this is ferndale 1958

8/2/2019 This is Ferndale 1958

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GENERAL SITE FOR CITY HALL, LIBRARY AT RIGHT

PLANS lor a new lou iIdi ng to house ci ty alfices are prog ress ing.The arch iteetural firm of Pi rscher and Hov! s, Fernda Ie, ha s been reta ined tostudy space needs and prepare preliminary plans for a new city hall.The Pol ice Department, Mun ic ipal Court, Engi neer ing Deportment (located on thesecond floor of old fire station No. 1) and Health Deportment (located on the eastside of Woodward, north of Cambourne) plus al l other city departments housed inthe old city hall would be brought together under one roof in the new building.The arch itectural firm is determi ning how much space each deportment wi II reqUire for effi cient city operation.Before the p r o p ~ s e d city halJ con be constructed, residents 'will be asked to ap 'prove at the polls a general obligation bond issue, which would finance construction of the new building. If the present schedule is maintained, and barringunforeseen developments, th e vote is expected to be held early in 1958.The city feels that cramped quarters in the present building and poor location (inthe extreme south end of the dty , and in the shadow of the Woodward-Eight Milegrade separation) warrant a change.A centra Ily-iocated build ing fa ti e in a rchitectura Ily with the new ci ty library,and located on East Nine Mi Ie near Bermuda, is planned.The city already ha s purchased several homes on Nine Mile pictured above, aridCWIe house on Troy, a rI located on the proposed site. Exact location of the newcity hlall on this site ha s no t been determined.City offices hov'a been located in a converted bonk building since 1937. It wa st b o ~ ? h f the;" that th e cit.y w?uJd u ~ e , the build!ng . f ~ r _ o , n ~ L f i ~ : ~ . t ~ O ~ ~ . ~ ~ u t . , a s th,e

Water...TH E CITY'S WATER PROBLEMS have al l bu t "dried up." The city now can furnisha 1I the water anyone can us e wi thin its Iimils, subject to conal tions imposed by Detroi I.Constructi on of a J-m iII ion go lion reservoir and pumping station (shown above) at Hi,J-ton ond Hazelhurst, plus installation of new mains, all under a, $650,000 revenue bondis sue, provides th e ci ty with enough transmi ss ion ma ins.Except lor a few short "dead end" mains and trunk feeders in Paxton from Ardmore toLewiston and Gainsbara from Lewiston to Woodward Heights, 0'11 major water line workha s been completed. The Paxton main will be installed when that slr'eet is widened.TH E CITY HAS THREE water connections with Detroit, under a JO-yeor contract torun through 1985. Th.ey ar e on Eight Mile at Wando, Hilton and Livernois.prior to completion of new rna ins in 1956, water pres sure on the "h i II," Pinecres t andDrayton, wa s 25 pounds. Today on average pressure 01 40 pounds is maintained.Th e reservoir is used to feed water into the city system when the maximum dail,y aver'age of consumpti on exceeds 8,000,000 go lions. Pumps (below) or e used to feed reservoir water into the system and to bolster water pressure when Detroit pressure drops.

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"This is Ferndale" by the City Manager, 1958


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Bypass handles trolfic .. asHyat Hilton and Eight Mile.

TrafficTrallic congestion intho busine . s distr ict isunder study. Motoristswho double-pork (shownat the right) or slowlycruise on Nine Milewhile waiting to pickup shoppers, odd to theconge s Ii on.

