Michigan Central Depot
2405 West Vernor overlooking Roosevelt Park, near the intersection
of West Vernor and
Michigan Avenue
in Detroit, just southwest of downtown
Shortly after the 1960s, President Eisenhower's National Defense Highway system provided multi-lane interstate highways that made it easy to drive across the nation. In 1958, jet planes, for the first time, began flying domestic routes in the United States, and shortly thereafter made it cheap, fast and safe to fly distances of 500 miles or more. Passenger travel by rail—except for commuters—declined rapidly and the railroads were pleased to shed their money-losing trains. For the preceding century, trains provided transportation. In most cities, one or more impressive railway stations were built—massive structures that emphasized the importance of the city, and the financial dominance of the rail firms. They provided travelers with all the amenities they wished, including restaurants, hotels and shopping. So far as I know, there is no airport in the United States with the artistic and architectural significance of Grand Central Station in New York, Union Station in Washington or Chicago or the Penn Stations in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Newark.
The Michigan Central Railroad was the state's dominant line providing connections to most points in Michigan, to the East Coast and to Chicago where travelers changed trains to go West. The Michigan Central Depot contracted with two architectural firms, Warren and Wetmore of New York and Reed and Stem of St. Paul to design a magnificent building that would remind travelers of the importance of Detroit and the success of the Michigan Central Railroad. Warren and Wetmore had designed beautiful Grand Central Station—completed in 1911—that now serves New York. It is still a tremendous thrill to walk through Grand Central, observing the recently refurbished magnificent structure with its truly grand waiting room. For Detroit, these firms designed a Beaux Arts classical building with Roman magnificence in the vaulted arch waiting room. If you think about the current Penn Station in New York which sits on the site of the original magnificent structure, you realize that every passenger embarking on a journey or disembarking from a train must walk up or down one or two flights of stairs. This is a slow process. Reed and Stem recognized the need for a much faster way to move people off or onto their trains when there was a crowd. Thus, they innovated the use of ramps such as those you still might use in Grand Central Station if you were to get on a Metro North train to New Haven. Ramps were included in the design for the Michigan Central Depot that was completed in 1913. Borrowing from the 1809 plan of Judge Woodward, Roosevelt Park was created in front of the station. Originally, plans called for extending this park with its impressive boulevard to the New Center area, but those ideas were never fulfilled.
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt controlled the New York Central Railroad and had a substantial financial interest in the Michigan Central Railroad dating from 1876. Indeed, he controlled the Michigan Central from that date, but the formal merger of the New York Central Railroad with the Michigan Central did not occur until 1931. As a corporate entity, the Michigan Central continued to exist until the early 1960s. The New York Central Railroad and its successor, the Penn Central operated trains from the Michigan Central Depot to Chicago and New York City until April 30, 1971, when federally funded Amtrak took over most of the nation's intercity passenger trains. Amtrak operated trains from the Michigan Central Depot from 1971 through 1988. For a brief period they operated one train each day to New York, but then they cut back their service to three or four trains daily to Chicago. By 1988, the impressive but dilapidated Michigan Central Depot was vacant. For several years after 1988, Amtrak trains continued to use a small nearby structure until their new depot at the corner of Woodward and Baltimore was completed.
There have been many plans to revitalize this impressive and important building that appears to many of us as a reminder of the greatness of Detroit and the importance of rail travel, but to others, as an obnoxious eyesore. For preservationists, this is one of the city's most significant buildings. For a brief period in the 1980s, there was a proposal to use the Michigan Central Depot as an international trade center. During Kwarme Kilpatrick's term as mayor, there was a much discussed proposal to use this depot as a new headquarters for the city's Police Department.
Architectural Class: Beaux Arts
Architects: Charles Warren and Charles Wetmore; Allen Stem and Charles Reed
City of Detroit Local Historic District: Not listed
Michigan Historical Register: Listed September 17, 1974
National Historical Register: Listed April 16, 1975