First public tours of Michigan Central Station: ‘Spectacular,’ ‘off the charts,’ ‘so cool’

Tours draw thousands of visitors

Like pilgrims in a cathedral, thousands of visitors from metro Detroit and beyond trekked to the Michigan Central Station on Friday to marvel at the restored beauty of the longtime eyesore.

They took in every detail from the polished floors to the majestic ceilings to the craftsmanship that went into the original clock. The mood was festive as people moved through the building. Dramatic music played in a loop ending with a voice telling them that trains were pulling into the station.

“You see the work they did out here: They re-created everything the right way,” said Tom Toft, as he waited outside for his tour to begin. “It’s spectacular.”

Toft toured with his wife, Renee, and her cousin, Sylvia Ross-Schultz and her husband, Tom Schultz. The families had relatives who worked in the building back in the day.

“We’re so glad to see it getting so much better, and it’s beautiful. … It’s just in my heart, it’s been the neatest thing,” said Ross-Schultz. “It’s another crown jewel in the renovation of Detroit.”

Her husband agreed.

“I made the statement, and I was wrong, that (the comeback) would never happen in my lifetime,” said Schultz. “The rebirth is off the charts.”

‘People are coming in here awestruck’

By midafternoon, about 1,800 people had toured the building and that number was expected to grow to about 5,000 by the time the tours ended at 10 p.m., Michigan Central spokesman Dan Austin said.

Paul Wilson, 42, of Detroit, said he’s just thought of the station as a ruin his whole life — until now.

“It’s so cool how they refurbished everything and still kept a whole lot of the building intact,” Wilson said.

John Martin is a new Michigan Central ambassador after an advertising career and a couple years working part-time gigs. He snagged the job just in time for the station’s reopening and Friday was just his second day of work.

Martin grew up in Lincoln Park, later worked in downtown and spent most of his life watching the city up close. He toured Michigan Central’s open house back in 2018 after it was acquired by Ford and has since been stunned by Detroit’s numerous and gorgeous renovations.

On Friday, Martin stood at the doors of the Grand Hall, greeting people as they entered with smiles widening and eyes lighting up at their first sight of the hall.

“People are coming in here awestruck, they’re not complaining,” he said.

More: Michigan Central Station tours: How to visit Ford’s renovated train depot

More: Michigan Central Station: What you’ll see on the tour

Christina Roki, of Sterling Heights, and Grant Sloan, of West Bloomfield, are two automotive content creators who were invited to opening day by Ford. They said they were brought to tears by the stories preserved inside Michigan Central Station.

“What we appreciate about it most is how much detail Ford cared to preserve to show the story. They kept part of the graffiti on the walls, they preserved a lot of the tickets they found. … Even the brick, all the chisels we see on the brick, they didn’t try to make fine cut lines, they still want to show all the history that this building has,” said Roki.

As they walked from room to room, they remained at a loss for words.

“The inside was literally mind-blowing. I feel like I was walking in on such a big piece of history that’s been preserved for so long, so it’s crazy to think that this is something they’ve been working on in the past few years,” said Roki.

But the pair said one of the most significant parts was just to see how Michigan Central had been given new life, narrowly dodging demolition. Sloan remembered times passing the station with friends just before the renovation began. He saw graffiti and decay. Now, to see the modern history meshed with its historical past was an awesome experience.

“Any Detroiter will agree that this building was such an eyesore for such a long time. Growing up in Detroit and knowing its history but never seeing it operational. … But now seeing it up in running, it’s really touching to see that Ford took on such a large project,” said Sloan. “It’s early but I think it’s safe to say that the investment already paid off.”

‘Not enough wonderful words to describe it’

Bob and Shari Bilkie, of Northville, have deep family ties to Detroit. They often went on dates downtown before marrying almost 41 years ago.

On Friday, they walked the side streets surrounding Michigan Central Station as they waited for the public tours to begin at noon. They parked at 10 a.m. and took in the sights of the Corktown neighborhood on the cool, cloudy day.

“It is so cool, the fact that they took something decrepit, falling apart, an eyesore and turned it into something absolutely beautiful,” Shari Bilkie said.

Southwest Detroit resident Jennifer Serra set an alarm in hopes of scoring tickets to see the train station on its first day of public tours. 

“There’s just not enough wonderful words to describe it,” Serra, 45, said after taking the tour. 

Her only problem? She had somewhere else to be Friday afternoon and wanted to spend more time in the station. She has already made plans to come back for another tour in a few days. 

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“I feel like it’s like a symbolic representation of what goes on in our city,” she said of Michigan Central Station. “I feel like there’s just these landmarks in certain cities … that just really kind of embody the overall history of what’s going on. I feel like this helps us bring a little bit of closure to some tough times and shows renewal.”

People’s excitement was obvious, even before they got inside.

NPR reporter Bobby Allyn, 35, walked quickly toward Michigan Central Station as he prepared to interview President Joe Biden’s director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Arati Prabhakar, at Newlab, which is next door to the station.

He said he was super excited to be in Detroit, having heard so much about the city when he lived in Berlin.

“Berliners are obsessed with Detroit because of techno music,” Allyn said. “It’s the birthplace of techno. Look up Jeff Mills, of Detroit, and techno. You’ll see. When you go to Club Berghain in Berlin, it’s impossible to get in but if you wear a hat that says, ‘Detroit,’ they let you in.”

Allyn, a technology correspondent, reports on startups, artificial intelligence, privacy issues and tech litigation. While he was directed to the neighboring building, the whole site is part of the mobility hub led by Ford Motor Co. Allyn said he couldn’t wait to see the inside of the restored train depot after the interview.