Michigan Central Depot upgrades???

**Fury13** · March-23-11, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Michigan Central Station

Michigan Central Station

Not "duh dee-poh"

Not Michigan Central Depot

It's Michigan Central Station

Michigan Central Station, OK?

Got it?

Michigan Central Station...

Actually, there IS a lot of old documentation referring to the building as Michigan Central Depot. Both names [[MCS and MCD) have been used for the structure over its lifetime.

**mcsdetroitfriend** · March-23-11, 10:45 PM

it was never officially named it was called, in various architectural journals, as a "station"

**Gistok** · March-23-11, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

a new roof and some new windows mean nothing-- either do a total renovation or tear it down, stop BS-ing... clowns..

And do what with the land?? Grow corn and sweet potatoes??

Not one of your better thought out posts.

IF it gets mothballed... and doesn't look like an eyesore any longer... then what's your beef??

Personally I don't give a rats ass if it gets mothballed for 50 years.... folks will come to visit, photograph it, and hopefully be kept out.

London's St. Pancras Station, a Victorian beauty has a majestic over the top Gothic style hotel called MIdland Grand Hotel [[with towers, turrets, and Victorian Gothic bric-a-brac... it closed in 1935 [[75 years ago!!)... and the entire station was nearly demolished in the 1960s... but folks decided it was one of the greatest Victorian treasures of London, and it was restored, and today handles tons of Chunnel train traffic between Britain and France.

When New York City demolished the magnificent Pennsylvania Station [[on the site of Madison Square Gardens today)... the NY Times lamented "we will probably be remembered more for what we have demolished, than what we have saved...".

If Matty wants to mothball it, and nothing more... more power to him....

**kenp** · March-24-11, 07:29 AM

"Facelift Planned for Detroit's Michigan Central Depot", was the headline on the Fox story. Nerd boy better get after them. They probably stole the name from this thread.
Any way I have heard it called both a station and a depot over the years.

**Gistok** · March-24-11, 09:36 AM

I hope the facelift includes a powerwash....

**mcsdetroitfriend** · March-24-11, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

I hope the facelift includes a powerwash....

They've done that a couple times over the years, inside and out

**Eric_c** · March-24-11, 01:21 PM

Re: the name...back when it was operating, many railroad employees called it a 'terminal'; ala Michigan Central Terminal.

Whatevs. I call it the Looming Death Box.

**DetroitHabitater** · March-24-11, 01:24 PM

As much as I'd like to see historic monitor his building choices, I doubt matty has ever pulled a permit in his life. Remember when Dan was cuffed? Demolition started immediately at the bridge company.....nobody gets a demo permit that fast.

**esp1986** · March-24-11, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by DetroitHabitater

As much as I'd like to see historic monitor his building choices, I doubt matty has ever pulled a permit in his life. Remember when Dan was cuffed? Demolition started immediately at the bridge company.....nobody gets a demo permit that fast.

Demo permit? He probably didn't have a construction permit in the first place.

**1KielsonDrive** · March-25-11, 12:13 AM

Originally Posted by GUSHI

3. The bridge, he wants support for the bridge, just another game being played.

Correct......

**1KielsonDrive** · March-25-11, 12:15 AM

Originally Posted by GUSHI

So you think Bing can force a Billionaire to do something he doesn't wanna do, bs

In our country, can any billionaire be forced to do something he/she doesn't wanna do?

**1KielsonDrive** · March-25-11, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by esp1986

city council called a vote a couple years ago to tear it down and there's nothing saying they won't do it again.

And again, and again, and again......

**1KielsonDrive** · March-25-11, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

The exact same thing could have been said for the Book Cadillac and Fort Shelby... both with flooded basements, and both considered useless by many... and look where they are today....

Not every building in Detroit needs to have a date with the wrecking ball...

If the building were demolished it would render Roosevelt Park just another neighborhood park... rather than one with a majestic backdrop.

When this building was built in 1913, it was built as structural overkill... mothballed, it's so sturdy, it would last another century. If it were mothballed AND secured... it would not negatively impact the neighborhood.

Very good points. I think what happens though is some people become so tired of all the bullshit that goes along with these structures and the city's manhandling of them, it becomes overload, they become frustrated and the easiest way to deal with it is to say, "tear that shit down", in the infamous words of a poster here at DY.

