Detroit's long-shuttered Statler Hilton Hotel was not the city's largest, tallest, nor the most architecturally interesting building - but for much of the 20th Century, the half-million square-foot behemoth anchored the city's Grand Circus Park area, and served it well.

Even in its current run-down condition, the historic home for travelers remains a unique symbol of a bygone era. But it may or may not have a role in the city's future.

Union trades workers are currently on the job under the direction of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which is spending $4.5 million in state funds to remove hazardous materials from the 15-story building, which was completed in 1915. The building contains lead paint, asbestos, and 700,000 gallons of PCB-contaminated water to be pumped from the basement as part of the clean up effort, which is being performed on the site by Industrial Waste Cleanup Inc. DLC and Harding ESC are also involved in the project. About 90 building trades workers are on the job.

Patricia Thornton, a DEQ project manager, said removal of the hazardous materials should be complete next year. After that, the hotel will be ready for redevelopment - or demolition. A spokesman for the city's Planning and Development Department, which owns the building, said the city has no developers for the hotel lined up. The most recent proposal for the building included parking on the first three floors and lofts on the floors above, evaporated in September.

"I hate to see anything torn down," Thornton said, "but the building is not an architectural gem of any sort, and if you were to walk inside you'd say, 'eew.' The inside is just a mess, and it's very dangerous. It would take a lot to redevelop the building." Urban scavengers and water from the leaky roof have been the primary culprits.

How the mighty have fallen. The builder of the 800-room hotel was Ellsworth M. Statler, who envisioned it as his third "complete hotel." The first two, in Buffalo and Cleveland, were so successful that numerous cities clamored for him to build in their city. Buffalo's hotel, built in 1907, was the first in the nation to have a private bath in every room.

Statler's Detroit design included that amenity. He also introduced the innovation of "plumbing shafts" through the building, to reduce costs and make service easier. Plumbers gained access to the shafts by removing medicine cabinets in the guest rooms. Statler placed kitchens near the facilities they serve. He also catered to traveling salesmen by building "sample rooms," where they could show their wares in a public area.

The Statler was said to raise the standard of Detroit's hotels, with Statler himself making surprise inspections to ensure quality. A complete medical department was installed on the 18th floor, including a clinic and surgical area. As is usually the case with buildings of this period, the best woodwork and marble were installed throughout the lobby, ballrooms and dining areas. It was a first-class hotel, and business proved so good that a new wing was added in 1916, creating an additional 200 rooms - making the Statler the first 1,000-room hotel in the Midwest.

The hotel underwent major renovations in the 1930s, when the Statler was the first hotel in the world to offer air conditioning, but only in the public areas. After World War II, the hotel actually participated in a campaign to encourage people not to travel, because of the lack of hotel rooms. One other sidebar: in 1926, magician Harry Houdini collapsed on stage at the Garrick Theater and was carried to his room at the Statler before being rushed to Grace Memorial Hospital where he later died of peritonitis resulting from appendicitis.

In 1954, Hilton Hotels bought out the Statler chain. A massive renovation of the hotel took place in 1963, with the removal of a bar and restaurant and addition of three restaurants.

In 1974, the facility was renamed the Detroit Heritage Hotel. In October 1975, with the City of Detroit in full decline and the building at 20 percent occupancy, the hotel was closed for good. All sorts of goods, including silverware and beds, were sold at bargain prices.

In 1988, the City of Detroit placed awnings on the building's lower level, in an oft-criticized way to improve its appearance for visiting journalists for the North American International Auto Show.

Today, Thornton said, "everything of value" has been stripped from the old hotel, and it will need to be further stripped to its core if it is to be refurbished. Fran Quiroz, contract administrator for Industrial Waste Cleanup, said the first order of business over the last two months has been to remove the general debris piles from the building.

"It's amazing how much different the building looks today than it did in September," she said. "It actually looks like a hotel again."

COMPLETED IN 1915, the Statler Hotel employed a number of innovations in the design and constrution process.

LABORERS AND ASBESTOS abatement workers haul empty drums into the old hotel, which will be filled with hazardous materials.