Day Fifty Four

When I went to Detroit, the main reason was because of this building shown below.  I had seen pictures taken by other photographers and was completely amazed and intrigued.  How could such a big, beautiful building, end up in such a state?

This building is known as the Michigan Central Station. It was completed, and began operation, in 1913, where it served as a train station for the Detroit area, and was the tallest train station in the world.  During it's hey day, up to 4000 passengers boarded here on a daily basis.  Some of those passengers include Presidents Hoover, Truman, and Roosevelt.  Other noted passengers included Thomas Edison and Charlie Chaplin.

Most of the building closed in 1967, excluding a couple of ticket windows, as rail service began to dwindle.  When Amtrak took over passenger rail service in 1971, parts of the building were reopened, but in 1984 the building was sold, and four years later in 1988 the building was closed for good.

Several efforts have been made to try and renovate the building, and in 1996, it was sold to the owner of the Ambassador Bridge which connects Detroit to Windsor, Canada.  There have been many different ideas submitted on what to do with the building.  If you are interested, you can check it out here.

It has been featured in several movies including 8 Mile, The Island, Transformers, and Four Brothers.

In 1975 it was added to the National register of Historic Places.

This view here is from behind, where all the trains crossed and loaded.  Notice that not only is the building in a state of disrepair, but so is the overpass.  When we drove under the overpass, I was actually a little scared.  It was quite dark and filled with graffiti. 

Here is a view from the south side.  It almost looks as if the area to the right was a loading area, but with razor wire surrounding the entire building, there was no way for me to get much closer to have a better look.

Unfortunately, I did not have much time to stay in town, so I wasn't able to take the picture in better lighting.  This shot here is from the front of the station and also the best view of the building. 

If you click on any of the pictures, it will take you to a bigger picture where you can see a little more detail.