Michigan Central Station in 2008 - 10 Years Before Ford's Renovations (Vault Series)

Past the Present Future's "Vault Series" begins with a look at Detroit's historic train station, Michigan Central Station, 10 years before Ford started renovations. At the time of the recording, the station had sat abandoned for 20 years. The amazing building is finally scheduled to reopen on June 6, 2024!
I filmed this footage in April 2008 with a Canon HV20 camcorder. During that era, the station was unprotected and easy to access, so I led a group of Toronto photographers and a model on a tour of the building.
Michigan Central Station was Detroit's train station for 75 years. The station and office building, opened in 1913 and built for an equivalent price in 2021 of 68 million dollars, was architected in the Beaux-Arts style by the same team who designed Grand Central Station in New York.
In early 2018, Ford announced they bought Michigan Central Station and will convert it into an innovation hub. It will be an open platform for innovators, startups, entrepreneurs and other partners from around the world to develop, test and launch new mobility solutions.
Join me as we travel back in time, and go exploring past the present future.
J O I N T H E C O M M U N I T Y
⇢ Instagram - / chrisluckhardt
⇢ X - x.com/chrisluc... (
M U S I C
⇢ Intro Music - "Reversing Time"
⇢ Outro Music - "Reversing Time (Reprise)"
⇢ Theme Music - "Past the Present Future"
⇢ All music written, performed, recorded, and engineered by Chris Luckhardt.
B I O G R A P H Y
Chris Luckhardt has documented and photographed some of the most iconic and viral images of abandoned places around the world. He was among the first photographers to publish photos in the press from legendary abandoned places like Hashima Island, Nara Dreamland, Michigan Central Station, and Six Flags New Orleans. His body of work has led to collaborations with The White House, Netflix, Ford, GQ China, ABC News, Good Morning America, Scholastic Canada, Yahoo! Japan, and many more. In 2016, the Obama administration invited Chris to photograph a private citizen "haunted" tour of The White House.
#PastThePresentFuture #Abandoned #MichiganCentralStation #ChrisLuckhardt

[@chrisluckhardt]

Playlist that includes all of my channel's episodes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmq3p4CAmaaHjcU

[@DetroitKim]

Have been waiting since I was a child to see the station come back - 50 plus years- have heard so many stories from grandparents and parents . The day this reopens 3 things 1) Detroit is going to PARTY 2) Detroit's comeback is real and unstoppable 3) Ford Co gets a bit of hero status for understanding the value of this place to everyone around a detroit and what it symbolizes -

[@T_The_Asogian]

Hello, Chris... I seriously admire how you have uploaded this video documenting such a grand building rich in American mid-western history. The interior is awe-inspiring, and the view on top is phenomenal. Thank you for posting this and showing us though such an amazing structure. Felt at home watching this video. T

[@chrisluckhardt]

Thanks so much! MCS was my favourite abandoned building for a long time. It was so close to demolition but thankfully its incredible architecture was saved and beautifully restored by Ford. Credit where credit is due because the corporation didn't have to throw nearly a billion dollars at such a huge project.

[@BradiKal61]

I was in the station as early as 1993 or 1994 working on rap videos and later Michael Bay movies. The first Transformer movie crew cleaned up a lot of the first floor , getting rid of the glass and chunks of marble and toilet pieces that had been thrown down from the upper floors. The safety engineers determined the building was safe to work in in terms of low asbestos levels since the constant wind blowing through the broken windows had dispersed and loose asbestos years before. One place I wanted to explore but never did was the basement, which was always flooded. You would nave needed a boat of some kind and we couldnt figure out how to get a boat in without being noticed.

[@chrisluckhardt]

Thanks for sharing! It must've been a trip walking freely around the building with permission. I managed to get down to the basement in February 2009 thanks to the bitter cold that winter freezing everything. As Scotty would say, it was...green lol.

