Wright-Kay Building (Detroit, Michigan)

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1500 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48226

Gordon W. Lloyd designed this massive structure as a music store for the F. J. Schwankovsky Company. The company, founded in 1879, operated a retail store for pianos, organs and musical merchandise and later manufactured pianos. Completed in 1891, this six story brick and brownstone structure, with cast-iron frame, was one of the first high-rise buildings on Woodward Avenue. It was also one of the first Detroit buildings whose initial construction included an electric elevator. The company held recitals in the second floor ballroom and brass concerts on the sixth floor balcony.

By 1910, the F. J. Schwankovsky Company, having ceased operations, the building became a jewelry store. From 1920 to 1978 it housed the Wright Kay jewelry firm. When sold in 1980, the structure was converted into the headquarters for the House of Fabrics.