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enter...
GENERAL SITE FOR CITY HALL, LIBRARY AT RIGHT
PLANS lor a new lou iIdi ng to house ci ty alfices are prog ress ing.
The arch iteetural firm of Pi rscher and Hov! s, Fernda Ie, has been reta ined to
study space needs and prepare preliminary plans for a new city hall.
The Pol ice Department, Mun ic ipal Court, Engi neer ing Deportment (located on the
second floor of old fire station No. 1) and Health Deportment (located on the east
side of Woodward, north of Cambourne) plus all other city departments housed in
the old city hall would be brought together under one roof in the new building.
The arch itectural firm is determi ning how much space each deportment wi II re
qUire for effi cient city operation.
Before the city halJ con be constructed, residents 'will be asked to ap'
prove at the polls a general obligation bond issue, which would finance con
struction of the new building. If the present schedule is maintained, and barring
unforeseen developments, the vote is expected to be held early in 1958.
The city feels that cramped quarters in the present building and poor location (in
the extreme south end of the dty, and in the shadow of the Woodward-Eight Mile
grade separation) warrant a change.
A centra Ily-iocated build ing fa tie in a rchitectura Ily with the new ci ty library,
and located on East Nine Mi Ie near Bermuda, is planned.
The city already has purchased several homes on Nine Mile pictured above, arid
CWIe house on Troy, a rI located on the proposed site. Exact location of the new
city hlall on this site has not been determined.
City offices hov'a been located in a converted bonk building since 1937. It was
the;" that the cit.y w?uJd the build!ng th,e
Water...
THE CITY'S WATER PROBLEMS have all but "dried up." The city now can furnish
a 1I the water anyone can use wi thin its Iimils, subject to conal tions imposed by Detroi I.
Constructi on of a J-m iII ion go lion reservoir and pumping station (shown above) at Hi,J
ton ond Hazelhurst, plus installation of new mains, all under a, $650,000 revenue bond
is sue, provides the ci ty with enough transmi ss ion ma ins.
Except lor a few short "dead end" mains and trunk feeders in Paxton from Ardmore to
Lewiston and Gainsbara from Lewiston to Woodward Heights, 0'11 major water line work
has been completed. The Paxton main will be installed when that slr'eet is widened.
THE CITY HAS THREE water connections with Detroit, under a JO-yeor contract to
run through 1985. Th.ey are on Eight Mile at Wando, Hilton and Livernois.
prior to completion of new rna ins in 1956, water pres sure on the "hi II," Pinecres t and
Drayton, was 25 pounds. Today on average pressure 01 40 pounds is maintained.
The reservoir is used to feed water into the city system when the maximum dail,y aver'
age of consumpti on exceeds 8,000,000 go lions. Pumps (below) ore used to feed reser
voir water into the system and to bolster water pressure when Detroit pressure drops.
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"This is Ferndale" by the City Manager, 1958
Bypass handles trolfic .. asHy
at Hilton and Eight Mile.
Traffic
Trallic congestion in
tho busine. s district is
under study. Motorists
who double-pork (shown
at the right) or slowly
cruise on Nine Mile
while waiting to pick
up shoppers, odd to the
conge s Ii on.
CONGESTED major streets and residential cross
traffic are two of the city's greatest prablems. Be
cause of Ferndale's location as the hub of the metro
politan aree, city streets handle 0 tremendous volume
of throug h Ira Hi c.
The city continually ;s trying to alleviate residential
cross-town traffic through proper traffic control, but
a final solution will be difficult to find until major
streets become less congested. Woodward, the Mile
Roads, Li vernois, Pinecrest and Hi Iton are used
heavi Iy during peak traffic hours, causing motorists
to use residential streets to ovoid this congestion.
r
NEW EXPRESSWAYS on Southfield and the Oakland-
Hastings connection 01 Stephenson will help to funnel
troffjc away from Ferndale, relieving congestion.
Widening of Hilton, Pinecrest and Nine Mile has aided
traHic flow. Further widening of East Nine Mile and
Ten Mile will also help. Delayed traffic signal timing
on Nine Mi Ie 01 Woodward and at Hi Iton gives motor
ists a chance ta clear the intersections before through
trof/ic storts. Congestion in the Nine Mile business
district dur ing week-end shopping h.ours is under study,
The $4 million Wood
word-Eight Mile grade
separolion (ferndale
po id $325,000 01 Ifle
cost) creates 0 prob lem
during Ifle evening 'ush
hour. Traffic flows
through rhe intersection
at such a losl role thor
1I bocks up south from
Nine Mile. Eighl Mile
congestion emanates
'rom Livernois and Fair.
Improved liming 01 si g
nols should 'educe Ihis
congesrion, Traffic lig
ures show 124,000 carS
use the i ntefsecrion
..J ... : I ~ J
Parking.

