Detroit Thermal seeks to calm fears over steam project in historic Lafayette Park
Residents worry steam vents and underground infrastructure will endanger children, damage historic landscape
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Detroit Thermal is seeking to reassure Lafayette Park residents that its plan to connect steam heat to a high-rise apartment building won’t damage the neighborhood’s historic character or pose a threat to children who play nearby.
In a statement Wednesday, the private utility company said its proposed work to reconnect 1300 Lafayette to the underground steam network would not involve installing any ventilation stacks in a neighborhood playground, would not require removing trees, and would fully restore the landscape after completion.
“For months, we’ve sought advice and guidance from our Lafayette Park neighbors and carefully developed a plan to provide clean, affordable, and reliable heat,” company spokesman Harvey Hollins III said. “Unfortunately, in recent days, our neighbors were besieged with inaccurate and misleading information.”
Residents blame any miscommunication on the company’s failure to return their calls.
A source familiar with conversations between the city and Detroit Thermal told Metro Times that the company does not plan to sue the city and instead intends to seek approval from the Detroit Historic District Commission before resuming work.
The company’s statement comes one day after Metro Times reported on the dispute.
The assurances follow months of tension between the company and townhouse residents, who say Detroit Thermal began excavating in the area last summer without community input or approval from the Historic District Commission. In August, residents say crews tore up part of their beloved playground, damaged a mature star magnolia tree, and left behind fencing, dirt piles, and safety hazards, including a warning sign that read “CAUTION HOT DO NOT TOUCH.”
In response, children painted colorful signs that read, “We play here” and “Save our playground.”
Residents argue the project poses an unacceptable risk to children and undermines the very purpose of the historic district, which was designed to be a modernist residential sanctuary free of industrial infrastructure.
Detroit Thermal has faced criticism from residents of Lafayette Park’s historic townhouses and courthouses since last summer, when crews began excavating near a heavily used playground without notifying residents or securing necessary permits from the Historic District Commission. A stop-work order was issued by the city on Saturday after residents raised concerns about safety and damage to historic landscape features.
Detroit Thermal now says it will use two smaller, narrower steam stacks placed in unobtrusive locations, and emphasized that it never planned to place any vents in the playground. The company said it opted to replace sections of old piping with sleeved infrastructure to improve safety and reliability.
The heart of the project is the reconnection of 1300 Lafayette, a 30-story high-rise with more than 600 residents, to the city’s steam system after its boiler system failed. The building has since relied on costly temporary boilers.
Peter Souza, a resident of the high-rise, said the hookup is critical.
“We need to heat our building,” he told Metro Times over the weekend. “This is really the most cost-effective way for us to do this.”
But residents of nearby Mies van der Rohe-designed townhouses argue that the project could permanently alter the historic character of the neighborhood and endanger children who play on or near the proposed route. They’ve cited past injuries from steam vent systems and say Detroit Thermal has failed to adequately engage with the community.
In a formal complaint to the Historic District Commission, residents warned that the project could result in the loss of 60-year-old honey locust trees, the introduction of manholes that emit 350-degree steam, and the permanent disruption of a landscape that’s central to Lafayette Park’s historic design.
“The playground is the epicenter of daily play, birthday parties, dog walks, picnics, Easter egg hunts, Halloween festivities, ball games, tree climbing, mock battles, epic hide-and-go-seek games, hopscotch, and sprawling chalk art installations,” residents wrote. “It should not be ruined by billowing clouds of steam that cause second-degree burns.”
They also point to safety concerns with similar steam systems in other cities. In 2007, a steam pipe explosion in Manhattan launched a 40-story geyser that killed one person and injured dozens. Detroit Thermal has previously faced a 2020 lawsuit from dozens of people who suffered burns from its downtown infrastructure.
Residents also pointed to a 2020 lawsuit filed by Buckfire Law on behalf of 37 people, including children, who suffered second- and third-degree burns from contact with Detroit Thermal’s steam infrastructure downtown.
In its statement, the company pushed back against those characterizations, pointing out that both the Michigan Public Service Commission and the City of Detroit had previously approved the project and deemed it in the public’s interest.
Detroit Thermal also said it has no intention of disrupting the historic nature of the neighborhood.
“Detroit Thermal knows and respects the compelling history of the neighborhood and will do nothing to undermine it,” the company said in a statement. “Finally, Detroit Thermal asks those concerned by this utility upgrade to respect the needs and wishes of their neighbors at 1300 Lafayette – some 600 people who want and need the affordable, clean energy that will be safely brought into their homes.”
The Historic District Commission has not yet set a date to address the project.
