The Michigan Central Station, after sitting vacant for decades and held hostage by a billionaire’s greed, has almost reached its opening day.
Towering over the northwest end of Corktown and overlooking an expansive park planted with beautiful flowers that links it to Michigan Avenue and downtown, the station replaced a smaller depot deeper in the city.
The massive renovation by Ford Motor Company will also incorporate other buildings, such as the Book Depository, seen below.
The massive office tower looms over the terminal’s grand hall below.
Construction continues on a portion of the steel shed below.
The grand hall is based, like so many train stations around the United States, off the Baths of Caracalla.
The train station portion was designed by Charles A. Reed and Allen Stem, while the tower was the work of Whitney Warren and Charles D. Wetmore. The four architects also designed Grand Central Station.
What I like most about the renovation is the patina left behind, particularly on the grand hall–there is no attempt to make the building look brand new.
The trials and tribulations of the station’s years of exposure to dirty coal dust and decades of abandonment have been left behind. This is a structure with history.
The broken entablature bridged by pediments filled with elaborate cartouches are a nice touch.
Large foliated swags hang between the elaborate composite columns.
Nearby, buildings that line the park are also seeing redevelopment.
While further away, a church awaits renovation.
