Michigan Central Station, Detroit, MI
New photos from July 12, 2009 - Click Here!
2009-April-10 Breaking news. Detroit City Council is pushing to have the MCS demolished. Read about it here: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090407/FREE/904079979
The Michigan Central Station is an abandoned Train Station in Detroit on Michigan Street, a couple of blocks down from the old Tiger Stadium. The station was first opened in 1913, and abandoned in 1987. The MCS is an 18 story landmark that had fallen into ruin, but in it's day, it was one of the grandest buildings around. The building featured very ornate architecture. Over time though, and through years of sitting unused, vandalism has taken a toll on the building. Only a small fraction of the original marble is still visible on the wall. Most of it has been broken off and lays shattered on the floor. What is still remaining on the wall is heavily covered in graffetti.
I've been to the Michigan Central Station taking photos three times. The first time that I went was in March of 2001. The day that we went to look around the building was also the day that they were putting up a new fence. Prior to them putting up that fence, it was rumored that you could just walk right in. We took some photos of the exterior that day, but didn't go in.
In August of 2003, I finally entered the building. There was an area of the fence that the razor wire was pressed down, so I hopped the fence there. I completely shredded my pants, and also cut up my hand a little, but it was worth it. I finally got inside the building and took some great pictures. Looking closely at the pictures that I took and comparing them to other peoples photos that are available online, it does look like there has been some clean-up work done in the building.
The most recent visit was in July of 2009. While we were visiting, we also encountered two other groups of people exploring the building. I took many photos on this visit, often of the same material from the 2003 visit. You can compare the photos and see that there have been many changes in the building in the past six years. I may work on creating a 2003 vs 2009 page that will illustrate these differences if I have time.
The latest news that I've heard is that there is talk of demolishing the building again, you can refer to the link at the top of this page for a news article detailing this.
Photos July 12 2009
Photos August 2003
Photos March 2001 (Exterior only)
njp -- 12 September 2003
Last Updated: 18 July 2009
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