[@ph1sts]

MCS was overbuilt so that it would not be affected by the rumbling vibrations of freight trains. It was Detroit's transportation hub until the interstates and airports were constructed. I worked there 1975-84 for Penn Central/Conrail on most every floor & sub-basement. The 12th and 13th (top) floors were unfinished and unoccupied.

[@chrisluckhardt]

@@ph1sts Can you comment on just how empty the upper floor were while you worked there? Some people claim half the office tower was empty by the mid-1960s. Just curious what it was like there in the 70s and 80s.

[@ph1sts]

@@chrisluckhardt Those floors were not "empty" per se, but were used for old office equipment on the 12th and hundreds of file cabinets containing documents like payroll records, waybills, accounting and customs (Canada freight trains inbound & outbound) Some of these records dated back to the 1800s even though the MCS was constructed in the early 1900s. All of those records were disposed of by attaching canvas chutes to the windows and tossing them out and down to recycling containers. All of the other floors were occupied while I was employed, but I imagine that they began to empty out pretty rapidly after I was laid off. We had RR unemployment which @ the time was only $125 biweekly for 6 months on and 6 months off for 2 years total. If I wanted to work for another railroad, I would likely have to move to Council Bluffs, IA. My late father worked for the Chesapeake & Ohio RR and 2 of my cousins worked for the Grand Trunk RR. The eldest female eventually being promoted to CEO secretary. Both received generous severance pkgs when the RR was close to closing.

[@thedeepblueskys]

Back in the mid 90s I explored this building once, but not the basement. Only the main rooms and some floors. I remember seeing a Jimmy Hendrix mural someone did on the wall in pencil and it blew my mind. I got to eventually walk through the basement before the grand opening thing as I was picking up a hundred plus tropical plants that my employer rented them for the grand opening concert. Since then I’ve been there two other times and have seen a few levels closed to the public. Pretty interesting place. I’m sure I’ll be going back for more plant installs at some point.

[@brucebeamon5460]

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING…. Thanks for bringing this video history to US … Ideally I would HOPE you can do an after video upon its completion 👍🏿

[@chrisluckhardt]

I've considered replicating each sequence of this video after the building reopens. It would be a nice showcase for Ford's detailed renovation work.

[@fuegodeabba5978]

Thank you for your hard work and beautiful attention to detail. Godspeed.

[@chrisluckhardt]

Thank you for watching, Fuego!

[@davidepperson2376]

Great footage - thanks for sharing!

[@Neith118]

Awesome building!

[@chrisluckhardt]

Loved exploring it so much! Can’t wait to see what it looks like after Ford’s renovations!

[@patrickclark6261]

Seeing these modern "ruins" makes me wonder what medieval people thought when they looked at cities like Rome or Constantinople/Istanbul. They too walked among ruins.

[@chrisluckhardt]

I was in Pompeii a year ago and was thinking the same thing! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmKmd5ijobSerLc

[@toddmartin6572]

Be nice to hold small concerts in that lovely main area..

[@ATF1985]

All new now ❤

[@chrisluckhardt]

Almost! They've completed enough renovations to open the building. Much of the building is unfinished. I'm going back to film an "after" sequence to match up with this old video and other video I haven't published.

[@SweetpeaandLilly]

I wish America would have kept the train routes and stations, outdoor window shopping instead of malls, and the good old American made safety razors (I love mine).

[@chrisluckhardt]

I too feel nostalgic for the 1950s even though I was born decades later!

[@utahredrock1]

Good video, thank you! A minor side note: KZbin did exist in 2008. : )

[@chrisluckhardt]

Thanks. 🙌🏻 KZbin was introduced in 2005. But it had a limit of 10 minutes per video at 480p quality. KZbin didn’t become a useful long-form video platform until a decade ago.

[@aurinator]

What were its upper floors used for? UPDATE: answer in the video but I'm skeptical that a floor was just never used.

[@chrisluckhardt]

Why did you like your own comment? Anyway, all the information shared in all my videos is 100% verifiably accurate. Numerous sources over the years documented the top floor’s unfinished and unfurnished status, which is clearly visible in this video. And if you scroll through the comments you’ll see a former 60s/70s tower employee confirm it.

