Michigan Central Station (also known as
Michigan Central Depot or
MCS), built in 1913 for the
Michigan Central RailroadThe Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...
, was
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
,
Michigan'sMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
passenger rail depot from its opening in 1913 after the previous Michigan Central Station burned, until the cessation of
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
service on January 6, 1988. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest rail station in the world.
The building, located in the
CorktownCorktown is the oldest surviving neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, although the city of Detroit is twice as old. The current boundaries of the current district include Michigan Avenue to the north, the Lodge Freeway to the east, Bagley and Porter streets to the south, and Rosa Parks/12 Street to...
district of Detroit near Tiger Stadium and the
Ambassador BridgeThe Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The bridge is owned by the Detroit International Bridge Co., which is controlled by Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel also...
about southwest of downtown Detroit, still stands today, though it remains unoccupied.
Michigan Central Station (also known as
Michigan Central Depot or
MCS), built in 1913 for the
Michigan Central RailroadThe Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...
, was
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
,
Michigan'sMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
passenger rail depot from its opening in 1913 after the previous Michigan Central Station burned, until the cessation of
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
service on January 6, 1988. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest rail station in the world.
The building, located in the
CorktownCorktown is the oldest surviving neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan, although the city of Detroit is twice as old. The current boundaries of the current district include Michigan Avenue to the north, the Lodge Freeway to the east, Bagley and Porter streets to the south, and Rosa Parks/12 Street to...
district of Detroit near Tiger Stadium and the
Ambassador BridgeThe Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The bridge is owned by the Detroit International Bridge Co., which is controlled by Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel also...
about southwest of downtown Detroit, still stands today, though it remains unoccupied. It is located behind Roosevelt Park, and the Roosevelt Warehouse is situated next to it. It was added to the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1975. Restoration projects and plans have gone as far as the negotiation process, but none have come to fruition. Restoration of Michigan Central Station is seen as an important project for the economic development of the City of Detroit.
The Detroit City Council voted on April 7, 2009 to demolish the building, passing a resolution that calls for expedited demolition. Detroit resident Stanley Christmas subsequently sued the city to stop the demolition effort, citing the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966The National Historic Preservation Act is legislation intended to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States of America...
.
History
The unfinished building began operating as Detroit's main passenger depot in 1913 after the older Michigan Central Station burned on December 26, 1913. It had been planned as part of a large project that included the
Michigan Central Railway TunnelThe Michigan Central Railway Tunnel is a railroad tunnel under the Detroit River connecting Detroit, Michigan, USA with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was built by the Detroit River Tunnel Company for the Canada Southern Railway, leased by the Michigan Central Railroad and owned by the New York...
below the
Detroit RiverThe Detroit River is a 32 mile long river in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as River of the Strait. The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. ...
for freight and passengers. The old station was to be replaced by the new Michigan Central to place the passenger service on the main line. The old station had been located on a spur line, which was inconvenient for the volume of passenger service that was being served.
The growing trend toward increased automobile use was not a large concern in 1913, as is evident in the design of the building. Most passengers would arrive at and leave from Michigan Central Station by interurban service or streetcar and not as pedestrians due to the station's distance from downtown Detroit. The reason for the placement this far from downtown was a hope that the station would be an anchor for prosperity to follow. Initially, things were looking up as
Henry FordHenry Ford was the American founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry. He was a prolific inventor and was awarded 161 U.S. patents...
began to buy land near the station in the 1920s and plans were made, but the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and other circumstances squelched this and many other development efforts. Further compounding MCS's future problems was the fact that no large parking facility was included in the original design of the facility. So when the interurban service was discontinued less than two decades after MCS opened and streetcar service in 1938, MCS was effectively isolated from a large majority of the population.
However, even with fewer means to get to and from the station, passenger volume did not decrease immediately. During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the station saw heavy
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military...
use, but once the war ended, passenger volume began to decline. Service was cut back and passenger traffic became so low that the owners of the station attempted to sell the facility in 1956 for
$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
5 million, one-third of its original building cost in 1913. Another attempt to sell the building occurred in 1963, but again there were no buyers. In 1967, maintenance costs were seen as too high relative to the decreasing passenger volume. The restaurant, arcade shops, and main entrance were closed, along with much of the main waiting room. This left only two ticket windows to serve passengers and visitors, who used the same parking-lot entrance as railroad employees working in the building.
Things began to look better for the building when
AmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a blend of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station...
took over the nation's passenger rail service in 1971. The main waiting room and entrance were reopened in 1975 and a $1.25 million renovation project was begun in 1978. But only 6 years later, the building was sold for a transportation center project that never materialized. Then, on January 6, 1988, the last Amtrak train pulled away from the station after it was decided to close the facility. Amtrak service to Detroit was continued at the new
Detroit stationDetroit is an Amtrak station in Detroit, Michigan. It is served by the . The station was built in 1988 as a replacement for the former Michigan Central Station, which was considered too expensive to maintain.-Connections:...
.
The property has changed hands several times after the 1984 deal, once even selling for less than $80,000. It is now owned by Controlled Terminals Inc. Another transportation company, the Detroit International Bridge Co., owns the nearby
Ambassador BridgeThe Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The bridge is owned by the Detroit International Bridge Co., which is controlled by Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel also...
. Both companies are owned by the same businessman,
Manuel MorounManuel "Matty" Moroun is an Arab American business man and the owner of CenTra, Inc., the holding company which controls the Ambassador Bridge and Michigan Central Depot both in Detroit Michigan. The former is significant as it is the only private ownership of a border crossing between the United...
.
The station is sometimes used for filming. MCS was used for scenes in the movie
Transformers (directed by Michael Bay) in October 2006. In January 2005, it was used as a location set for the movie
The IslandThe Island is a 2005 science fiction film directed by Michael Bay and starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. It was released on July 11, 2005 in the US. It was nominated for 3 awards including the Teen Choice award...
