DETROIT (WXYZ) — With just a few numbers, Corktown in Detroit is buzzing.
Monday night, the city's oldest neighborhood learned Michigan Central, the historic train station, officially has a reopening date: June 6th, 2024.
Michigan Central made the announcement by illuminating the date on the front of the building.
"I knew right away it was going to be an opening date," said Kyle Franklin who lives within a few minutes walk of the station. "The building always drew tourists to begin with but I think everyone wants to come back now and see it. Going to definitely drive tourism through the roof."
The last train departed from Michigan Central to Chicago in 1988. The building remained unused for years until it was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 2018 for $90 million.
Ford announced plans to invest millions more into the building bringing it back to the condition it was in, in its heyday.
"I remember when we would come up from down south, coming around the expressway and you could see the back of it. The holes, the windows were all gone and it just looked so lonely and so forlorn and it just needed to be loved," said Debbie Newbern as she stood in front of the station Tuesday afternoon. "That was my excitement when I heard the Fords had bought it and were going to bring it back. I think that’s just awesome."
Newbern, who grew up in Hazel Park, visited the train station with her son Tuesday.
"The whole, the revitalization of Detroit is really cool to be a part of and see it all come together," said Matthew Deljevic as he stood next to his mom. "For people to know Detroit, there’s nothing to be scared of. Don’t be scared of Detroit. It’s a great place to be. People are amazing. And it’s just great for the city to finally get its recognition."
The project is set to include retail space, a restaurant, and residential units. People living and working in Detroit say it's an investment worth far more than dollars.
"I’ve heard a lot of stories about how Detroit was 10 years ago. And now when I’m learning about the stores that are trying to make Detroit more innovative and an innovation hub, it’s very exciting," said Esraa Abdelhalim who visits Detroit monthly from Canada.
"It’s really good to see the city starting to come up so fast. I believe it has everything that any city would need to be a great city," added Ahmad Mohamaden as he stood next to Esraa.
David Valdez is the owner of Alba Coffee Detroit. Valdez says they just opened along Michigan Ave. a few months ago and they're excited to see even more buzz in the area.
"Some of these buildings you don’t even see anymore so it’s great to see such a huge building like that actually being put back to its glory. It’s nice," said Valdez. "What it means to us? It might be a little hard finding parking now but we’ll probably figure that out."
Tuesday some work zones outside of the train station remained.
