Petition to save Michigan Central Station
April 17th, 2009
On the 15th of April, I put up a petition to present to the City Council of Detroit, concerning their decision to tear down the Michigan Central Depot.
I put out the word to friends and collegues. I also emailed Stanley Christmas about the site and he seemed overyjoyed by the support.
The fact is…sigh… it’s not getting signed. The petition is one of only a few things I can do from Wisconsin.
Please find a couple of minutes and lend your signature to the petition. It might not make any difference, but what if it did 
Click to sign: Save Michigan Central Station Petition
It is not a ruin. It’s a beautiful building that represents the history of the city and a nation. How come great cities like Chicago, New York, and Boston can see the magnitude of importance historic buildings posses but Detroit keeps destroying everything in order to make another lot of crumbling pavement. We cannot keep doing this!!
save the building!!!
save the building!
save the building!!!
Being a railbuff and advocate for rail transportation in this country, I would love to see this building not only preserved but put in use. The only question I have is: What investors as you mention are interested? To date the building sits with no renovations. In the past, several interested parties didn’t materialize. I fully agree with Shane Gorski’s comments above. As far as Detroit’s City Council is concerned, headed by Monica Conyers, anything she does doesn’t make any sense. She needs to go and hopefully the voters later this year will make this happen! Their decision is another failed opportunity to make Detroit a viable place to visit.
Save the building
What a shame as we in Boston still have our beautiful South Station. I think Amtrak only left the MCS back in 88. Now that Obama is hip on funding transport Im suprised that Michigan isnt using it as a hub for regional high speed transport to Chicago and Milwaukee with stops at the airport, commuter rail, etc… Hopefully they will see the light and not let the MCS go the way of the old Penn Station in NYC.
As a voluntary consultant for railways in Latin America I’m also closely observing how things are going on in the United States. Detroits MCD could be a marvelous place and became an important role in Detroit. Just in a time when Detroit is suffering such a lot from the declining auto industry it is a MUST to preserve all what is still existing and to rehabilitate it. Rehabilitating of this station as a main passenger terminal for the city will create hundrets of jobs. The station has good road access for connecting road services, it may host Amtrak trains. Why not reinstate the through train Chicago-Toronto through the tunnel? Suburban services to the West, South and North would greatly help to revive the entire Greater Detroit area. High Speed may be good for some long-distance services, but conventional trains covering short and medium distances to up to 200 miles would complete an efficient transportation network, with connecting road services. The station itself may host not only the railways. Why not also a hotel, shops, medical services, a post office, restaurants, perhaps some other offices. Nothing better than to have a shopping mall with immediate train connection.
Detroit MUST avoid to make the mistakes so many cities did in the past and abandon their existing railway heritage. Remake it from zero in the future will be unpayable – and the future with few or no cars is closer than you all imagine. Even the biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabia, is now building a lot of railways because their oil production will be very, very limited from 2013 on, with no more exports! The USA wants to be free from the necesity to import oil, but it is also very limited within the US borders, so it is “5 minutes prior noon” to change the transport policy and the mind!
Just file to have it placed on the National Register and that will stop all destruction until something can be done with it. Where is the historical society in Detroit at in this?
On April 16, 1975, the Depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
I just finished looking at Joe Braun’s photos of the station. $3.6 million to demolish it – it would take many, many more times that to refurbish it to a semblance of its past glory. I don’t know if even a casino complex has pockets that deep. I don’t know Detroit at all, is there any possibility that reviving the station would be a worth-while project and stimulus for revitalization of the downtown core? I recall the Detroit PD might have been interested in using it as headquarters before but dropped the idea.
Hate to rain on your parade but probably the best would be to collect as many photos, plans, remeninces as well as Joe’s excellent photography and compile a book about the station.
Hi: A country is judged by the buildings it tears down. Remember Penn Station?
