Probably Detroit’s most famous abandoned structure, Michigan Central Station opened in December of 1913 in Detroit’s oldest neighborhood, Corktown. The station was truly one of the most beautiful buildings in Detroit, and one of the most beautiful train stations in the world. The main floor of the building held a waiting room, restaurant, and bathing quarters for passengers to freshen up in. The office tower served as a headquarters for the rails business functions. Michigan Central Station was a bustling station through the 30’s and 40’s, but there were signs of decay looming. With the rise of the automobile trains became more and more obsolete for travel purposes, leading the New York Central System to attempt selling the building in 1956. There were no takers due to the high price tag, and the station hobbled along. The beautiful waiting room was closed in 1967, and many of the small shops on the main floor began to disappear due to a lack of customers. By 1971 the old owners had gone bankrupt, and with the creation of Amtrak the building had a new owner. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, which will become important later. In 1985 the station was sold to a New York based corporation. In 1988, the last train rolled out of the station, heading to Chicago. The building was purchased by a real estate developer in 1989 who wanted to turn the building into a casino, but casinos were not allowed in Detroit until 1996, so the plan never went through. Throughout the duration of the 1990s Michigan Central Station was open—not literally, but figuratively speaking you could just walk right inside. Everything of value was stolen from the building. Windows were broken, graffiti was sprayed on the walls, and pieces of the building were smashed to pieces. In 1995 the building was sold to Controlled Terminals Inc. and they have owned it since. The owner, Manuel Maroun, also owns the Ambassador Bridge and a trucking company. There have been a number of plans for the station, but none have come to fruition. Plans have included international trade and customs centers, a new police headquarters, a Homeland Security and Customs headquarters, and most recently, a jail. Due to these frequent but long shot plans, and because the station is on the National Register of Historic Places, the station has been saved from demolition. The city has been calling for the demolition of the station since the 1990s. It was announced in 2015 that the station would get completely new windows, a move that many believed was only completed by Maroun to make the city happy, as he is currently trying to build another bridge to Canada directly next to the Ambassador. Whether you enjoy the look of these windows or not, they are a step in the right direction. A new roof would be nice, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I personally find Mr. Maroun to be a huge asshole, and believe he is holding onto the building as a sort of hostage to manipulate the city to give him the things he wants. After all, he is a billionaire, and the additions to the building he has made so far cannot have even put a dent in his pocket. The building is currently secured and the windows were finished in early 2016. It was truly strange seeing it complete with windows for the first time, but as stated above, it is definitely a move in the right direction.

http://historicdetroit.org/building/michigan-central-station/