They're demolishing Michigan Central Depot- DAMMIT

Red_Rattler: Ok, Seriously, Stop. Your self appointed Auran Police position is making a few members quite irritated.

Otherwise, I hate to tell you guys, but this building, it's not worth saving. If Amtrak wanted anything more with the rail service, it would build an Amshack in its place. That's what happened to the Rochester NY Station. NYC Built a grand and massive station, only for Amcrap to section it out, and finally level the remains and build a crappy amshack where it use to stand. Sad fate it sure is, but we can't save it all. It'd be nice to save, but, like the rest of the railroad artifacts we wanted to save, its not plausible.
Sean
 
LVman said:
Red_Rattler: Ok, Seriously, Stop. Your self appointed Auran Police position is making a few members quite irritated.

Otherwise, I hate to tell you guys, but this building, it's not worth saving. If Amtrak wanted anything more with the rail service, it would build an Amshack in its place. That's what happened to the Rochester NY Station. NYC Built a grand and massive station, only for Amcrap to section it out, and finally level the remains and build a crappy amshack where it use to stand. Sad fate it sure is, but we can't save it all. It'd be nice to save, but, like the rest of the railroad artifacts we wanted to save, its not plausible.
Sean
Click to expand...


Amtrak actually has a very nice station in Detroit now by the way; very modern and new. However Detroit is only served by 6 trains a day and they all go to Chicago (or Pontiac). Now if Amtrak were to expand its service in MI then the bigger station may be better. That being said however the MCD I personally think is poorly located. The line that connects it is CN (or CP, can't remember) In one direction out of the station the line goes into the Tunnel to Windsor, ON. So all US bound trains must leave and come from the South (more south west). Which limits out trais heading north into michigan; which is what MDOT would want.

But I do think that the station should be saved. I'd love to see it turned into a hotel/mall place or residential.

peter
 
LVman said:
Red_Rattler: Ok, Seriously, Stop. Your self appointed Auran Police position is making a few members quite irritated.

Otherwise, I hate to tell you guys, but this building, it's not worth saving. If Amtrak wanted anything more with the rail service, it would build an Amshack in its place. That's what happened to the Rochester NY Station. NYC Built a grand and massive station, only for Amcrap to section it out, and finally level the remains and build a crappy amshack where it use to stand. Sad fate it sure is, but we can't save it all. It'd be nice to save, but, like the rest of the railroad artifacts we wanted to save, its not plausible.
Sean
Click to expand...

It may be a matter of Maintenance costs. As you can imagine, big buildings cost big bucks to maintain. The reason for the "Amshacks" is they are cheap to build, and cheap to maintain. Unless you can fill the Big Stations with office space, and other ways to bring in income, they are a money pit.

A group in Denver about 5-10 years ago wanted to Tear down Union Station and replace it with office buildings and Condo's, and bury the Rail station underground with a crappy little shack. Instead, RTD bought the station, and sold off the surrounding land. They also converted most of the station to Office Space, leaving the tunnel below the tracks, and the Main Hall open to the Public. So Denver's third Union station was saved, and now, with Fast-Tracks in Motion, it will become the HUB of Rail transportation in Colorado. So just a short time ago it was going to be demolished, but in the next 10 years, it will regain its status as the Center of Transportation in the Greater Denver Area, and if Amtrak expands service up to Wyoming and South to New Mexico, it will become the HUB for the entire front range, from New Mexico North to Wyoming, and beyond.

And slightly off topic, if the mod's see a problem, they will correct it. Feel free to report something to them if you think it should be corrected, but do not go around telling other people what to do unless you have that authority.
 
deeelare said:
LOL :wave: !


Landfill !
I reiterate , give the druggies , prostitutes , taggers 24 hours notice , and then " Fire in the hole " ! The rats will survive !

--- ,DLR
Click to expand...

Or lets not give them notice.:hehe: Just what we need more druggies, bag ladies, taggers etc.

Oh and BTW Red Rattler, you are not a moderator...I wonder why.
 
Cascade,
I'm not sure where you get your trillions to repair from, but that's more than a little of an exageration and the water and fire damage is repairable. I don't know how large the building is, but it appears to be between 400,000 and 500,000 square feet. Some quick estimates could be run, but I would estimate that a complete renovation would cost between 50 - 100 million. That's a long way from trillions.
I've looked at some of the pictures of the interior of the building and I see nothing that indicates that the building is structurally unsafe. Don't let the site of debris laying around everywhere be an indication of structural integrity. Of course, only an on-site inspection could make such a determination.
The real question here is our heritage. We Americans are a disposable society and think nothing of tearing something down and replacing with something new. I don't believe our friends in Europe or elsewhere around the world would be in favor of demolition of some of their ancient landmarks just because they're a little old. They're our history and we learn from history. Monuments such as old train stations should be embraced and restored whenever possible.
Our forefathers had this same attitude about steam locomotives and now, we cringe at the thought of another going to the scrap heap and rejoice when one is saved. It's just a matter of perspective. Doing things the right way is very seldom the easy way.

Just my 2 cents worth. Maybe it's 3 cents since buildings have been my career.
Mike
 
I couldn't agree more Mike.
You know what is really sad? The fact that people have no respect for a buildings history, they just tear it up like its nothing. I could never spray paint a beautiful marble wall or those grand pillars. Has no one any respect for beauty? An overpass support is one thing, the grandure of a building is another. I still firmly believe this building could be restored. I believed in the North Ward School which the city of Tuscola tore down, I believed in the York Institute, which the city of Jamestown & a hsitorical society are now restoring. I believe in the York Bible School, which I plan to restore in the near future. People should believe in MCS, it can be worth while. It is worth while.

