DETROIT | Ford Michigan Central Station - Corktown Developements
Figured we should have a thread for the Ford/MCS news Coming up next week and beyond. It’s going going to change the face of Corktown and the city for years to come.
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it's been a LONG time coming, but this is so freaking cool!
i can't believe that this magnificent structure really is going to be reborn into a new life, and serve as a catalyst to revive the area surrounding it. it's just awesome. it might just be the greatest preservation comeback story ever told. |
Yeah, this is the definition of 'turning point.' It doesn't seem that long ago that the suggestion of this level of investment in MCS would have been met with a laugh. Now it's real. I will reiterate what many others also believe and hope and that is a desire that in some way the base remains a transportation station and in the future could grow in that function. Many other historic train stations have been relegated to children's museums and banquet halls - not that that is an inherently improper use considering the reality on the ground in some places - but hopefully MCS will at least in some capacity in the future function at least partially in the way it was designed to while having an energetic and dynamic use of space in the offices above.
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Detroit train station is city's biggest comeback moment yet
The Detroit Free Press, 6/15/2018
By John Gallagher https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...act/697756002/ Trying to sum up the significance of Ford’s plans for the Michigan Central Station, a quote by Winston Churchill seems apt. “Now, this is not the end,” Churchill said of an early Allied victory in World War II. “It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” |
I am hoping for something along the lines of the Ford Rotunda that burned down in Dearborn. This would be great if Ford can make an attraction like the old rotunda was.
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Tonight's quote on MCS from Ford Motor Co.'s twitter account:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dfx0x5MUYAEhN4K.jpg Honestly, Ford is doing a brilliant, next-level job marketing this renovation. https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SRYB...IMG_0321.0.jpg Michelle & Chris Gerard https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chor...1/IMG_9459.jpg Michelle & Chris Gerard |
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Possibly the Pontiac section could be split out into a local commuter operation like the ever-planned SEMCOG train to Ann Arbor, and all three trains terminated at MCS, but then there's no convenient way to get from MCS to downtown anymore. Detroit would have to build a costly streetcar or something down Michigan Ave. New Center already has the QLine to take riders downtown. |
An extension of the streetcar onto Michigan Avenue is likely to happen though.
I think in the distant future when Canada gets it's high-speed rail corridor built up a connection to MCS would be great. |
I have to agree that Bill Ford has really gone ahead and seized and opportunity that became apparent from Detroit's Amazon bid and ran with it. I've been watching the Crain's interview with Bill Ford he envisions "a mobility corridor along Michigan Ave from Corktown to Dearborn and then on to Metro Airport, Willow Run, Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor.
There is a full video interview with Bill Ford available for Crain's subscribers some highlights are: He recognizes and admits that we are "in a war for talent" and further more that Ford has not invested in it's R&D facilities "when they had opportunities to in the past and then when a down turn came along it was one of the easiest things to cut, this time though we said we are going to invest this money in the future and not touch it". He goes on to detail how the money for this project was already budgeted for in campus improvement plans and how this is one part of a broader plan first detailed in 2016 for Ford to update it's "antiquated facilities". I like the idea of a high-tech M-12 corridor it's not an entirely new idea but its needed something to kick start it. Ford's redevelopment of MCD and with the creation and integration of a Corktown campus into a broader regional mobility, transportation - logistics & aerospace district along the Michigan Ave axis from Ann Arbor to Detroit is an ambitious goal that would help the region compete better in the digital age. Quote:
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Edit; here's an article I picked out of the AP feed. Quote:
https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/H....271e0c7e061067 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-...040100504.html |
fantastic news!
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I’m stoked about the possibilities here. Can’t wait to see what happens!
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While not the most notable of stories amidst all of the MCS news, this was certainly a heartwarming read:
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just the best news ever. i was expecting it though given detriots resurgence.
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MCS in that video, even if just an animation, has me super excited. It's amazing to me that they have so much thought put into this already, even through the presentation. It's clear this has been on their radar for awhile and the are PR'ing the crap out of it, as well they should. Ford just won over a generation.
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Well said.
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It's weird, because Ford has always been the most conservative and least risky of the Big Three. But Bill Ford, Jr. ended up being a really eccentric and unconventional person. His great-grandfather is rolling over in his grave knowing that Bill is going in big on Detroit...and that's a good change. Henry hated urbanism and thus he disliked the hustle-and-bustle of Detroit (it's why the company never left Dearborn), even as his business help drive the city to grow further and further out from tis center. Oh, the irony.
Anyway, 5,000 employees over the next few years is going to be something significant for Corktown, to put it lightly. There weren't even 1,500 in this whole area at the 2010 Census. I'm really interested to see how Ford handles all of this new traffic. Will they run some commuter rail up from behind the station to Dearborn? Will they take their ridersharing service to the next level? Will there be some express service (light rail or bus) on Michigan Avenue? I do hope they aren't planning for everyone to come to work in their individual cars, because even as wide as Michigan is, that'd would be a nightmare. |
I guess I don't see the issue there. It's not like the whole of Ford's workforce is coming from Dearborn. They're coming form all over the region. And I think Ford is expecting the new folks to be young people who actually might want to live in Detroit.
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