Some roads around Ford Motor Co.’s new world headquarters in Dearborn will change in May to reflect a couple of its most popular products.
Village Road between Oakland Boulevard and Rotunda Drive will become Mustang Alley, and South Pond Road will become Bronco Bend. The new headquarters sits across Oakwood Boulevard from The Henry Ford Museum.
The automaker previously had shared that the 1 American Road address of its former headquarters known as the Glass House will move to the newly constructed 2.1 million-square-foot building anchoring the Henry Ford II World Center campus. That transition also will be finalized in May with road signs when the last employees depart from that building.
“When we decided to bring the One American Road address over to the new World Headquarters, we took the opportunity to evaluate other campus roads,” spokesperson Caitlin Wunderlich said in a statement. “Ford made the decision to rename these private roads to reflect iconic Ford products, as part of our broader strategy to infuse our employees’ work into our campus design.”
Ford this week said it would connect its 1.2 million-square-foot Product Development Center to the new headquarters by a skybridge and renovate the 1953-built PDC. Previously, it had planned to rebuild, but Jim Dobleske, CEO of Ford Land, the company’s real estate arm, said reusing it will be up to 50% less expensive, the structure is built well and the skybridge will allow Ford to put more than 11,000 people under one roof and facilitate its more collaborative working model.
A map published in a blog on Thursday written by Dobleske included a map that depicted a number of other renamed streets around the campus, including those named after race car driver and vehicle designer Carroll Shelby. Those names, however, had not been finalized and will not be altered, spokesperson Dave Tovar said.
Specifically, South Military Street, Dearborn Inn Drive, Carroll Shelby Way West and Carroll Shelby Way East will remain unchanged. The map had depicted names likes Raptor Way and Navigator Avenue.
Mustang Alley isn’t a new moniker. Ford for years has named its display at the Woodward Dream Cruise “Mustang Alley,” showcasing hundreds of version of the Pony Car. The Big Bend is the entry-level trim on the Bronco SUV.
Ford applied for 1 American Road when it built the Glass House that opened in 1956. A 1924 ad campaign said the company was “Opening the Highways to All Mankind.” It later called back to the promotion in its 50th anniversary slogan in 1953: 50 years on the American Road.
“The American Road was this thought that the Model T had forever changed America,” Ted Ryan, Ford’s archivist, previously told The Detroit News.
The city of Dearborn in 2012 approved Ford’s request to rename two roads near the PDC in honor of Shelby following his death in May of that year. He received credit for the designs for the high-performance Shelby Mustang coupes and the AC Cobra roadster. He also is the only person to claim victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a driver in 1959, manufacturer in 1964 and team manager in 1966 and 1967. He was a part of the development of the Ford GT40 that won Le Mans four consecutive times between 1966 and 1969. Actor Matt Damon depicts him in the 2019 film “Ford v Ferrari.”
Ford held a grand opening for its new headquarters in November, though the building is set to be completed in 2027. Renovations of the PDC will begin in the middle of this year with the first phase ending in 2027. A second phase won’t finish until 2029.
The headquarters incorporates Ford’s product in many different ways, including art on the walls and fritted windows with Ford patent numbers in the design.
The demolition of the Glass House is expected to take at least 18 months. Plans for that site remain under review, though the automaker has said it will be community space like a park or sports fields.
bnoble@detroitnews.com
@BreanaCNoble
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Road around Ford headquarters to be renamed in Dearborn
Reporting by Breana Noble, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
