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| Thank you, HistoricDetroit.org for the photography |
How a stunning $1 billion building restoration may signal Detroit’s comeback as a new cultural and tech hub that they hope will support the city’s future.
Hats off to the Ford Motor Company for purchasing the abandoned 1913 Detroit Central Station for $90 million then investing more than $900 million in the railroad station’s restoration.
A decades long symbol of Detroit’s decline, the train depot is now a beacon to light the way for the Motor City’s nascent revitalization.
No other building symbolizes the past, present and future of Detroit more than Michigan Central Station. When this soaring Beaux-Arts building opened in 1913, it was the tallest train station in the world for a time and Detroit was prospering. The station’s opening coincided with the peak of rail travel in America, and with Detroit’s rise as a global leader in industry and innovation.
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| A symbol of Detroit's new dawn |
At its busiest, the station handled 200 trains and 4,000 customers daily. As Detroit’s economy slowed, so did the traffic coming in and out of Michigan Central Station.
The final train departed in 1988 and it sat abandoned until Ford became the new owner in 2018.
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| 2018 Before and after 2024 |
Ford, with its city and historical partners, have set their sights on mimicking the restorative success of Kansas City’s train station revival. The KC station has become a center of activity in boasting tourism, tech/business, cultural events and dining experiences.
Just as San Diego turned a shabby section of its downtown area into a vibrant, thriving commercial, tourist and residential expansion with the arrival of Petco Park, Detroit is now revving its economic engine to revitalize the communities surrounding its magnificent redux into a myriad of possibilities with tech leading the way.
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