Inside The Manoogian Mansion

For the first time in years, the media is allowed into the house that belongs to the people of Detroit. The taxpayer-funded residence of the mayor, the Manoogian Mansion.

My observations are also affected by the overwelming moment in which our tour is taking place, on the day the former occupant of this residence is headed to jail for corruption in office.

The emptiness left behind by Kwame Kilpatrick and his family in the mansion as well as the region reminds me of the emptiness of the White House and this country when Richard Nixon was outsted as President during Watergate. I’m old enough to remember. Michigan’s Gerald Ford took over as President.

The Manoogian was donated to the City of Detroit in 1966. It was built 40 years earlier by industrial baron Alex Manoogian during the roraring 20’s. It sits partially empty now. Detroit’s Interim Mayor Ken Cockrel, Jr has decided not to move in.

Furniture remains in some of the rooms because it belongs to the Manoogian Foundation.

The condition is good. It looks recently lived-in.

One neighbor walked up to ask us what was going on. We told her we were just given a tour and she asked, “Does it look like a college dorm inside?” a reference to the lifestyle of the so-called hip-hop mayor.

Our tour included the downstairs entertainment room that includes a bar, old unused bowling alley, and partially filled bookshelf. Books that remain include the titles of Daddy King, Mandate for Change and Don’t Make No Waves, Don’t Back No Losers.

This is THE room where the rumored party happened during which a stripper was allegedly beaten by the mayor’s wife after she caught her lapdancing on the mayor.

The stripper, Tamara Green would be shot to death months later. The party was called an urban legend by the Michigan Attorney General.

No, it does not look like a college dorm. It could be ready in short order for a new occupant along with plenty of family members and guests.

The 4-thousand square foot house is 4 stories. I lost count of bathrooms, fireplaces and TV’s.

Kwame Kilpatrick had plenty of opportunities to watch the news stories over the last eight months that ultimately led to his resignation and guilty pleas to perjury and conspiracy charges.

But the big old house that belongs to the taxpayers also costs the taxpayers millions over the years to maintain and operate on a daily basis. Critics have argued that is too costly in a city that has hundreds of millions of dollars in deficit.

Its future, the office of mayor, the City of Detroit and its shrinking number of residents all now hang in the balance. 

                         Jim Kiertzner