (the building sat vacant for more than a decade), the Phoenix Mill’s “good bones” and Albert Kahn design were evident in the mass of rubble, broken windows, leaky roof and discarded furniture when Donofrio and Cox purchased the building. Undaunted by the challenges — to say nothing of the cost — the partners have meticulously restored the structure, taking pains to find contractors who can replicate original details. Among the first projects was replacing the leaky roof and drains. Over the years, rain had seeped into the structure damaging the original white maple flooring on the first level. They now are in the process of restoring the floors. It took a year to replace the 1,300 glass panes with new, Low-E, double-paned glass fitted into the original steel sash frames. Damaged frames had to be stripped to the bare metal and/or restored in areas with missing or broken pieces. The plant’s original steel doors were removed in the 1950s and fortunately found in the building’s rubble. Donofrio noted it cost $20,000 to restore the doors. In addition, other entry doors to the building were custom made to match the original steel doors — a cost three to four times more than normal commercial doors. On the back of the building (the west side), terra cotta camelback tile coping pieces were found on the roofline. A company in Chicago replicated the original pieces to replace those that were missing. Again, a more expensive option to modern copings. Below the glass on the generator tower that faces Northville Road (east side), the limestone panel was restored using historic photos of the original piece to replicate the design work. “I don’t think the limestone has been seen since the 1920s,” Donofrio said. Among the most intriguing elements on the structure’s exterior is a rail and trolley system near the roofline. The system supported the blast/black out curtain used during the defense production years of World War II. Donofrio noted that the system was constructed of U.S.–made Bethlehem Steel and was “painstakingly” cleaned, detailed and restored “at height” which made the work more challenging. Additional steps were taken to inspect and improve the security of the rail on the building. NEXT PHASE Interior work is now under way on the elevator shaft with plans to install a new elevator that allows access to both the ground and first levels but does not impact the historical look of the building. Under the umbrella of Phoenix Mill Events, the ground level will be used as event space with the upper level designed for a restaurant. When the building was purchased, Mishelle and John Lussier, owners of the Table 5 and Lucy & The Wolf restaurants in downtown Northville, expressed interest in the project. Donofrio said COVID has presented extraordinary challenges for restaurants and that he and Cox are keeping the Lussiers engaged but are respectful of the pandemic’s impact. The Lussiers could not be reached for comment. In addition to the ongoing interior renovation, work on the five-acre site includes continued options for parking and improved connectivity between the mill’s green space and Hines Park with the addition of bicycle parking, flower beds, improved access to the river and the opening of the viewshed to Phoenix Lake. “Our goal from the beginning was to provide a park-like experience for the community,” Donofrio explained. “We want to seamlessly integrate our property into the surrounding Hines Park area. Our goal will be to remove existing hard surface while still providing adequate parking for our tenants.” Donofrio continues to work on parking issues addressed earlier by the Plymouth Township Planning Commission. HOMAGE TO HENRY Since their purchase of the Phoenix Mill, Donofrio and Cox — both mechanical engineers with a passion for the automotive industry and an obvious keen interest in factory redevelopment — have referred to the plant restoration as the Henry Project. “We know that Henry Ford loved to visit and drive by the village industry buildings which were his pet projects,” Donofrio explained. The plant opened in 1922 with an all-female work force more adept at assembling delicate automotive parts such as carburetor cutouts, stoplight switches and voltage regulators. At its peak of production in 1940, the Phoenix plant had 280 employees and produced 3,200 voltage regulators a day. When war was declared in 1941, the plant was turned over to war production as part of the Arsenal of Democracy. Defense parts produced included instrument panels, Pratt & Whitney components and by 1944, production of the automatic pilot and junction boxes for the B-24 bomber produced at the Willow Run plant. The plant closed in 1948 when Ford Motor Company deeded the property to the Wayne County Road Commission. Donofrio said the Henry Project is designed to bring people through the building and grounds not only for hospitality and recreation but also to gain an understanding of the industrial history and the innovation. “Henry Ford used hydroelectric power to run most of these mills,” Donofrio noted. “This was industry at its peak.”