Michigan Central Train Station in Detroit is a Ghost Town

When I was a kid I remember hearing about "ghost towns" out West and I was very scared of the idea of seeing an empty, vacant town that used to be very vibrant and alive. I imagined old saloons, hotels, restaurants and mercantiles standing there all alone, wooden and dusty, like an old Hollywood set.

Much of the things I did not see in my childhood, but only heard about, were compared to Hollywood in my childhood mind. I imagined ghosts hanging out in the attics of these places or staring out windows, longing for the way things used to be.

As I got older, I assumed that ghost towns no longer existed. Then, in more recent years, I realized that ghost towns do exist, only they go beyond the saloons and mercantiles. There are enormous vacant buildings today that once had more visitors in a day than some of those small ghost towns had in a year.

This grand old train station is today's version of a ghost town. For years the halls were filled, day and night, by travelers who had places to see and things to do. The people were filled with hopes and dreams of a vacation in another place or a job in another city. Some were thrilled to be reunited with family after a long journey. Some were feeling worried about their train ride ahead to a far away place, or impatient for their loved ones to arrive back home.

Often they wore their best traveling clothes, their hats, and they carried their snazzy luggage. The people that worked there must have been proud to work at such a big, beautiful and important building. Plus, they had a sense of stability and a paycheck to take home to their families.

This Beaux-Arts building that architects once dreamed of, that American builders once put their heart and soul into, that originally looked so sparkly and smelled so fresh and new for the grand opening, now looks like a crumbling piece of the past. With no plans for a future, no funds to restore it, this grand ghost town casts a shadow over Detroit that's much larger than the shadow cast by the sun.

It is a reminder that somehow we have failed to respect buildings of the past, and to plan properly for their future as circumstances change. Designed by the same firms who designed New York's Grand Central Station (Warren & Wetmore and Reed & Stem), this building could be celebrating it's 100th birthday in a few years (it opened in 1913). However, the City Council just voted a few weeks ago to have it demolished.

Thank you to dprids for giving us a look inside.