Hay, well that was worth it… not! Hopefully the Board came to the realization that none of the good talents wants to work in the mu---r capital of the United States.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/01/12/detroit-train-station-michigan-central-station/9172775002/?gnt-cfr=1
Michigan taxpayers have now put almost a BLLION DOLLARS into Bill Ford’s train station playhouse. Ford is profitable, GIVE THE TAXPAYERS THEIR MONEY BACK, BILL!!!
"Care for each other" and take away retirement benefits. All for Bill Ford to have a family legacy. Meanwhile hard workers lose out in retirement. Do not underestimate the value of those benefits that are no longer there.
Stolen clock plans
"There was nothing in this building when we got it. It's a gritty building, not refined," Bardelli said.
The new main lobby windows at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit on Jan 11, 2022.
The new main lobby windows at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit on Jan 11, 2022. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press
More:Ford plans to turn Michigan Central Station and grounds into a showplace for public art
A carriage house behind the train station still requires work but that's where the legendary stolen clock — returned anonymously in 2018 — will be placed, Bardelli said.
Other pieces of the train station picked apart by scavengers over the years have been reinstalled, including cast-iron rosettes that line the dramatic new windows. Technology workers scanned a few steel rosettes with a 3D printer to replace more than 500. Once they're painted, it's impossible to tell the difference.
A 3D printed replica of a window rosette made out of resin in placed next to the original cast iron rosette it will replace at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit on Jan 11, 2022.
A 3D printed replica of a window rosette made out of resin in placed next to the original cast iron rosette it will replace at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit on Jan 11, 2022. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press
Standing on a scissor lift 30 feet in the air, paint roller in hand, Ruben Gavia rolled paint on the ceiling around drywall painted to look like dark wood. Walter Lopez stood below him as a safety watch for Eugenio Painting Co., one of many local businesses working on the station.
Visitors walked carefully on plywood laid to protect the marble from heavy equipment moving material through the building.
Pointing to the ceiling in one room, Bardelli noted that 29,000 clay tiles had to be stabilized — 1,700 of them replaced. Workers applied 8.6 miles of grout lines.
The building had just steam heat, never air conditioning. So all that ductwork is being installed now in the basement. Fire alarms need to be added to comply with code.
The prospects for redeveloping Detroit's long-vacant train depot have dramatically improved in the past couple years. JC Reindl/Detroit Free Press
This train station opened earlier than scheduled, on Dec. 26, 1913, because a fire destroyed the station at Third and Jefferson.
Now it returns to its original glory with wood wainscoting, crown molding, wood floors and a marble border.
"Most of this replaced red clay tile that was used in 1913 to hold up the walls," said Staley, who plays a key role on this Ford project though his grandfather worked as a general foreman at Buick making engines. Staley's grandmother went to work in the factory, too, during World War II, building airplane engines.
And Bardelli also has a deeply personal tie to the project.
The Farrugia family at their home near Rosa Parks Boulevard (formerly 12th Street) and Church Street in Corktown. Back row, left to right: Marilyn, Dorothy, baby John, Jane (matriarch), Joseph (patriarch), Joseph and Frank. Front row, left to right: Rose, Harold, Shirley, Agnes, Charles and Antoinette.
The Farrugia family at their home near Rosa Parks Boulevard (formerly 12th Street) and Church Street in Corktown. Back row, left to right: Marilyn, Dorothy, baby John, Jane (matriarch), Joseph (patriarch), Joseph and Frank. Front row, left to right: Rose, Harold, Shirley, Agnes, Charles and Antoinette. Provided By Rich Bardelli
His mother, Rose Farrugia Bardelli, grew up in Corktown. She's Maltese, the heritage of many in what is the oldest neighborhood in Detroit. Farrugia lived at the corner of what is now Rosa Parks Boulevard and Church.
Hundreds of workers at the train station bring family memories, while people all over America have memories of soldiers going off to war from the train station, some never to return.
Brick has been preserved and power-washed, and it looks almost new. Scaffolding lines much of the interior as workers replace marble and plaster throughout. All the original steel has been sandblasted, cleaned, primed and painted.
The wall in the main concourse shows the restoration process of removing the graffiti with only one strip left to remove on this wall at the Michigan Central Station on Jan 11, 2022.
"The ground floor will be restored back to what it looked like originally," Staley said. "We left a couple of spots so that people wouldn't forget what it looked like."
