(rshsdepot) Detroit, MI (MC Station)

["J. Henry Priebe Jr." <root_@_net.bluemoon.net>]

More about the Detroit MC Station proposal to be used as police headquarters
which was posted to our forum site.

http://Forums.Railfan.net/?board=Stations&action=display&num=1065366776

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr.    Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
www.bluemoon.net       Internet Access & Web Hosting
www.railfan.net        Railfan Network Services


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Mayor wants abandoned depot for new police station 
Reply from BNSF_1088 on: 10/05/03 at 11:12:55 in "Stations"
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Mayor wants abandoned depot for new police station 

The Associated Press
10/4/03 10:49 AM


DETROIT (AP) -- The old Michigan Central Depot, one of the city's most
visible and elegant ruins, has moved a step closer to a possible new life as
the city's police headquarters. 

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's office announced Friday that the 17-story building
is the mayor's choice for the new home of the department, the latest of many
plans to reuse the vacant train terminal. 

Still to come, though, is an agreement over the terms by which the depot
would be renovated, the Detroit Free Press reported. Kilpatrick's development
aides and the owners of the depot are trying to work out a deal acceptable to
both sides. 

Henry Hagood, director of development activities in the city's Planning and
Development Department, said the odds are "well over 50 percent" that a deal
would be reached. He said the mayor would like to see a proposal approved
this year. 

"This is what we want to do," Hagood said. Will we get there? Don't know yet.
But this is the site we've decided we want to concentrate on." 

Hagood said Kilpatrick likes the depot for a number of reasons: 

- --With its office tower, the complex would provide more than enough space for
a new headquarters. 

- --The depot site could allow sufficient parking for hundreds of vehicles. 

- --The project may be eligible for environmental brown-field development
funding. 

- --Choosing the depot would remove another landmark building from Detroit's
list of derelict structures. 

- --The move would give southwest Detroit an immediate financial boost. 

Matthew Moroun, vice chairman of CenTra Inc., the company that owns the depot
and the nearby Ambassador Bridge, released a statement that said the company
is excited. 

"We're treating this for what it is, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not
only to build a world-class police headquarters, but also to offer something
very good back to the community," he said. "We look forward to working out
the development agreement." 

Tentative plans call for CenTra to pay for the renovation and lease the
building to the city on a long-term basis. 

No decision has been made about the fate of the existing police headquarters
at 1300 Beaubien. Built in 1923 and designed by architect Albert Kahn, the
building is considered too inefficient to be a modern police command
structure. 

Neither Hagood nor Moroun would estimate what it might cost to refit the
train station as a police headquarters. 

Built in 1913 and vacated by Amtrak in 1988, the depot has been reduced to
ruin by vandalism and the effects of the elements. Virtually every window is
broken and the depot and more than once the city considered razing the
structure. 


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #765
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org