Michigan Central Station

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Designed by the famous architects that also designed the Grand Central Station in New York City, Michigan Central Station opened Dec 26, 1913. The station was to be officially dedicated Jan 4, 1914, but a fire that demolished the last station, the Michigan Central Railroad Depot on Third Street and Jefferson Avenue, pushed Michigan Central Station into service early to avoid a disturbance of service.

Besides the arcade and waiting room, the station had a restaurant with rounded ceilings, a main hall with copper skylights, and a lunch counter.

Since the Michigan Central Station was being used less often, an initiative to sell the station in 1956 failed, as did another initiative in 1963. A decision was taken in 1967 to close the main waiting room entrance. Soon later, the restaurant and the businesses in the arcade closed. In 1975, the main waiting room entrance was reopened and three years later renovation started that replaced track, cleaned the building and added a bus terminal. Recognized at the time as Penn Central Station, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1975.

The building was traded in 1984 to make a transportation center that never happened. City building inspectors have suggested that it should be destroyed since at least 1994, but such pressures stopped in 2001 after its owner said it would be reconstructed, designing to turn it into an international trade and customs center. That naturally, never happened. Michigan Central Station’s owner, Matty Maroun has said that until there is a renter and a deal found to modernize the property, he will not spend any significant money.

In January 2005, the station was appeared as a cameo in a futuristic film titled “The Island.” Its director, Michael Bay, also gave Michigan Central Station a major role in the climatic ultimate battle of his movie “Transformers.”