From Decay To Glory: Detroit’s Michigan Central Station Reborn In 2024

The classic Michigan Central Station in Detroit is reopening after extensive renovations and the date is.....June 6, 2024...06.06.24.

This classic Corktown building has been totally empty since the last train pulled out of the depot in 1988. It certainly fell on hard times and was in total disrepair.

Back in the day, construction began on this huge train station in 1910 and opened in 1913.

Fox2 in Detroit reported that when it reopens later this year, the depot will no longer serve as a train station. Instead, the building will house Ford Motor Co.'s autonomous vehicle teams, while the main area will be open to the public.

Michigan Central was a bustling train station for years, and many people would pass through its grand lobby, including military members shipping off or getting home.

In its heyday, more than 200 trains left the station each day and lines would stretch from the boarding gates to the main entrance. In the 1940s, more than 4,000 passengers a day used the station and more than 3,000 people worked in its office tower, which was considered the tallest train station in the country at the time.

During WWII, the station was used heavily by military troops shipping out for the war.

Wikipedia states that after the war, with a growth in automobile ownership, people used trains less frequently for vacation or other travel. Service was reduced and passenger traffic became so low that the train companies tried to sell the building and close it. No takers.

In 1971, Amtrak took over passenger service.

The trains ran until 1988 when the last train pulled out and the building closed for good. Vandals and weather elements wreaked havoc on the building and it became a sad shell of its former grand self.

During this time, many plans were proposed for the space, but nothing came to be. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, so it stood, falling into disrepair more and more.

That all changed, finally. Ford announced that it had purchased the train depot, and crews quickly got to work, and it was a lot of work. They discovered they had to replace everything because there was nothing left.

When it reopens, the train depot will serve as the anchor for a larger mobility campus Ford says is designed to connect neighborhoods and provide a variety of services.

There will be a coffee shop where drinks are served out of the old ticket windows. There will also be small shops.

In the concourse, there will be eating areas, space for education, and possibly a library. And, of course, this will serve as a grand event space.