Time capsule for vanished Detroit bank opened 9 years early

JC Reindl, Detroit Free Press
Updated ·3 min read
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A 53-year-old time capsule that was stashed inside a wall of a then-new Detroit building for a now-gone Detroit bank was opened Thursday before a crowd of employees with the vanished bank's successor.

The dusty black box had been behind wood paneling in the lobby of the Comerica Bank Center building, 411 W. Lafayette Blvd. in downtown, since Sept. 20, 1971. That was when the building opened with its original name — the Manufacturers Bank Building — and its original occupant, the Manufacturers National Bank of Detroit.

Brian Tucker, left, assists as Mark Brannon, right, removes a 1971 time capsule from the wall inside the Comerica Bank Center building in downtown Detroit.
Brian Tucker, left, assists as Mark Brannon, right, removes a 1971 time capsule from the wall inside the Comerica Bank Center building in downtown Detroit.

Nearly all materials found inside the box on Thursday relate to the building.

There were newspaper clippings about the building, several postcards of the building, photos of the original interior and exterior, coins commemorating the building, a pamphlet of building facts — including details of a since-removed rooftop helipad — and a Detroit City Council resolution honoring the bank for constructing the building.

Comerica Bank Center building at 411 W. Lafayette
Comerica Bank Center building at 411 W. Lafayette

There also was a booklet on the history of Manufacturers National Bank of Detroit, which was founded during the Great Depression in 1933 by the Ford family to serve local business interests.

And there was a film reel in the box, its contents not immediately known.

“Obviously, a lot of interesting history in here that will be added to our archives that help document our longtime history here in Detroit," Steve Davis, Michigan market president for Comerica Bank, told the audience of several dozen onlookers.

Some of the contents of the time capsule.
Some of the contents of the time capsule.

A label on the time capsule says it was to be opened on Aug. 10, 2033. That would be the 100th anniversary of Manufacturers National Bank, which reportedly had its first office inside downtown's Penobscot Building.

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However, Comerica opted to open the capsule a little early, as this year marks the 175th anniversary of Comerica's own founding in Detroit in 1849 as the Detroit Savings Fund Institute.

Curt Farmer, the chairman, president and CEO of Comerica Bank, and Jeremy Dimick, director of collections and curatorial at the Detroit Historical Society, sift through contents of the dusty black box.
Curt Farmer, the chairman, president and CEO of Comerica Bank, and Jeremy Dimick, director of collections and curatorial at the Detroit Historical Society, sift through contents of the dusty black box.

Chairman and CEO Curt Farmer said that Comerica is believed to be the 40th oldest publicly traded company in the U.S. and the 10th oldest bank.

“There aren’t a lot of companies that have been around for 175 years," Farmer said. “This market is really home to us in so many ways. Our company was founded here, we have 4,500 employees in this market — by and large the largest concentration of employees for our company."

The building at 411 W. Lafayette is nine stories tall with three additional below-ground floors. It was designed by Louis G. Redstone Associates and adorned with 20 precast concrete stone exterior panels, each weighing 11 tons.

Some of the contents of the time capsule.
Some of the contents of the time capsule.

The panels are abstract art pieces, created by artist Robert Youngman, to represent Detroit's history of industrial design and production, according to a Comerica Bank history of the building.

Manufacturers National Bank merged into Comerica Bank in 1992. The building has remained continuously occupied since then, and Comerica made it the bank's official Michigan market headquarters in 2012, following nearly $20 million in renovations and the end of Comerica's office lease in what is now the Ally Detroit Center building at 500 Woodward.

Comerica says that of its roughly 4,500 Michigan employees, 800 to 900 are based in 411 W. Lafayette.

In 2007, Comerica relocated its official headquarters out of Detroit and to Dallas, saying it was moving to where its business was growing and where it could attract talented employees. Comerica continues to own naming rights to Comerica Park — home of the Detroit Tigers — through 2034.

The hole in the lobby wall that contained the time capsule.
The hole in the lobby wall that contained the time capsule.

Comerica has a 11% market share in Michigan for banks based on deposits, which is the third largest, behind Huntington Bank (12%) and JPMorgan Chase (23%), according to the most recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. figures.

Comerica executives also marked the occasion Thursday by presenting a $17,500 check to the Detroit Historical Society.

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Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on X @jcreindl

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Time capsule for vanished Detroit bank opened 9 years early