[@jaymemorris8098]

This is amazing. Thanks for sharing. ♡

[@chrisluckhardt]

Thanks for watching, Jayme!

[@brianbates4785]

This structure was designed and completed in 1913 for an inflation adjusted $68 million. Fast forward to today, it cost Ford just under $1 billion to renovate...an astonishing FOURTEEN times more! Have the costs of regulations, labor and materials really ballooned that much?

[@chrisluckhardt]

The station cost $15 million when it opened in 1913. That’s $475 million in 2024 dollars according to usinflationcalculator.com. Factor in the modern overhead costs you mentioned and $950 million to renovate and modernize the building seems logical.

[@amandapurves3529]

Great video always enjoy the history

[@chrisluckhardt]

Thank you, Amanda! I wish I had recorded more usable footage so that I could’ve added more historical information to this episode. MCS has such a rich history.

[@josron6088]

I watched another segment of this building from "Its History". But seeing the interior I understand now why they just tear these buildings down. It really is going to take Ford hundreds of millions to this back to its former glory.

[@chrisluckhardt]

Ford is spending approximately 950 million on the entire campus. The station itself cost 90 million. And they opened the Book Depository building a few days ago. I was inside the building shortly after the frozen homeless man was discovered and removed. So I know the building's condition was even worse than the station.

[@josron6088]

@@chrisluckhardt Wow. I didn't know it was that much. I really hope it works out and maybe help revitalize that area.

[@chrisluckhardt]

@@josron6088 It looks promising! The area is already vastly improved from 5-10 years ago. The train station will open soon and the renovations look amazing in preview videos - repairs based on original specs with modernizations.

[@josron6088]

@@chrisluckhardt It's great to hear some good news for a change. Great video, thanks for putting it up.

[@suzannejanik7217]

love the girl that shows up in a coat and shorts to go into an abandoned structure filled with broken glass and rusted metal.

[@chrisluckhardt]

@@suzannejanik7217 True story: we worked together at a lingerie company - I managed the ecommerce website and she was on my team. She was wearing only skimpy lingerie under that coat! I heard so many stories from her about getting into trouble that makes this day seem extremely mild. Her parents even moved across the country to give her a fresh start. She was wild but with a heart of gold. Loved working with her. She’s a mom now and living a low key suburban life. Kind of a heartwarming story looking back on it.

[@Scorptique]

Awesome video, even on a camcorder! Any photos from the photoshoot with the model to share? ;)

[@chrisluckhardt]

Thanks, Piya! I worked hard to upscale, stabilize, and clean up the video, so I appreciate the feedback! True story: she was my assistant when I ran the web department office of a lingerie company. I have photos from the shoot buried somewhere in my archives.

[@theshamegame2787]

What was on the upper floors? Offices or hotel rooms?

[@chrisluckhardt]

The upper floors housed around 500 offices and 3000 employees for the railroad auditors, personnel, and other departments. Interestingly, the top floor was never used. It still looked like 1913 up there when I explored it for the first time in 2008!

[@bleachedin2mysoul]

Awww sad to see so much graffiti! Great explore!!

[@chrisluckhardt]

A lot of the graffiti has been removed by Ford during renovations. But I read they're going to keep some of it as part of the station's "story". I'll be first in line to see it when they finish and open the doors in 2023!

[@williamh192]

Though abandon , what culture would do such destruction in the name of having fun ?

[@chrisluckhardt]

Every culture does vandalism, although some are more barbaric than others. Giza's pyramids were stripped of their limestone caps and gold top centuries ago. Modern-day vandals around the world desecrate buildings and other structures. Then again, no vandalism or looting occured in abandoned towns closest to the Fukushima disaster.

[@undefined5083]

Just say what you really wanna say lmao we not dumb

[@williamh192]

@@undefined5083 RLMAO ! You sure about that !?