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New
windows
are
being
installed
at
Michigan
Central
Station
in
Detroit
as part
of
preservation
project
By
Wendell
Bryant/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
Windows
are
being
installed
at the
long-time
abandoned
train
depot
that for
nearly
twenty
years
has been
one of
Detroit's
best-known
symbols
of its
decades
of urban
blight.
Strip
miners
have
removed
anything
of value
over the
years
along
with
vandals
and
graffiti
painters
have
broken
every
window
and
defaced
every
wall
inside.
But now,
the
Detroit
International
Bridge
Company
has
embarked
upon an
aggressive
drive to
preserve
the
historic
Michigan
Central
Train
Station
which
has
stood
since
1913.
To view
progress,
the
media
was
invited
Thursday
morning
on a
rare
tour
inside
the
ageing
structure,
where
workers
have
been
framing
and
installing
windows.
To date
approximately
600 out
of the
1,100
windows
have
been put
in
place.
The
project
will
cost
around
$3
million
with
completion
slated
for this
December.
New
windows
are
shown on
the
twelfth
floor in
the
train
depot in
Detroit
on
Thursday,
August
13,
2015.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us
Detroit)
Project
manager
Ken
Carter
said the
clean-up
has cost
about
$12
million,
so far,
including
restoring
electricity
to the
station
and
installing
a $4
million
elevator
capable
of
carrying
freight
and
passengers.
The
Moroun
family
has been
working
feverishly
the past
few
years
working
to clean
this
building
up and
ready it
for
redevelopment,
although
there is
no plan
for use
at this
time.
The
building
is
located
in the
Corktown
district
of
Detroit
near the
Ambassador
Bridge,
approximately
one mile
southwest
of
downtown
Detroit.
It is
located
behind
Roosevelt
Park.
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
announced
in April
that the
building's
owners
would
install
1,100
windows
this
year as
part of
a land
transfer
deal
with the
city.
City
Council
last
month
approved
the
agreement
with the
Detroit
International
Bridge
Co.
The new
windows
are
expected
to
upgrade
the
exterior
of the
train
station.
The 18-
story
building
fell
into
disrepair
after
rail
service
ended in
1988.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us
Detroit)
Matthew
Moroun,
son of
owner
Matty
Moroun,
said in
a
statement
earlier
this
year
that
they
will be
investing
$15-25
million
into
Michigan
Central
Station
over the
next
year.
The
owners
will
continue
investing
in
cleanup
and
restoration
to the
building
in an
effort
to
"...clean,
protect,
preserve
and
secure"
the
site.
The new
windows
are
expected
to
upgrade
the
exterior
of the
train
station.
The 18-
story
building
fell
into
disrepair
after
rail
service
ended in
1988.
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