Detroit studio gets historic marker after facing demolition
DETROIT — A legendary recording studio in Detroit that once welcomed artists such as Aretha Franklin and Miles Davis has received a historic marker just four years after being targeted for demolition.
United Sound Systems installed the approximately $5,000 sign last week after the Detroit Sound Conservancy helped it acquire a historic designation, MLive (http://bit.ly/2sKbOvZ ) reported.
The studio was founded by Italian violinist and recording engineer James “Jimmie” Siracuse and holds bragging rights over the first single for Tamla Records — the label that would later become Barry Gordy’s Motown Records. But it shuttered its doors in the mid-2000s, and the building was targeted for demolition in 2013 under a plan to widen I-94.
Federal authorities sought to seize the property last year. Court records show that investigators believe it was purchased in 2009 with money from cocaine trafficking.