CITY PARKING i.s under study. Busi
nessmen hove offered to buy bonds to
finance a new of/os treet lot. The bonds
would be retired by parking meter reve
nue. The city has 1,001 metered parking
spoces: 225 in the center of Woodward,
55 on the norlh side of Nine Mile, west
of Planovon; 205 in Troy-Allen lot (pic
tured qbove), 41 behind post offi ce, 19
nexl to police slolion, 76 west 01 library,
75 on Brec kenridge wes t of Woodward,
262 street spaces. Unmelered lots are:
Ten Mile at Hilion {below}, easl of Ii
brory, west of Community Building. Meter
revenue is used to purchase, prepare and
maintain lots and to buy and keep meters
in repa ir {shown ot ri ght}.
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Sq
A MAJOR PART 01 the
I
,recreation story is
"Magic Squares. ,. The
J
"Squares" are 120' x
I 120' fenced, hard sur
face area s . Ten activi
ties can be conducted
on them, providing
year-round use. They
are a project of the
Recreot ion Advi sory
Boord and have been
financed with public
contributions, raised
under the Board's
I guidance. The "Magic SqIJare" in Roosevelt Park has been completed. One in Wilson
Pork is complete except lor Iights, and bases have been 10 id in Hard iog and To It pork s.
The"Squares" can be used for bo sketba' I, tenn i5., vall eyba II, badminton, shuffleboard,
paddle tennis, hopscotch, roller skating and dancing. The bases also are flooded for
ice skat ing (above l, AII "Magic Square" bases have been flooded for skat; '19 thi s
winter, in addition to rinks al Washington School, Martin Road pork and at Breckenridge
o
and Bermuda.
'ar/l-S
a,
'u
Recrefl 011 00.
FE RNDAL E has 7 park sites tala ling 63 acre s. Nine acres S O I J t ~ 01 the new hi gh
school have been purchased for use as a school athletic field and city recreation arell.
The Recreation Department's .program provides for winter and summer activities in 6
parks and 5 playgrounds, including baseball, swimming, square dancing and torget
practice. Two qualified leaders are assigned to each play area. Use of the ploy oreos
varies from 336 registrotions for children at Taft Pork to 119 ot Coolidge School.
City parks, their areas and locations, are:
Harding - 18.2 acres between Mapledale and Ten Mile, Grayson and Inman
Mapledale - 4 acres at Garfield and Chester
Martin Rood - 15 acres at Orchard and Martin Road
Roosevell - 8.5 acres at Pinecrest ond Earle boulevard
Tafl - 6.6 acres on Eight Mile between Allen and Gardendale
Wanda - 3 acres at East Hazelhurst and Wanda
Wilson - 7.7 acres at Hilton and University
AII of the parks have playground equi pmenl and pro'll i s ions br au tdoor cook ing.
Fernda Ie's current recrea t ion budget is $45,539, of wh ich the Ci ty a ppropri ate s 42.6%,
with the Fernda Ie Boord of Educa ti on provid ing the ba lonce. The Recreo tion Advi sory
committee is composed of two city and two school officials, plus six members from
the communi tya t-Jarge. The deportmen t has three lu II-time employes, 53 part.' ime
summer workers and 58 part-t;me w inter workers.
!J)"'.
THE FERNDALE FIRE DEPARTMENT has been expanded and modernized during re
cent years -from new bui Idings to a larm boxes. A new headquarters s totion wa s bu i It al
a cost 01 $13S,OOO-Station No.2 waS built at a costof $aO OOO-personnel increased
from 34 to 40-Notionol Fire Prevention Code adopted-a 75-foot aerial truck with 750
go 1I0n-per-m inute pump rept aced a truck in service since 1937-0 750 gallon-per
minute pumper replaced a 1921 model-148 hydrants added to the system since 1949,
for a total of 438-oJl major apparatus equipped with two-way radios-new fire alarm
board installed and alarm system modernized-entered into a mutual aid poet with
Royal Oak, Hazel Pork, Birmingham and Pontiac-classification by the National Boord
of Underwriters improved from Class 6 to Closs 5 in 1952 and application mode lor new
survey to bring classi/ication even lower. Lower classification means lower insurance
costs lor business and industry.
Future Goals: Relief Irom traf/ic congestion and parking hampering lire equipment
responding to alorms, odd 100 hydrants, odd mains to strengthen waler distribution
system.
The deparlmenl s erY
ices Pleasant Ridge
under a contract be
tween thaI city and
Ferndale.
Duties include: lire
prevention, operating
the city ambulance,
check ing and po int
ing hydronts, a Jarm
boxes and poles,
t ra i n i n g auxiliary
firemen and inspec
tion.
Firemon drill on
,A.
FIREMEN roc"i ... " calls direclly
th,ough ,hi' mosIe' /i,e olarm board.
Prior 10 1956, calls were ,elayed
I,om tho "",lice dopartmonJ.
ALARMS ~ 1957
Fe,ndale
Pleasant Ridge
Ambulance run,
TOTAL
FIRE LOSS - 1957
Residential
Bus. & Industry
Autos, all olner
TOTAL
357
27
329
384
$13,190
4,685
2,315
$20,190
ALARMS - 1956
Ferndale 368
P leasanl R'dge 41
Ambulonco Runs 314
TOT AL 409
FIRE LOSS - 1956
Res idenliol SJ7,455
Bus. & Industry 41,345
Au'os, all olneor 1,675
TOTAL $60,475