My grandfather left Western NY to homestead (sod shanty & Commanches) in W. Kansas at 18 +. He got lonesome for a very attractive young lady, came back to W. NY, married her and went to work for the MC. The MC was acquired by the NYC from which he retired as Conductor 20th Century Limited 2nd run, 2nd section if I recall correctly. A lot of nostalgia when I drive thru Detroit and see that grand old building. Glad to see a rising to the occassion and trying to save it.
Must. Save. Station.
http://onlyndetroit.com/html/decay/ond-0016-all_abord.htm
Save the building!, renovate it. Turn it into a shopping centre, entertainment complex, condominiums, or another casino. How about a grocery store? There’s nowhere to shop in Detroit.
We at the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation in Buffalo NY are behind you folks 100% with saving MCS! Twelve years ago our founding members faced a similar battle to save Buffalo Central Terminal from a similar fate, and we are now trying to bring BCT to the forefront of attention to those involved in the proposed high speed rail corridor from Buffalo to New York City, as THE place for the high speed rail terminal in western NY. There really is no other facility in Buffalo that would be viable for such a venture. Please visit our website:
http://buffalocentralterminal.org
to learn more about us, and how BCT is doing today!
Well, i just sent out a email to everyone i know with a link to the petition, hopefully we can save this beautifull building!!!
Clearly this, as well as the present state of Detroit, is what happens when African Americans are given the keys to the city. I’m black and proud but I’ve never been proud of what my people can do when left to their own devices. If Detroit were predominately white, or at the very least, run by white people, the city landscape would look quite different. Black people need to wake up, bring some pride of self, pride of city and make change happen. At some point, we have to stop blaming “the man,” slavery, and any other excuse we all seem to have for our place in society. This building should serve as a beautiful reminder of all that was good in Detroit before my people brought it down to its present state.
Please help save the station tomorrow. This may be the last chance for this magnificent ediface. Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers for MCS. Thank you.
I am writing this from the United Kingdom and I have to say that I am in awe of the historic buildings that are rich in history. When I saw the Michigan Central Station and the dilapidation that has ensued over the years, my jaw dropped. Here in the UK there would be uproar at this level of dereliction at such an important landmark. That’s not to say there aren’t any crumbling buildings here, but the National Trust would not even entertain the idea of pulling a building down if it was a “Listed” building.
Lack of investment in the Detroit area is clear and its going to take billions of dollars to get this city to a world class status. If you erase the past then achieving that goal will be even harder.
If this building was in Europe it would be given the place and prominence it deserves. I accept the dynamics of the US are completely different, and it appears the station is away from the downtown area (I could be wrong) so its demise in a sense can be understood.
I am in awe of this landmark from the pictures ive seen and its heartening to know that there are passionate people in your country who want to save it. I would love to come and see it in person one day, but until then I will be eagerly following its story of what becomes of it.
I hope it can be brought back to its former glory. What could be better than that?
Best wishes from the United Kingdom
Asif
Detroit,
Don’t destroy the iconic structures of your golden years. You will come back. Rome didn’t demolish the collisseum when it when through some tough years.
That train station is spectacular.
Please save this building. It has so much potential. My mother worked there on the 7th floor for 17 years. From the pictures from back then it was the place to work!
Detroit City Council and Residents,
This is a beautiful and important building and we DO NOT want to see it neither demolished nor left in ruins. We feel it is MUCH more beautiful than New York’s Grand Central Station or DC’s Union Station. Restoring this Detroit GEM can employ thousands of jobless people in Michigan and other parts of the country. It can be bring much needed revenue to Detroit and to the state of Michigan. We need to keep this building standing as it would be another MISTAKE to tear it down! Please us the stimulus money to create jobs and restore a beautiful Detroit historical monument!
Respectfully yours,
Birmingham, Michigan USA, Resident
Detroit City Council and Residents,
SAVE THIS BUILDING PLEASE!
Saving Detroit may include Charity Search Engines: goodsearch.com & isearchigive.com and Fundraising Websites: fundraising-solutions.org & YellowBrickMall.com