Detroit electronic music museum still plans to open despite location hold-up
MODEM will no longer take over the infamous Packard Plant ruin in Detroit, and is now searching for a new home
Plans to launch an electronic music museum in Detroit are still in the works, despite the project encountering issues.
Last month news broke via The Detroit News that the city's recently-appointed mayor, Mary Sheffield, had shelved a $50 million rejuvenation project for the city's derelict Packard Automotive Plant which was set to include the Museum of Detroit Electronic Music (MODEM).
Detroit’s former Mayor Mark Duggan had announced the project in December, with plans to turn the infamous ruin into a sprawling multi-purpose development after laying dormant for 60 years. The letter of intent for the project expired in February.
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The 28-acre development was set to feature housing, an indoor skatepark, recreation areas and the brand new MODEM, paying tribute to dance music history of Detroit.
Despite praising plans initially, calling it a “preservation of history”, Mary Sheffield recently said that new options were being explored for the site “before moving forward with the proposed plan.”
According to Detroit Free Press, plans for MODEM will still go ahead despite the curbed project, with a crowdfunding campaign expected to launch next month.
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MODEM founder Adriel Thornton told the Detroit Free Press that the city "hasn’t cancelled the museum – they can’t,” adding that the team behind the cultural space are now hunting for new locations.
Locations of interest include the greater downtown and midtown cultural districts, though the possibility of opening at the Packard Automotive Plant is not entirely off the table, Thornton says, since the project has not yet been completely scrapped.
“An idea like MODEM started feeling much more necessary. What entity here is uplifting and preserving that legacy?” Thornton said. “Detroit deserves world-class institutions, and we deserve to have our music and culture celebrated. It just makes sense.”
[Via: Detroit Free Press]
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