**Gistok** · March-25-11, 12:23 AM

Well since the folks in Windsor are super hell bent against a "twin" bridge at the Ambassador site... it is doubtful that whatever he does to clean up the MCS will have an impact on their opposition.

So I say let him do it... just to make the Detroit side look better... for whatever ulterior reason... it won't make a difference to his most vocal critics.

**1KielsonDrive** · March-25-11, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

And do what with the land?? Grow corn and sweet potatoes??

Not one of your better thought out posts.

IF it gets mothballed... and doesn't look like an eyesore any longer... then what's your beef??

Personally I don't give a rats ass if it gets mothballed for 50 years.... folks will come to visit, photograph it, and hopefully be kept out.

London's St. Pancras Station, a Victorian beauty has a majestic over the top Gothic style hotel called MIdland Grand Hotel [[with towers, turrets, and Victorian Gothic bric-a-brac... it closed in 1935 [[75 years ago!!)... and the entire station was nearly demolished in the 1960s... but folks decided it was one of the greatest Victorian treasures of London, and it was restored, and today handles tons of Chunnel train traffic between Britain and France.

When New York City demolished the magnificent Pennsylvania Station [[on the site of Madison Square Gardens today)... the NY Times lamented "we will probably be remembered more for what we have demolished, than what we have saved...".

If Matty wants to mothball it, and nothing more... more power to him....

It has to be one of the biggest tourist draws in the entire metro area. And maybe the biggest abandoned structure tourist draw in the entire country?

**Gistok** · March-25-11, 12:32 AM

1KielsonDrive... we don't really know how many "architectural tourists" that visit the MCS, since there's no way to keep track of a count. But if the number of follks who come to town to see the remains of the former Michigan Theatre [[America's greatest indoor ruin) is any indication... it's a lot more than folks on this forum realize. Archtectural professors from as far away as Montreal bring their classes here to see these places....

**Novine** · March-25-11, 05:53 AM

Today's coverage:

http://detnews.com/article/20110325/...-get-spruce-up

NorthEndere · March-25-11, 06:33 AM

I'm not sure how putting windows on the thing this far gone will do anything. If you're going to put in windows, don't you have to have something to anchor them to? Won't the facade has to be completely refurbished to even make the installation of windows possible? They'd be better boarding it up if they are going to half-ass a stablization of the property. Hell, this is quarter-assing it, really.

**socks_mahoney** · March-25-11, 12:10 PM

I'll believe it when I see it.

**1KielsonDrive** · March-25-11, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

1KielsonDrive... we don't really know how many "architectural tourists" that visit the MCS, since there's no way to keep track of a count. But if the number of follks who come to town to see the remains of the former Michigan Theatre [[America's greatest indoor ruin) is any indication... it's a lot more than folks on this forum realize. Archtectural professors from as far away as Montreal bring their classes here to see these places....

I wasn't professing any hard scientific numbers or polls as to how many tourists come here to see anything. If you have any conversations at all with the general public, as I do, visitors and transplants to Detroit, you will easily get a sense that my comment is accurate if not right on the money. Just yesterday I was talking with some young people who moved here after college and after visiting to see: #1. Train Station. #2. Theatre. #3. Heidelberg. #4. Packard. #5. Book Tower [[more recent abandonment, hopefully not to become a ruin).............etc, etc. These conversations are repeated on a daily basis, literally.

**raptor56** · March-25-11, 02:23 PM

you can put lipstick on a pig it's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink

**Detroitnerd** · March-25-11, 02:52 PM

Michigan Central Depot was down around Fort and Third.

**Gistok** · March-25-11, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by raptor56

you can put lipstick on a pig it's still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it's still going to stink

The ruined Alamo is a pig.... the Flavian Amphitheatre [[Colloseum) is a pig)... the Nazi's unfinsihed Congress Hall in the outskirts of Nuremberg is a pig... the ruined Heidelberg Castle is a pig... it's just that people like to visit them.

If they were going to replace it with a soybean field... no one would come...

One man's pig is another man's treasure...

**milt721** · March-25-11, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Well since the folks in Windsor are super hell bent against a "twin" bridge at the Ambassador site... it is doubtful that whatever he does to clean up the MCS will have an impact on their opposition.

So I say let him do it... just to make the Detroit side look better... for whatever ulterior reason... it won't make a difference to his most vocal critics.

Ya, Matty is also doing a great job of cleaning up the Windsor side. Take a ride down Indian Road to see the progress:
http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&l...158.85,,0,6.15