CONGESTED major streets and residential crosstraffic are two of the city's greatest prablems. Because of Ferndale's location as the hub of th e metropolitan aree, city streets handle 0 tremendous volumeof th roug h Ira Hi c.The city continually ;s trying to alleviate residentialcross-town traffic through proper traffic control, bu ta final solution will be difficult to find until majorstreets become less congested. Woodward, the MileRoads, Li vernois, Pinecrest and Hi Iton are usedheavi Iy during peak traffic hours, causing motoriststo use residential streets to ovoid this congestion. rNEW EXPRESSWAYS on Southfield and the Oakland- Hastings connection 01 Stephenson will help to funneltroffjc away from Ferndale, relieving congestion.Widening of Hilton, Pinecrest and Nine Mile has aidedtraHic flow. Further widening of East Nine Mile andTen Mile will also help. Delayed traffic signal timingon Nine Mi Ie 01 Woodward and at Hi Iton gives motor-ists a chance ta clear the intersections before throughtrof/ic storts. Congestion in the Nine Mile businessdistrict dur ing week-end shopping h.ours is under study,

Th e $4 million Woodword-Eight Mile gradeseparolion (ferndalepo id $325,000 01 Iflecost) creates 0 prob lemduring Ifle evening 'ushhour. Traffic flowsthrough rhe intersectionat such a losl role thor1I bocks up south fromNine Mile. Eighl Milecongestion emanates'rom Livernois and Fair.Improved liming 01 si g-nols should 'educe Ihiscongesrion, Traffic ligures show 124,000 carSus e th e i ntefsecrion.J ... : I ~

Parking. CITY PARKING i.s under study. Businessmen hove offered to buy bonds tofinance a new of/os treet lot. Th e bondswould be retired by parking meter revenue. The city ha s 1,001 metered parkingspoces: 225 in the center of Woodward,55 on the norlh side of Nine Mile, westof Planovon; 205 in Troy-Allen lot (pictured qbove), 41 behind post offi ce, 19nexl to police slolion, 76 west 01 library,75 on Brec kenridge wes t of Woodward,262 street spaces. Unmelered lots are:Ten Mile at Hilion {below}, easl of Ii-brory, west of Community Building. Meterrevenue is used to purchase, prepare andmaintain lots and to buy and keep metersin repa ir {shown ot ri ght}.

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!J)"'.TH E FERNDALE FIRE DEPARTMENT ha s been expanded and modernized during recent years -from new bui Idings to a larm boxes. A new headquarters s totion wa s bu i It ala cost 01 $13S,OOO-Station No.2 waS built a t a costof $aO OOO-personnel increasedfrom 34 to 40-Notionol Fire Prevention Code adopted-a 75-foot aerial truck with 750go 1I0n-per-m inute pump rept aced a truck in service since 1937-0 750 gallon-perminute pumper replaced a 1921 model-148 hydrants added to the system since 1949,for a total of 438-oJl major apparatus equipped with two-way radios-new fire alarmboard installed and alarm system modernized-entered into a mutual ai d poet withRoyal Oak, Hazel Pork, Birmingham an d Pontiac-classification by the National Boordof Underwriters improved from Class 6 to Closs 5 in 1952 an d application mode lor newsurvey to bring classi/ication even lower. Lower classification means lower insurancecosts lor business and industry.Future Goals: Relief Irom traf/ic congestion and parking hampering lire equipmentresponding to alorms, odd 100 hydrants, odd mains to strengthen waler distributionsystem.

The deparlmenl s erYices Pleasant Ridgeunder a contract between thaI city an dFerndale.Duties include: lireprevention, operatingthe city ambulance,check ing an d po inting hydronts, a Jarmboxes and poles,t ra i n i n g auxiliaryfiremen an d inspection.

Firemon drill on

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FIREMEN roc"i ..." calls direcllyth,ough ,h i ' mosIe' /i,e olarm board.Prior 10 1956, calls were ,elayedI,om tho "",lice dopartmonJ.ALARMS 1957F e,ndalePleasant RidgeAmbulance run,TOTAL

FIRE LOSS - 1957ResidentialBus. & IndustryAutos, all olnerTOTAL

35727329

384

$13,1904,6852,315$20,190

ALARMS - 1956Ferndale 368P leasanl R'dge 41Ambulonco Runs 314TOT AL 409

FIRE LOSS - 1956Res idenliol SJ7,455Bus. & Industry 41,345Au'os, all olneor 1,675TO T AL $60,475

this is ferndale 1958

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