Bill Ford said in the days after purchasing a crumbling Michigan Central Station that he wanted restoration of the historic site to be part of his legacy, his family's legacy and the future of Ford Motor Co.
"I love Detroit," said Ford, executive chair of the company, looking around the graffiti-covered train depot lobby in 2018. "Even this building we’re in. It was always photographed as the symbol of what had become of Detroit. It was the symbol of the ruin of our city.”
Not anymore.
The Michigan Central Station, purchased by Ford Motor Co. in 2018, enters its final phase of renovation and construction after installing new main lobby windows on Jan 11, 2022.
The Michigan Central Station, purchased by Ford Motor Co. in 2018, enters its final phase of renovation and construction after installing new main lobby windows on Jan 11, 2022. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press
A Ford team opened up the construction site to reporters on Tuesday for a walk-through — to show the project's final phase and detail the transformation that involves some 500 tradesmen and women doing everything from rolling paint on the ceiling to installing 300 miles of electrical cable and 20 miles of heating and cooling pipe.
Rich Bardelli, project construction manager, confirmed the Beaux Arts building in Corktown built in 1913 currently is scheduled to open to the public by mid-2023.
The project is entering its third and final phase. First, workers had to dry out the property. Second, workers had to stabilize the structure. Then, finally, restoration.
Construction workers walk though the main concourse at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit on Jan 11, 2022.
Construction workers walk though the main concourse at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit on Jan 11, 2022. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press
Plans include a first floor event space for community activity including conferences, weddings, shopping and dining. Ten floors will be devoted to office space and three floors for hospitality.
Local businesses will be given priority, Ford has said. And this isn't intended to be a Ford-exclusive site but a mobility and innovation hub for Detroit.
The company is currently in planning to making the top floors — the 11th, 12th and 13th — hotel space totaling 90 to 100 rooms, Bardelli said.
Tenants could be announced later this year.
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Michigan Central Station: New transformation details, photos as site enters final phaseBill Ford said in the days after purchasing a crumbling Michigan Central Station that he wanted restoration of the historic site to be part of his legacy, his family's legacy and the future of Ford Motor Co.
"The top five floors were never even finished," said Ron Staley, the senior vice president of Christman|Brinker Corktown Transformation Jo--t Venture. "The drawings showed them as unfinished future space. Like developers do now, 'If you build it, they will come.' Well, they never did. And they had corks in the (electrical) conduits. We don't know if it was to keep out water or mice."
Weddings on terrazzo
Inquiries for weddings have already begun rolling in for the enormous space known as the concourse area, which will have the capacity to hold 800-1,000 guests, Bardelli said.
The main concourse of the Michigan Central Station on Jan 11, 2022.
The main concourse of the Michigan Central Station on Jan 11, 2022. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press
Its 20,000 feet of terrazzo floor will be heated with warm water flowing in pipes underneath, which prevents the need to install new ductwork that would ruin the building's classic interior design.
Project costs are "right on budget," Bardelli said, with an estimated initial cost of $740 million and — when counting added exterior projects — $950 million total for the train station and surrounding buildings and spaces.
Outside space is especially important to residents of southwest Detroit and, therefore, Ford, he said.
More:Detroit train station renovation still moving ahead in pandemic: Where it stands
More:'First pour like this': 250 truckloads of concrete at Michigan Central Station in 10 hours
A construction worker welds steel at the Michigan Central Station seen during a media tour on Jan 11, 2022.
A construction worker welds steel at the Michigan Central Station seen during a media tour on Jan 11, 2022. Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press
The overall price tag of the massive project also includes the Book Depository building next door. While totally exposed with open walls now, the three-story Albert Kahn building, with a new giant glass skylight, is scheduled to open by mid-2022.
So much for a public traded company? No accountability from the board or WS for this misuse of company funds. All one has to do is look at BF track record!
Shareholders are not impressed. Is Alexandra English in charge of marketing the wedding venue? WHAT HAPPENED TO BUILDING AND SELLING QUALITY, AFFORDABLE VEHICLES?????
Bill will make the Packard plant an internment camp for the “ unclean “ employees.
Cleanup and renovations performed by the residents until they are reformed
Too bad the article is locked up behind a paywall, though I'm sure we'll all here about the folly exposed soon enough.
Can’t give employees good benefits because they spend money like this. Take away retirement benefits to pay for stupid s*#%. All Dearborn transformation. The money has to come from somewhere.
Can't wait to see Bill Ford fix up the Packard Plant. I wonder what he has in store for that site?