Description

The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center is a government office building and courthouse located at 2 Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. Originally called the City-County Building, it was renamed for the former Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young, shortly after his death in 1997. It serves as the City of Detroit government headquarters.The Coleman A. Young Municipal Center houses offices, courtrooms, and meeting rooms. The class-A office building stands near the Renaissance Center, Hart Plaza, One Detroit Center, Courtyard by Marriott - Downtown Detroit, and the Millender Center.ArchitectureThe modernist International-style building was designed by the architectural firm of Harley, Ellington and Day. Construction began on the skyscraper in 1951 and was completed in 1954. It is 20 floors tall, and including the basement has 21 total floors.Three sides of the building's exterior are faced with white Vermont marble with black marble spandrel panels beneath the windows of the Courts Tower to emphasize the building's vertical lines. The verticality of the tower section, with its white marble-clad piers and dark spandrels, offers a distinct contrast with the 14-story Administration Tower office section, in which horizontal lines are emphasized. The brick of the Randolph Street facade was not covered with marble to allow for a more economical future expansion.