
Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn today announced it’s planning a grand opening for the renovated Michigan Central Station in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit on June 6.
A preview of the announcement — “06.06.24” — was projected on the building when the sun went down on Monday.
The opening will come six years after the automaker purchased the abandoned structure from the Moroun family in June 2018 for $90 million.
Since then, Ford has been transforming the 110-year-old train station into a mobility tech campus that includes other buildings including the former Book Depository now known as NewLab. That opened last April.
Originally scheduled to open in late 2022 and cost around $750 million, the 15-story train depot will offer stores, restaurants, and other retail offerings on the first floor, 11 floors of workspace for Ford workers and suppliers, and three floors of hospitality space at the top of the structure.
“This project is about preparing Ford for another century of innovation and success,” Mary Culler, development director for Ford and president of the Ford Fund, said when plans for the project were unveiled in 2020. “At Michigan Central, we are taking a collaborative approach to innovation, including providing flexible work spaces that attract and engage the best minds to solve complex transportation and related challenges as we shape the future of mobility together.”
Part of the restoration process included using high-tech 3-D scanning to expedite and ensure the historical accuracy of the renovation.
Ford recruited Chicago-based Computer Aided Technology (CATI), a long-time Ford supplier of 3-D printing software and hardware with an office in Pleasant Ridge, to assist in the Central Station reconstruction project using Creaform 3-D laser scanners to create 3-D models of various elements of the station to enable contractors to repair or replicate the structures.
Other improvements to the area included re-opening Roosevelt Park in front of the train station after a $6 million upgrade that included eliminating the roads dividing the park.