Michigan Central Station

Michigan Central Station, located in the Corktown district of Detroit, Michigan, was constructed in mid-1913 for the Michigan Central Railroad at a cost of $15 million. It replaced an earlier passenger rail depot that had burned.

 

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At the time of its construction, it was the tallest railroad structure in the world at eighteen floors, and was began earlier as part of a much larger project that involved the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel under the Detroit River. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts Classical style, and was designed by the same firm who had designed New York City's Grand Central Terminal. The depot opened before the building was even completed, due to a fire at the older depot.

 

2 Waiting room

 

The eighteen-story tower was rumored to have been designed for a hotel, although it was only used as offices for the Michigan Central. It was underused, for the most part, and the uppermost floor was not even fitted for occupancy.

 

3 Uppermost floor

 

The main waiting room was modeled after an ancient Roman bathhouse, and contained walls of marble that was adorned with Guastavino archies and Corinthian columns. The concourse featured brick walls and a large copper skylight. From the concourse, passengers would walk down a ramp to the departing train platforms, which contained eleven tracks.

 

4 Waiting room

 

It's location, two miles southwest of downtown, was important because it was hoped that the station would serve as a catalyst for major development. An edge city, if you will. Had it been successful, it would have beaten New Center by a decade. The boom never came.

 

The majority of the passengers would leave or arrive from the station via interurban or streetcar service, and not as pedestrians, when the station was in its early years. However, in 1938, interurban and streetcar service was discontinued in Detroit. The station was effectively isolated.

 

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During World War II, the station saw heavy military usage. Like most railroad depots, however, passenger declined post-war as automobile ownership increased. Lines to Chicago were reduced, and other routes were eliminated as cars were more frequently used for shorter trips to outlying cities and communities. The station was put up for sale in 1956 for a third of the original building cost, and again in 1963.

 

6 Waiting room in 1921

 

In 1967, the restaurant, arcade shops and the main entrance were closed. Passengers now entered through the rear, and huddled in the concourse; the central waiting room had also been marked off-limits.

 

Four years later, Amtrak took over the United State's passenger rail service. The main waiting room and entrance were reopened in 1975, which was followed by inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The depot was given a $1.25 million renovation three years later that added a bus terminal. In 1984, Michigan Central Station was sold for a transportation center project that never materialized. Finally, on January 6, 1988, the last train departed from the station. In 2000, the passenger platforms were demolished for an intermodal freight yard.

 

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Check out my article at Abandoned for more history and trivia, and of course, photographs. It was well worth the trip to see this in person.

detroit in a nutshell -- great shots!

Great photo but such a sad tale! =-0(

Great photo but such a sad tale! =-0(

 

It doesn't have to be. Here's the thing. They need to start fresh and forget the past. If Detroit gets a progressive city council and a good economic development director (I'm really not sure what's going on in that dept.; I'm not gonna act like I know the ins and outs of Detroit politics) then I pray that they will raze entire neighborhoods. Between that and the Obama administration working with them, they could really utilize their industrial capital. As far as neighborhoods go, let each eyesore meet the wrecking ball. I don't think Detroiters are NIMBYs - they seem pretty passive. The ecological movement can drive Detroit's future manufacturing economy AS WELL AS drive ecological design locally. Look at it this way: The way in which Detroiters manifested attachment to their city was through their pride and love of cars. Now take the opportunity to build an attachment to a green economy which would translate architecturally to doing more with less. I know everyone here just loves craftsmanship and architectural details but Detroit could use another niche. I think Obama will be president a full 8 years; that could really work to Detroit's advantage with enough lobbying. I'd like to think that at this point, Detroiters are done with being indifferent to their own problems after the Kilpatrick fiasco(s). If they haven't had the final straw to break the camel's back yet, I'm confident that it's coming soon. Detroit is too big and has too much of a geographic importance to stay in a perpetual decline.

What they need is a bombass food court like MGM Detroit.  THEN they'll be back in business.

lol

What they need is a bombass food court like MGM Detroit. THEN they'll be back in business.

 

I long for the days of the cafeterias, like what were in a lot of malls in the 1980s.

What they need is a bombass food court like MGM Detroit.  THEN they'll be back in business.

 

I long for the days of the cafeterias, like what were in a lot of malls in the 1980s.

 

No, he's talking about ridiculously low priced food. 6 dollar giant delicious buckets of chicken to lure people in and gamble at the casino. It's not just any ol' food court.

He knows.  Of course.  Because when ColDay is in town, it's either Slows or the foodcourt at the Casino.  Sherman has experienced this wonderment.

 

Ironically, he's not that far off, the current owner really wants it to be a casino... with a bombass food court.  The funding is available for renovation of this building into anything.  Plenty of funding available, much more than necessary.  It's just that the owner really isn't interested in this structure at the time being.  The issue is that he doesn't realize the conditions are getting worse inside.  The building is FAR more damaged than it was a couple years ago.  The interior now has graffiti and I recall some of the windows actually having glass not long ago.  Numerous stairways have collapsed rendering some places inaccessible.

Interesting that the very thing that enabled Detroit to thrive, cars, lead to the demise of glorious travel spaces like Michigan Central and Buffalo Central Terminals. Even air travel relaxed when everyone (relatively speaking) could afford to drive. The industrial midwest is going to have to completely reinvent itself in order to maintain whatever quality of life it may have left, IMO. There is no reason to live in places like Cleveland, Detroit, or Pittsburgh anymore unless they are highly personal ones, even Cincinnati holds nothing for people who weren't born there. Maybe the green thing will do it, I won't hold my breath. I saw Youngstown, Ohio try and try to reinvent itself in the past to no avail. I figure until the well-off parts of the nation start to feel the same pain nothing will be done to help the failing parts.

