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A transportation hub is all about connections. And the official kickoff of the public celebration of Ford Motor Co.’s purchase of Michigan Central Station, and its plans to renovate it for the company’s 21st century focus on mobility and electric vehicles, didn’t stint on the message.
Big Sean closes the show Tuesday. (Photos by Nancy Derringer)
The station purchase, speaker after speaker emphasized Tuesday, is of a piece with Ford’s long history in the city, from its founding through today, hitting talking points the company’s own PR has emphasized – its history of innovation, commitment to Detroit and southeast Michigan, and a push to move forward into an era when cars will be very different than they are today.
Executive Chairman Bill Ford set the tone, starting with his ancestors who fled Ireland’s potato famine, and his great-grandfather Henry, whose invention transformed the world – in how people moved around, in how goods were manufactured, and in his simple idea to pay his workers enough that they could easily rise to the middle class.
Ford told the crowd that investing in mobility – briefly, the idea that our future transportation solutions, especially in urban areas, will not be based on the one car/one driver model of today – is part of that tradition.
'More hopeful about this city'
“This industry is going through some big changes,” he said. “We have to reimagine what we will be.” But with a growing world population increasingly living in cities, a new model is necessary.
“Mobility makes freedom possible,” he said.
“Today I am more hopeful about this city than I have been in a long time,” Ford said. “Detroit is open for business for good.”
Projectors display optimism above the lobby.
Neither Ford nor any other speaker discussed a budget for the project or a timeline for completion, although the company has estimated it will be renovating the building for at least two years before any employees move into their new offices.
Young Detroit entrepreneurs and innovators sat on stage as VIPs ranging from Gov. Rick Snyder to Mayor Mike Duggan to Ford CEO Jim Hackett praised them, and their host, as the seeds of a new era in the once-beleaguered city. The company plans to make space available in and around its new Corktown campus for startups and similar business incubation.
Duggan brought up April 7, 2009, when the Detroit City Council issued an order for the station’s immediate demolition, which, he said, touched off a wave of international press declaring the station to be a metaphor for the city, with a clear message: “Detroit is dead.” Catching the celebratory mood, Duggan called for an end to city/suburb tensions.
“When Detroit recovers, it’s good for everyone in southeast Michigan,” he said to applause.
A Detroit-theme playlist warmed up the crowd, many of them curious about the building they had never seen from the inside.
'It's exciting'
“We’ve been driving past this place for years,” said Kristy Hudson, who came in from Ferndale with her husband, Dave, to watch the event. “It’s exciting to be part of Detroit’s history.”
The Hudsons were standing in line for the better part of an hour. The Corktown Community Celebration, as the event was called, was free, but required pre-registration for crowd-size control. And it quickly reached the 5,000 limit, many of whom arrived early to get the best vantage points in the standing-room-only crowd. Most were like the Hudsons, or Mike Mulroy, a Wayne resident who retired after 40 years with the company and described the vast restoration job ahead as “heartwarming.”
“I have no memories of it,” he said. “But I’m so glad it’s going to be saved.”
The ceiling is long gone from this part of the 104-year-old landmark.
By the time Big Sean wrapped things up with hip-hop, not Motown, it was clear this event was about the future, not the usual Detroit nostalgia for its bygone glory. But there was time for a little of that, as the crowd was permitted to walk through the station, which will also be open to the public this weekend. The Detroit Historical Society erected poster-size photos of the interior of the station as close as possible to the original vantage point, inviting visitors to contrast the graffiti-scarred present with its glorious past, and presumably its future.
The top floor is also open, permitting views of Corktown, Southwest Detroit, the river and the modern freeways that eventually crippled most passenger train service in the U.S. Guests took selfies with the Ambassador Bridge in the distance, a reminder of the Moroun family, the last owners of the station, who sat on it for years as it deteriorated. Both Ford and Duggan singled out Matthew Moroun for being willing to part with it, but the day belonged to the new owners, not the old ones.
The happiest day he’d had in a long time, Duggan said, was this past Christmas Eve, when Moroun called to tell him the bridge company had decided to sell to Ford.
Related coverage today:
7 Moments of Mirth on a Historic Day for Detroit and its Rail Depot
