Russell Industrial Center

True Grit:Russell Industrial Center

Up close, the magnitude of the Russell Industrial Center makes it feel Alcatraz-esque, complete with a water tower. In fact, Russell’s history is just as extensive as that of The Rock, save for a couple escape attempts.

The story of Russell starts in 1915 with famed architect Albert Kahn designing it, and by 1925 all seven buildings were completed. According to the Russell's Assistant General Manager Eric Novack, Murray Body was the first tenant, manufacturing for the Dodge Brothers until the 1940s, when the space was converted for the war effort to create B1 Fortress wings. In the 1950s and ‘60s it was the Michigan Stamping Plant and by the ‘70s it was the Midwest’s printing capital, with around 130 printers on site. “Basically, everything that was licked, stamped or bound came through here at one point to a Midwest mailbox,” Novack said.

Things took a downturn come the end of the 20th century. The printer Winter Swan bought the Russell in the ‘90s and soon couldn’t afford it, and by the 2000s, things were bleak. In 2003, Dennis Kefallinos came to look at one of the buildings. “Before he left that day, the story goes, he bought all seven buildings,” Novack said. “He saw all the artists already there and he just continued what they were doing. The artists came to whoever owned it at the time and asked for 2,000 square feet and they would let them have it if they would build it out. They decided to build it out which really helped the complex to flourish.

“I think Dennis has come to the realization that he’s not going to be Donald Trump, he’s going to be himself,” Novack continued. “By keeping things commercially savvy for small businesses, he’s bolstering the city. Turn of the century London was this way. No one wanted to be there, everybody moved out, it was a shit hole. Then the artists came.”

Today, of the 2.2 million square feet, 650,000 square feet are in use, with 500,000 for immediate use, and another million awaiting infrastructure work. “

In the past seven months, we’ve had 32 move-ins, and since June we’ve had 10, half of which are artists,” Novack said. “About 90 percent of our interest comes from the Internet. The rest is word of mouth. We take people around, they meet two of the artists, look at some of the build outs, and some of them are like 18th century libraries smack in the middle of Italy, and you're like, ‘Holy shit, this is sweet.’ Artists attract small businesses and small businesses do the same because everything touches art. So it’s pretty easy for us.”

One perk of the Russell that is particularly attractive for the artists is the vast artistic community. “The community is an easy sell," Novack affirmed. "The helping hands are great and we have a lot of leaders there. You have seamstresses to help you with the curtains, woodworkers to help you with desks and the overall construction. Architects to help you out with designing and making sure everything is ergonomic. The sense of community is excellent.

"It’s your space, you can do what you want with it as long as you’re not doing anything illegal," Novack said. "If you’re going to strip down to your skivvies and pour mustard on yourself and roll on cardboard — I don’t care, as long as it’s legal.”

As Russell continues to grow, Novack has high expectations for the future. “We are hoping to become, in the next couple years, the art Mecca of the Midwest.” RDW