Saving Michigan Central Station

[CFABDETROIT]

I think this building needs to be saved, whats your opinion?

[d.mcc]

i think this building needs to be saved, whats your opinion?

tear that schitt down!

[daddeeo]

Why?
What are you going to use it for?
Who has the money to pour into it these days
anyways?
I'd love to save it but I'm afraid it's too far gone.It's like a person with advanced cancer. You know it's just a matter of time before you have to let them go.

[CFABDETROIT]

I was thinking a combination of apartments, office space and maybe a hotel could be placed into it. And Matty Moroun who owns the building could do it.
Even if it's just for the movies that will be shot there it's worth keeping it.

[gravitymachine]

this has never been discussed. ever

[CFABDETROIT]

And what’s with Mayor Cockrel's "EMERGNCY DEMOLISHION" It's been there just sitting for over 20 years and now all of a sudden it’s an emergency???

[Maxine1958]

this has never been discussed. ever

Gave me my laugh of the day. Too funny.

[Flanders]

Turn it into a giant mausoleum with funerals performed where people waited for trains, there could be a restaurant and rooms added for church services, each floor could be designated by faith and denomination, ie Methodist, Baptist, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, ect...

The MCS looks like a giant tombstone anyway, might as well make it into one, there could be many ex-Detroiters who would not mind being interred permanently in their birth city. The grounds around the MCS could also become graveyards for those who prefer being 6 feet under, and a crematory or crematories could also be constructed in the basement levels of the MCS.

[CFABDETROIT]

[quote=
The MCS looks like a giant tombstone anyway, might as well make it into one, there could be many ex-Detroiters who would not mind being interred permanently in their birth city. The grounds around the MCS could also become graveyards for those who prefer being 6 feet under, and a crematory or crematories could also be constructed in the basement levels of the MCS.[/quote]

Wow Roosevelt park cemetery????? I'm not so sure about that one lol

[Flanders]

Wow Roosevelt park cemetery????? I'm not so sure about that one lol

When I worked at the MCS in the 70s, I never saw many people in that park anyway, who uses it now? Hookers?

[CFABDETROIT]

When I worked at the MCS in the 70s, I never saw many people in that park anyway, who uses it now? Hookers?

That doesn’t mean it can’t be converted into something useable

[d.mcc]

That doesn’t mean it can’t be converted into something useable

If there are hookers...then its a place of business...Detroit should protect it...

[Toolbox]

When I worked at the MCS in the 70s, I never saw many people in that park anyway, who uses it now? Hookers?

Now that it is warm it will turn into the Roosevelt Park Campground.

[detmich]

Now that it is warm it will turn into the Roosevelt Park Campground.

Cross post to a Sure Signs of Spring.

Tell Manny he can have his second bridge, with [[among others) the condition that he rehab the structure completely-ground floor retail and the rest apartments. The view would be awesome as there aren`t any big buildings in the direct vicinity,or are there?

Fantastic idea, and well thought out. But aren't all the hookers and dealers already providing ground floor retail?

[Detroitnerd]

I think buildings in the 1910s were ridiculously over-engineered. That's why they often cost so much to tear down. As long as the building is secured, it can probably take another 10 years easy. [[My non-scientific opinion, of course.)

[bobby wobby]

Michigan Central Station needs to be torn down ,Sure its a beautiful old building I was there on its last day .Since then its deteriorated badly. The Fire Department has reported over 200 hundred fires in there .Its been stripped beyond repair, They have sub basements full of water and crackers [[from civil defense years) and the rats are huge.Many Marone doesn't put a penny in it, and he has no one to buy it. Its an eye sore .tear it down and make Marone pay for it.

[Hans57]

Bobby, have been in recently?

Rats? What is their food source?

[CFABDETROIT]

I think it's the most beautiful building in Detroit and the history of it alone constitutes a rehab

[detmich]

I think it's the most beautiful building in Detroit and the history of it alone constitutes a rehab

What history? Really, what history? That it was never finished?

Nothing against saving the station, but what kind of argument is that?

[Hypestyles]

The mayor must confront Moroun directly, find a substantive redevelopment plan in 90 days, or it comes down! Period!
there must be an aggressive effort to demolish any and all vacant structures throughout the city--- i'm sick of all the blight that I see throughout the week-- this is devastating to the morale of a community to see decayed warehouses & factories right across the street.. the city must start levying fines against all absentee property owners who do not maintain these structures, have them demolished [[at their own expense) or sell them to someone with a real redevelopment plan.. There can be vast tracts of land reconsolidated for various uses- Reforesting, for one-- having a lot more greenspace in Detroit is desirable.. also for urban farming projects, large and smaller scale.. I want action now! not 5-10 years from now!

I feel that fines should be levied against owners of derelict structures who have not at least properly maintained their properties and they just let them sit and be eyesores; I'm weary of driving around downtown and major thoroughfares like grand river, gratiot, livernois, woodward, and seeing just totally abandoned storefronts, especially downtown, abandoned theaters, factories [[stroh's, GM), etc. even aside from the aesthetic negative, these places are prime spots for ne'er do wells to set up shop, criminal activity, maniacs who kidnap kids often take them to an abandoned home or building..

the owner of the old train station michigan central depot should be especially ashamed... all these buildings really need to be detonated and be done with it.. Detroit needs a mass purging of these dinosaur structures.. nostalgia only carries so far..

as far as open space goes & urban farming, I'm for it, as long as indigenous ownership is the priority; large tracts of land can actually be returned to nature entirely, I wouldn't mind the city having more [[clean and safe) public parks and forest preserves..

the schools, especially middle schools & high schools, should start placing an emphasis on earth sciences [[agriculture/soil science, botany, forestry, biology, evnrionmental science, etc.), also partner with colleges, have dedicated plots of land for the students to work on, during spring and summer, for credit [[college students can also teach high school/elementary youth).. Recruit experts in these fields to implement the projects..

I think that one reason that urban-minority students don't look as Seriously at diverse science fields is because they haven’t been exposed to any hands-on experience or it’s only a fleeting-one-time thing [[like a field trip); having a sustained ongoing curriculum dealing with hands-on sciences, this will help better educational standards for the city’s youth;

Also, if one is of a mind to look at this through the lens of the African-American experience in particular, farming based disciplines/skills have generationally atrophied in the decades since blacks and other minorities started coming northern, urban areas en masse; it would be great if these skills could be taught to new generations..

[Gistok]

What history? Really, what history? That it was never finished?

Nothing against saving the station, but what kind of argument is that?

The story that the station was never finished is an urban myth [[per some of the folks who used to work in the upper floors). Granted some of the upper floors were used for storage, but so what? It would make it easier to clean out.

The history of MCS is as has been described... our version of Ellis Island. Hundreds of thousands of folks first came to work and live in Michigan via the MCS. That was their first sight of Detroit.

During WWI, WWII and the Korean War many tens of thousands of Detroiters left Detroit from the MCS to go off to war... only the lucky ones returned via the same station. So for many it was the last placed that they ever saw their loved ones.

No history indeed...

[Linda from Detroit]

Although I know it isn't likely, I do hope that MCS is restored and able to be used again. My Polish ancestors came to Michigan through that station...and my cousins and husband left for Vietnam there too. In my opinion it is part of our history [[granted it's quite an eyesore now) and deserves to be saved as do many of the buildings in the city.