09/29/2026
Masons’ touch restoring
Fisher Building’s exterior
By Marty Mulcahy
Editor
DETROIT – Subject to the sun’s rays, as well as the rain, wind and snow, it should come as no surprise that the masonry exterior of “Detroit’s largest art object” needs some maintenance now and then.
We refer to the Fisher Building, completed in 1928 in the city’s New Center area, which has in recent months been getting the care it needs, with the work of masons and laborers employed by RAM Construction Services. “Our team is performing masonry restoration work that helps preserve the building’s historic character while protecting the craftsmanship and architectural details that have made it a landmark for nearly a century,” RAM said on its page.
A National Historic Landmark, the 30-story tower along West Grand Boulevard was designed by renowned architect Albert Kahn, and built for $9 million (about $175 million in today’s dollars). Remarkably, construction only took 15 months, but the speedy work of the trades at the time yielded a timeless classic.
“The building was the project of the seven Fisher Brothers, of Fisher Body prestige,” says the Detroit Historical Society.
“Originally carriage-makers, the brothers popularizedthe closed body for the automobile which made year-round car travel possible. When they decided to build offices for Fisher and Company, they were willing to spend whatever it took to make it the world’s most beautiful office building.”
The Fisher Building won the designation “Building of the (20th) Century” by the American-Institute of Architects-Detroit.
“The Fisher was built – with only slight exceptions – entirely out of granite and marble, including on the exterior,” says Historic Detroit. “More than 40 kinds of marble from all over the world were used. From the base of the building to 50 feet up – the first three floors – the exterior is finished in polished Minnesota pink marble and Oriental granite. With more than 325,000 square feet of exterior marble, the Fisher is the largest marble-clad commercial building in the world.”
Actually, more of the building’s “wow” factor is found on the interior, with its street-level, three-story arcades with hand-painted ceilings, and use of mosaics, marble corridors, and extensive bronze detailing.
In 2023 Michigan State University announced its endowment fund had made it a majority investor in the Fisher Building. MSU said it anticipates supporting an array of educational, administrative and community-facing functions within the building.
