21 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

AP via U.S. News & World Report, 6/11/18:

Detroit's Old Train Station Sold to Ford for Redevelopment

 

Owners of Detroit's vacant, hulking 105-year-old Michigan Central Station say they've sold the iconic symbol of Detroit's fall from greatness to Ford Motor Co. for redevelopment.

 

 

DETROIT (AP) — Owners of Detroit's vacant, hulking 105-year-old Michigan Central Station announced Monday that they've sold the iconic symbol of Detroit's fall from greatness to Ford Motor Co. for redevelopment.

 

Matthew Moroun, son of building owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun, said Dearborn-based Ford's Blue Oval logo "will adorn the building." The announcement came in front of the 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter), 18-story station that closed in 1988.

 

"The next steward of the building is the right one for its future," Moroun said. "The depot will become a shiny symbol of Detroit's progress and its success."

 

Moroun said Ford plans to disclose details of the redevelopment soon. An announcement is planned next week, Ford said. After years of failed plans, talk has centered on redevelopment spearheaded by Ford.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Detroit, MI Free Press, 6/18/18:

 

 

Thief returns train station clock, thanks Ford for believing in Detroit

 

 

A thief who stole a clock that hung on a Michigan Central Station gateway for decades in Detroit reached out to anonymously return the antique timepiece, sending Ford to an abandoned building to retrieve it.

 

 

Article

[CNJRoss]

Mileposts blog from Classic Trains columnist Kevin P. Keefe 6/19/18:
 

A miracle for Michigan Central Station

 

 

I usually don’t believe in miracles. But I can’t think of another word for what’s happening in Detroit, where a savior has stepped up to not only rescue but also transform one of America’s greatest and most notoriously derelict train stations.

 

The unlikely savior is Ford Motor Co. The miracle is what Ford promises to do with Michigan Central Station, the towering 1913 monument whose fall from grace became a symbol of Detroit’s historic decline.

 

Ford is scheduled to release more details this week about its latest acquisition.  .  .  .

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Verge, 6/20/18:
 

Inside Detroit’s crumbling train station that Ford plans to transform into a mobility lab

 

The auto giant’s purchase of the iconic 18-story station is a defining moment for the city

 

 

Yesterday, Ford Motor Company announced its long-rumored plan to buy the abandoned Michigan Central Station and restore it as hub for its future mobility ventures. The news quickly created a sense of awe across metro Detroit.

 

For decades, the dilapidated presence of the once majestic train station stung residents as an ominous reminder of widespread neglect. The 18-story building towers over Michigan Avenue, and while it made for a lucrative set piece on the film Batman v Superman, it represents a deep, complex wound. It is a physical reminder of what the city was, and what it many thought it would never be again.

 

It’s a punchline, a romanticized and ruined tourist destination, and a divisive, unavoidable barrier between the Southwest and Corktown neighborhoods. But all that may soon change.

 

Video

 

SNIP

 

 

 

 

More here w/ additional photos.

[CNJRoss]

The Detroit (MI) News, 6/29/18:
 

Documentary on Detroit train station premieres Sunday

 

 

If Detroit is America's comeback city, Michigan Central Depot is arguably its most prominent symbol of the boom, bust and rebirth of the Motor City.

 

The documentary "Detroit: Comeback City" debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday on the History channel. It tries to explain how much the long-blighted building means to a changing city that once housed nearly 2 million people, and to Ford Motor Co., the company that plans to revitalize the station that hasn't been used in decades.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Guest BLOG in Crain's Detroit Business, 7/1/18:

 

 

 

Bring Amtrak back to Michigan Central Station

 

 

 

 

When Bill Ford laid out his vision for the Michigan Central Station, he held up the ferry terminal in San Francisco as a model:

 

"The one that really caught my eye was the ferry terminal in San Francisco," Ford said. "It's a working ferry terminal, but it's a meeting spot for everybody in that area. So people meet for coffee, they meet for lunch. They have some really fun and interesting retail experiences. It's just buzzing with activity and buzzing with life. And I love that."

 

Blog

[CNJRoss]

Detroit Free Press, 1/10/19:
 

Ford to host 10-day winter festival at Detroit train station

 

 

It all started with a Detroit thief who wanted to return a valuable stolen clock to the Michigan Central Station after the depot's high-profile sale last year to Ford Motor Co.

 

Now that famous clock and other "found" antique objects will be displayed in conjunction with public days of the Detroit auto show. No ticket required.

 

Michigan Central Station Winter Festival will run for 10 evenings at the train station in Corktown, beginning on Friday, Jan. 18. The event will include a 3D light show on the building, fire pits with s'mores, artist demonstrations, food trucks and live music, said Dawn Booker, Ford Land spokeswoman.

 

The stolen clock returned in mid-June, after Ford acquired the abandoned train station for $90 million, attracted curiosity seekers from around the world. More goodies have been added to the Ford collection, including elevator buttons, elevator lights and brass fittings from stairwells for an exhibition curated by the Detroit Historical Society.

Cast iron railing toppers have been returned to Michigan Central Station. (Photo: Ford Motor Company)

 

Continue here w/video discussing using modern technology (3D printing) to facilitate restoration.

[CNJRoss]

The New York Times, 1/21/20

Detroit’s Revival Is Anchored in Its Train Station

 

Ford Motor is transforming the long-vacant Michigan Central Station, part of the city’s overall resurgence.

 

 

The long-vacant Michigan Central Station will be the main building in Ford’s planned innovation district.Credit...Alexandre Da Veiga for The New York Times

 

 

DETROIT — Detroit’s former main train station, designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the same architects who created Grand Central Terminal in New York, has tall columns and vaulted ceilings that hint at its past glory.

 

Yet much of the station is now crumbling, covered in rainbow graffiti and weathered by decades of rain and snow that seeped in through the deteriorating roof.

 

“Michigan Central Station has long been a symbol of Detroit’s vibrancy, and then it became an international symbol of decline,” said Detroit’s mayor, Mike Duggan.

 

Now the long-vacant station is getting a new life, thanks to the Ford Motor Company, which will transform the depot as well as an adjacent book depository, brass factory and hosiery factory into a 1.2 million-square-foot transportation innovation district.

The new development will house Ford’s autonomous vehicle division, among other units.  .  .  .

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Detroit, MI Free Press, 8/5/20:

 

   Detroit train station renovation still moving ahead in pandemic: Where it stands 

 

 

 

Ford Motor Co. intends to keep its promise to rebuild the iconic Michigan Central Station despite the pandemic that has led to billions in losses over the past six months, the Free Press has confirmed.

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

mlive.com  11/19/20:

 

   How Ford plans to transform iconic Detroit train station into innovative 30-acre campus    

 

 

 

Ford Motor Company has unveiled new details about its plans to develop the area around the former Michigan Central Station in Detroit into a walkable 30-acre campus.

 

Story