The Enterprise

They’re coming down.

The guard towers or rest rooms or whatever those big, empty buildings were meant to become in the southeast and southwest corners of the 14 Mile and Farmington Roads are expected to fall to a roundabout project very soon. The day they come down will put an end to five years of wasted space, which those empty shells have been.

Built in 2003, the towers have since provided a constant reminder of what happens when property owners and cities fail to negotiate and disputes end up in court. From what I understand, the issue was the value of the land and whether the city had zoned the owner into a corner, so to speak. At that point, the county had announced its plans for roundabouts that would include the Farmington Road/14 Mile intersection. And so the towers went up, slow as snails, with full knowledge they would eventually be destroyed.

Now, taxpayers will foot the bill for the “improved” value of the land. Seems to me the greater improvement comes once the “spite towers” disappear.

–Joni Hubred-Golden
Michigan Woman Blogger