Report: Joe Louis' old boxing gym up for demolition in Detroit

The Detroit recreation center where Joe Louis once trained is listed for demolition, reports the Detroit Free Press. The building, the Brewster Wheeler

The Detroit recreation center where Joe Louis once trained is listed for demolition, reports the Detroit Free Press. 

The building, the Brewster Wheeler Recreation Center, closed in the early 2000s and has been deserted. It will be demolished in the fall unless someone comes up with a workable plan to save it. 

Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum, founder and president of the Michigan Boxing Hall of Fame, said the scheduled demolition will take away another piece of Detroit's history. He's seen many Detroit rec centers that served as boxing gyms be torn down in recent years, calling it "the final nail in the coffin for boxing in Detroit." 

"It just kills me," he said. "It’s almost sacrilegious to see that nothing was done to at least save something — a stairway, an entrance way."

The center has stood since 1929. 

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According to the Free Press, Detroit officials have already started to make future plans for the site.

- Molly Geary