Look through the photo's here, www.forgottendetroit.com

Woody:)
 
Yes, I know. I just completed restoration of an 85 year old building in Nashville. A lot of people wanted it torn down, but now that the work is finished, they couldn't be more proud of it. It turned out so well, that you'll be seeing the interior of it in some country music video's before long if you haven't already. We had to replace the plumbing system, HVAC and quite a bit of the electrical system on top of adding fire alarms and sprinklers. That's quite a chore in an old building that wasn't designed for many of the modern systems of today, but it can be done and restore an old building to functionality.
Mike
 
Yes you are right.
North Ward School should still be in use today but no. They said it needed handicap things, in a town with NO handicap children. 5 years later they still have no handicaps. But I see their point however it could easily have installed an elevator.

It was conspiracy.
It was supposedly falling down from the inside out. No, the bricks were falling off because of poor maintence. Typical Tuscola.
"Push to our future, Tear down our past"
That is how it is today, sadly.
 
illinoiscentral said:
Yes you are right.
North Ward School should still be in use today but no. They said it needed handicap things, in a town with NO handicap children. 5 years later they still have no handicaps. But I see their point however it could easily have installed an elevator.

It was conspiracy.
It was supposedly falling down from the inside out. No, the bricks were falling off because of poor maintence. Typical Tuscola.
"Push to our future, Tear down our past"
That is how it is today, sadly.
Click to expand...


That does not matter who is in the town, handicap accessibility is a national law. Thats one of the reasons the CTA 2200 cars are being retired. By law one pair of 2200's must be coupled with at least one pair of another class, since every other class has sliding doors that allow wheelchair access. The old blinker doors are too narrow, and do not conform with what is required by law

Amtrak had to cut bigger doors in their old Superliner I cars and Amfleet I cars if I remember right to fit with the new laws, which came after the old cars were built, but before new ones were ordered
 
Klinger,
Yeah I know its a law. But if you lived in Tuscola, you would understand that there is a lot BS. They actually spent our TIF money on a rinky dink frontage road that NO ONE uses.
 
No comment:

Future Of Detroit Train Depot Debated
icon_biggrin.gif

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/19130672/detail.html

POSTED: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
UPDATED: 6:33 pm EDT April 8, 2009

DETROIT -- It may finally be the end of the line for Detroit's old Michigan Central Train Station.

City, community and business leaders have debated for years what to do with the building, which was built in 1913 and has been vacant for 20 years.

Tuesday, the Detroit City Council voted to tear the building down. But after hearing of the council's plan, others Wednesday vowed to save it.

Groups, Council Debate Depot's Future (video) http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/19130786/index.html


The same company who owns the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit International Bridge Company, owns the depot. And company president, Dan Stamper, said there shouldn't be a rush to demolish the building.

"We're not asking anyone for money to tear it down. It would have been better if they had called us and said, 'Hey Dan, what can we do to get together and do something about this piece of property?'"

When asked if there were any projects in the works to revive the depot, Stamper said there's been offers.

"We have a couple proponents who want to come and make presentations to us on ideas they have to save it," he said. "Don't know if any of them are more than pie in the sky, but if they are, we want to pursue them."

A member of the Corktown Development Group said even if the depot stands vacant for 20 more years, it would still offer economic development.

"That's our Ellis Island. We can honor it as a vacant space," said group member Jim McKay. "Without putting any into the interior, it can be opened up and used."

McKay said money needs to be spent on abandoned buildings, but thinks the focus on the depot is "ridiculous" and that the money should be spent on going into neighborhoods.

"It's easy to destroy things and hard to save them," Stamper said.
 
Hmm deeelare strikes again...

Oh deeelare, when are going to learn. I love your sarcastic comments. Bring em' on!

Anyway,
I still feel that this building should be saved. Please try to see the possiblities! They are endless once you get the building up to code. A shopping center just seems like the right fit for the station, condos upstairs with that great view of downtown. These condos could easily sell for between $100,000 and $175,000 they should have a very upscale modern design inside. I think modern in and old out are a perfect design that currently sells very well. I've seen alot of warehouses converted, they all sell very well. Once again, old out, new in. The station has history to it too. That helps sell the building. People are always interested in buildings with personal history...unless you think there is ghosts there and your name is Montel.:hehe:

Hoping for the Best,
Woody
 
No one would pay that to live in that neighborhood. I have lived three miles north of Detroit for 62 years and that neighborhood has never been good. Detroit now has under a million people and more going every day.
 
Whitepass......They are converting an old heinz ketchup warehouse into apartments...called the heinz Lofts....it is the most run down part of pittsburgh....and people are still getting apartments....
 
K4 I think in one way whitepass is correct. They wouldn't move in because its a bad part of town or anything; but more because everyone is leaving Detroit.

peter
 
PerRock said:
K4 I think in one way whitepass is correct. They wouldn't move in because its a bad part of town or anything; but more because everyone is leaving Detroit.

peter
Click to expand...
I see your point....Pittsburgh is growing so that may effect the way where people want to live.
 
There's plenty of examples of 'bad parts of town' being changed, but what's hard to change is why people are deserting Detroit. What comes first, the chicken or the egg?
Mike
 
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