Good photo tour, sad story.

 

A friend who died a little less than a year ago worked for Michigan DOT, probably in the late sixties or early seventies. His office was in that building, and he said that when he worked there, the building was largely vacant. According to him, the only time it saw a reasonable occupancy rate was during WWII, and even then it was far from full.

 

In the early 80s I caught a train from there to Toledo. The place was getting run-down and dusty, but was still intact and maintained. There was a police precinct in it, with maybe one or two cops, and hardly anyone in any of the offices. I walked around the outside to look it over, and one of the cops told me that I shouldn't be out there by myself. That was mid-afternoon on a weekday.

There is no reason to live in places like Cleveland, Detroit, or Pittsburgh anymore unless they are highly personal ones, even Cincinnati holds nothing for people who weren't born there.

 

Doesn't this hold true for any city in the U.S.?  People today are mobile and most of your standard run of the mill jobs can be found in pretty much any city, except where dictated by the specialzed job industries (movies/TV in LA, Broadway or high fashion in NY, etc.).

He knows. Of course. Because when ColDay is in town, it's either Slows or the foodcourt at the Casino. Sherman has experienced this wonderment.

 

Ironically, he's not that far off, the current owner really wants it to be a casino... with a bombass food court. The funding is available for renovation of this building into anything. Plenty of funding available, much more than necessary. It's just that the owner really isn't interested in this structure at the time being. The issue is that he doesn't realize the conditions are getting worse inside.

 

Is Matty Maroun still the owner?

There is no reason to live in places like Cleveland, Detroit, or Pittsburgh anymore unless they are highly personal ones, even Cincinnati holds nothing for people who weren't born there.

 

Doesn't this hold true for any city in the U.S.? People today are mobile and most of your standard run of the mill jobs can be found in pretty much any city, except where dictated by the specialzed job industries (movies/TV in LA, Broadway or high fashion in NY, etc.).

 

Sure.  The threads held the Rust Belt cities together are gone, though. At least in the west and south the climate can give folks a reason to be there, up here it seems to discourage staying.

He knows. Of course. Because when ColDay is in town, it's either Slows or the foodcourt at the Casino. Sherman has experienced this wonderment.

 

Ironically, he's not that far off, the current owner really wants it to be a casino... with a bombass food court. The funding is available for renovation of this building into anything. Plenty of funding available, much more than necessary. It's just that the owner really isn't interested in this structure at the time being. The issue is that he doesn't realize the conditions are getting worse inside.

 

Is Matty Maroun still the owner?

 

Yessir

He knows. Of course. Because when ColDay is in town, it's either Slows or the foodcourt at the Casino. Sherman has experienced this wonderment.

 

Ironically, he's not that far off, the current owner really wants it to be a casino... with a bombass food court. The funding is available for renovation of this building into anything. Plenty of funding available, much more than necessary. It's just that the owner really isn't interested in this structure at the time being. The issue is that he doesn't realize the conditions are getting worse inside.

 

Is Matty Maroun still the owner?

 

Yessir

 

He supposedly owns more of Michigan than anyone besides the state government.  I used to work for him, and he was made out to be a terrifying individual-- a cross between Kaiser Soze and Montgomery Burns.

No doubt he makes the feds so nervous that they are building their own bridge to Canada downriver from his.  Not to say there is anything wrong with his bridge crossing.  It's quite effective and organized, and is being expanded.  I could never pinpoint why the feds wanted another bridge with his project moving along except that they wanted more control over a border crossing. 

 

I never thought of Maroun as terrifying.  I actually imagine him as charming, but stubborn with way too many priorities on his plate.  He owns so much that plans are bound to be overlooked.  I think he knows what he wants for MCS, but there are already casinos, and there's already a convention center, meaning his international trading center is his last workable idea.

I don't know David.  I like your optimism for Detroit, but I'm not sure America is going to be able to pull every city it sent to its death bed back out to life.  A choice will have to be made between cities like New Orleans, Detroit, and to a much lesser extent Birmingham and Cleveland.  Cleveland seems to be looking good with the whole wind power thing on the move.  Birmingham is too small for most people to care.  That leaves the two big ones.  Both are high profile, but it seems like more of the progressive ideas and people are flowing into New Orleans for romantic reasons that aren't there for Detroit.  I don't know, I wish Detroit the best, but I don't think this country has the will to do it.

I don't either, honestly. I was just providing the vision. lol

Maybe if we just put an end date on Detroit and invited those who are productive members of society to move to Toledo, we could kill a whole bunch of birds with one stone.

LOL, MCS makes a guest appearance.  This video.  So True...  The video looks to be about 4 years old since a bunch of highrise buildings in this video were recently dropped.

 

Haha. That's hilarious.

 

 

No doubt he makes the feds so nervous that they are building their own bridge to Canada downriver from his. Not to say there is anything wrong with his bridge crossing. It's quite effective and organized, and is being expanded. I could never pinpoint why the feds wanted another bridge with his project moving along except that they wanted more control over a border crossing.

 

I never thought of Maroun as terrifying. I actually imagine him as charming, but stubborn with way too many priorities on his plate. He owns so much that plans are bound to be overlooked. I think he knows what he wants for MCS, but there are already casinos, and there's already a convention center, meaning his international trading center is his last workable idea.

 

I never dealt with him personally, but the guy working next to me got a call from him one night saying "There's a trailer of mine at some strip joint on 8 mile!  I want it gone!  NOW!" 

 

I think it's perfectly natural for the government to not want somebody owning a national border, whoever they are.  I'm not sure how that was ever allowed in the first place.  Either you drive around the great lakes, or you pay Uncle Matty for the right to leave the country.