Opinion: Train station rebirth proof ‘Detroit never left’

I grew up on the northwest side of Detroit and anytime my friends or family came to visit my new home in Hubbard-Richard, they would inevitably drive past the dreaded monstrosity on Michigan Avenue. 

Living in the shadow of the Michigan Central Depot was embarrassing. Rundown Roosevelt Park was no picnic to look at, either. I was hesitant to host dinners and parties, feeling a bit ashamed to have that view lurking in my backyard.

For Detroiters, Michigan Central Station had been called a lot of things in its storied 111-year-old history: Eyesore. Ruin porn. Blight.

Abandoned in 1988, battered and neglected by the Moroun family and so many others, it was long past due for a renaissance revival. Ford Motor Co. and Michigan Central delivered. No one is more excited about the rebirth of the image of Detroit than a native Detroiter like myself.

The depot had attracted an online cult following for its decades-long decay, and a host of films in and around it were used to depict haunting, dystopian futures such as in Batman v. Superman (2016), Transformers (2007), and The Island (2005). They called it ruin porn and Detroit was its sexiest goddess. It’s almost hard now to picture what the train station looked like before the 6-year-long restoration, but it had come to represent everything wrong with an urban city gone bad: city mismanagement, police misconduct, and financial ruin. But that all changed on June 6.

After 36 years closed, the 18-story-high, 640,000-square-foot building drew a Motown legend and twenty thousand attendees for a grand reopening party on its 30-acre campus. But those numbers don’t tell the whole story. June 15 was my day to tour inside, and it did not disappoint. 

The size and breadth of the Grand Hall was breathtaking from a ceiling so tall you must lean your head back to take it all in, to the shiny marble floors the size of a city block. Delicate elements were handcrafted, recreated and remolded. From the 29,000 Guastavino tiles lining the ceiling to the intricate details of the 3-D printed, hand-painted Rams’ Head trim in the historic Reading Room, no feature was left deficient. 

According to a Michigan Central Fact Sheet, the equivalent of 8.6 miles of grout were used to stabilize and seal the Guastavino tiles of the 54-foot tall Grand Hall. No stone – figuratively or literally – was left unturned. The outside is no less majestic than the inside, with tall, elaborately adorned Corinthian columns with impressive rosettes across the top and cornices across the ceiling. 

Inside, two members of the Michigan LEGO users group displayed a colorful model of Michigan Central Station bordered by Vernor, Michigan, 15th, and Bagley. For the tour, we entered through the Michigan Avenue entrance into the room formerly known as the historic Women’s Waiting Room. An employee told me that the room was made to separate the women from men who were known to have and prefer a wholly separate smoking cigar room. After tourists and residents collectively watched a short historical movie about Detroit and the train station on a 15-foot tall LED cube, the door opened and I could hear the audible gasps as guests viewed the enormity of the 1,184 restored windows and the decorative and ornate archways, trims, and cornice of the Grand Hall. After that shared experience, the tour was self-guided.

Tickets for the June 6  live concert were sold out but the event was live-streamed on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and area businesses and restaurants hosted watch parties. 

As a ticketholder and resident of the community surrounding the station, I arrived a few hours before the general public to get a sense of the security and it was extensive, including bomb-sniffing dogs and numerous checks on-site.

I spent time watching others see what I always see, every day: The most beautiful, calm, and peaceful city. 

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I frequently say “Detroit never left.” It’s always been a place of beauty to me with rose-colored glasses, even when others and even our own local media express disappointment or feature only the negativity.

I raised my family here, was educated here, and bought my home here. When I left for a short period, I could not wait to come back because what we have here in Detroit is so beautiful that everyone who comes here recognizes it. There is a magnetic sense of togetherness, grit, and resolve that is found in very few places, and that makes us – those who weathered the storms – unique.

Whenever we do something great in Detroit, whether it be hosting the NFL Draft, a Super Bowl, the Grand Prix, or when we have an awesome reopening, you better believe it will be magnificent and that feeling is contagious, leaving everyone feeling fantastically connected.

Once the concert began, all the joy, pride, and sheer exuberance of the night took over as we – strangers and friends – enjoyed songs from the artists that we love as we swayed and sang along to hits like Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, You Brought the Sunshine, Seven Nation Army, and the song Didn’t Ya Know, which was performed by Common as a memorial to the great producer and much beloved Detroiter J Dilla. For those of us who love hip-hop, there was not a dry eye in the house – well, outside. The production ended with Eminem’s performance of Not Afraid, a story of triumph, not unlike Detroit’s resurgence on the local and national scene.

 It was, for me, and visitors near and far, a night to remember.

AJ Johnson is a fierce community advocate and policy wonk who is committed to public service through journalism that informs, educates, and advances discourse and policies.

Editor’s note: All photos in collage by AJ Johnson