(directed by Michael Bay). In September 2002, extensive closeups and fly-by shots were featured in the movie
NaqoyqatsiNaqoyqatsi, or Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, is a documentary film released in 2002; it is the third and final film of the Qatsi trilogy by Godfrey Reggio. The film focuses on society's transition from a natural environment to a technology-based industrial environment. Koyaanisqatsi, the first of the...
. In the
2004 filmThe year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
Four BrothersFour Brothers is an action crime film directed by John Singleton. The movie stars Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Mark Wahlberg, and Garrett Hedlund. The film was shot in Detroit, Michigan and, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This film is loosely based on the 1965 western film The Sons of Katie Elder...
, the movie opens with the main character driving his car along the front of Michigan Central Station towards Michigan Ave. There is also a scene during the title sequence of the movie
8 Mile8 Mile is a American hip-hop drama film, directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Marshall Mathers , Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, and Mekhi Phifer....
featuring
EminemMarshall Bruce Mathers III , known by his primary stage name Eminem, or by his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer and actor. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album The Slim Shady LP, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album...
. It also features prominently in the beginning of Eminem's music video for the song "
Beautiful"Beautiful" is the fourth single from American rapper Eminem's album Relapse. It was released on May 12 on iTunes as a digital download. "Beautiful" entered the UK Singles Chart on May 17, 2009 at #38 and re-entered at #31 due to massive airplay and was released as the second UK single after We...
"
Architecture
Opened in 1913, the building is of the
Beaux-Arts ClassicalBeaux-Arts architecture denotes the academic neoclassical architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The style "Beaux Arts" is above all the cumulative product of two and a half centuries of instruction under the authority, first of the Académie royale...
style of architecture, designed by the
Warren & WetmoreWarren and Wetmore was an architecture firm in New York City. It was a partnership between Whitney Warren and Charles Wetmore , that had one of the most extensive practices of its time and was known for the designing of large hotels.Whitney Warren was a cousin of the Vanderbilts and spent ten...
and
Reed and StemReed and Stem was an architecture firm based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was a partnership between Charles A. Reed and Allen H. Stem . Formed in 1891, the successful partnership captured a wide range of commissions. One early work was Medical Hall on the campus of the University of Minnesota...
firms who also designed
New York City'sNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
Grand Central TerminalGrand Central Terminal — often popularly called Grand Central Station or simply Grand Central — is a terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City...
. The price tag for this building was $15 million when it was built.
The building is composed of two distinct parts: the train station itself and the 18-story tower. The roof height is . Ideas as to what the tower was originally designed for include a hotel, offices for the rail company, or a combination of both. In reality, the tower was only used for office space by the Michigan Central Railroad and subsequent owners of the building. The interiors of at least the top floor were completed and served no function.
The main waiting room on the main floor was modeled after an
ancient RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
bathhousePublic baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. Often the term public is misleading to some people, as they will have restrictions based upon who can use the facility — elite members of the culture, men only, religious only, etc...
with walls of marble. The building also housed a large hall adorned with Doric columns and contained the ticket office and
arcadeAn arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers, or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides....
shops. Beyond the arcade was the concourse, which had brick walls and a large copper skylight. From here, passengers would walk down a ramp to the departing train platforms, 11 tracks in all. Below the tracks and building is a large area for baggage, mail, and other office building functions.
The building has been stripped of most valuable items including brass fixtures. It has also been the victim of extensive vandalism.
Future development
In 2008 the station owners said that their goal is to renovate the decaying building that has been closed since 1988. The estimated cost of renovations was $80 million, but the owners viewed finding the right use as a greater problem than financing. Proposals and concepts for redevelopment in the past have included these potential uses:
- Trade Processing Center - One proposal suggested turning the station into a customs and international trade processing center due to its proximity to the Ambassador Bridge
The Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The bridge is owned by the Detroit International Bridge Co., which is controlled by Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel also...
.
- Convention Center and Casino - Ambassador Bridge
The Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, with Windsor, Ontario, in Canada. The bridge is owned by the Detroit International Bridge Co., which is controlled by Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel "Matty" Moroun. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel also...
owner Manuel J. "Matty" MorounManuel "Matty" Moroun is an Arab American business man and the owner of CenTra, Inc., the holding company which controls the Ambassador Bridge and Michigan Central Depot both in Detroit Michigan. The former is significant as it is the only private ownership of a border crossing between the United...
, proposed that Michigan Central Station be restored as the centerpiece of a new convention center, possibly combined with a casino. Such a project could cost $1.2 billion, including $300 million to restore the station. Dan Stamper, president of Detroit International Bridge, noted that the station should have been used as one of the city's casinos.
- Detroit Police Headquarters - In 2004 Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
Kwame Malik Kilpatrick is the former mayor of Detroit, Michigan. When elected at the age of 31, he was the youngest mayor in the history of Detroit. Kilpatrick's tenure as mayor, from 2002 until 2008, was plagued with controversies which included allegations of marital infidelity, conspiracy,...
announced that the city was pursuing options to relocate its police department headquarters and possibly consolidate other law enforcement offices to MCS. However, in mid-2005, the city cancelled the plan and chose to renovate its existing police headquarters.
Renovation estimates have ranged from $80 to $300 million. The Detroit Wayne County Port Authority has the ability to issue bonds and could take part in financing.
Demolition plan
On April 7, 2009 the Detroit City Council passed a resolution aimed at the demolition of the Depot. Seven days later, Detroit resident Stanley Christmas sued the city of Detroit to stop the demolition effort, citing the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966The National Historic Preservation Act is legislation intended to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States of America...
.
External links