Tours give public first access to Michigan Central Station since its renovation

The first members of the public will see the restored Michigan Central Station on Friday afternoon.

About 60,000 people claimed free tickets for 10 days of public tours of the depot built in 1913, which closed in 1988 and has undergone a six-year renovation as part of a nearly $1 billion investment Ford Motor Co. is investing in. doing in Corktown to create a 30-acre Advanced Mobility Technology Center. It is the first time the public has had the opportunity to visit the repaired station.

Tours give public first access to Michigan Central Station since its renovation

Ford CEO Bill Ford envisions the station, with Roosevelt Park sprawling before it and a future greenway connected to the south, to be a hub of activity for the community and an anchor for the innovation campus with new ideas emerging. of the occupants of its 18- story tower. However, we are not there yet.

Work on the station will continue through the summer to prepare space for retail shops, restaurants, art installations and tower tenants, but the public will be able to access the main floor on Friday nights and Saturdays from June 21 through August without appointment.

For now, tour visitors can experience a 15-foot by 15-foot cubic LED installation that tells the history and vision of Michigan Central Station in the former women’s waiting room, a 1,000-foot sculptural timeline in the Great Hall, artificial intelligence… Interactive and the archive were enabled with photographs of the restoration, artifacts, posters and other souvenirs. Additionally, visitors can hear the voices of people telling their memories of the station in a portrait gallery and then contribute their own stories and hopes in the historical reading room, recordings of which are preserved in a time capsule.

A children’s area also includes a Central Michigan sign to color, a space scavenger hunt and a Lego model of the warehouse.

Photos of what the spaces looked like before the renovations help illustrate the dramatic change. The artificial false ceilings, broken tiles and graffitied walls have almost disappeared, although moments of that empty chapter remain in a hallway, a corner or signs of deterioration on a column. Now, the former restaurant’s hidden arches have been revealed, the ancient ticket office clock has been recreated and the Great Hall’s Guastavino ceiling has been restored. Visitors can download an app to take a narrated tour.

Guests do not have access to the building’s tower, which once housed offices for railroad workers. Most flats have white boxes in readiness for tenants. Alphabet Inc.’s Google Code Next program will be its first occupant this month with a lab to teach computer science to high school students.

During the first year, 1,000 Ford employees working in its Model E electric vehicle division and in its software services team will move into three floors of the building, starting in the third quarter. By 2028, the automaker will have 2,500 employees working in the building and another 2,500 are expected to come from startups, suppliers and other campus partners.

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