  Hooligan Member Username: Hooligan Post Number: 4 Registered: 01-2008 |
http://multimedia.detnews.com/ pix/photogalleries/newsgallery /04082008trainstation/ | ||
Silverbeauty Member Username: Silverbeauty Post Number: 43 Registered: 11-2005 |
Great pics. thanks for posting them. | ||
Mallory Member Username: Mallory Post Number: 246 Registered: 05-2006 |
I say we bring Kurt Russell into town to shoot "Escape from Detroit." Seriously, you want to hold out hope that something can become of this beautiful building, especially when we all thought nothing would ever happen to the Book-Cadillac. Maybe someday. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2977 Registered: 04-2006 |
It's sad to see how much effort was put into building Detroit only to see it be abandoned for largely political reasons. | ||
Busterwmu Member Username: Busterwmu Post Number: 456 Registered: 09-2004 |
It's amazing how much worse it's gotten only in the last 5 years. All that graffiti in the Concourse (where the glass ceiling was) is all since then. Makes me want to just grab a broom and start cleaning! Those movie crews may be highlighting some of Detroit's history, but they are destroying it in the process. They've been just as malicious as the hoodlums who get in there  | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 905 Registered: 11-2006 |
I wouldnt be blaming the movie people. They at least have agreements with the City and Maroun, and if they dont care whether the movie crews ruin the place then it is the City's own fault. A movie crew will abide by the rules of the contract - otherwise these popular places that Hollywood uses across the world would be blocked off from them. | ||
Flanders_field Member Username: Flanders_field Post Number: 275 Registered: 01-2008 |
All I have left now from my years of working at the MCS is a pair of metal file cabinets, I wanted to buy a wooden desk and chair, but could not afford to do so, as my hours were reduced enroute to eventually being permanently laid off. Wish now that I would have had the foresight to take some pre-dawn pictures of the building when it was almost entirely lit up in the 70s during the winter months. There were a few offices that had activity around the clock, but no higher than about the third floor. The first year that I was employed there, I worked in one of the few departments that had not been decorated for the holidays. It was mentioned by many of my co-workers that our department manager would not let anyone decorate the office on company time, so I volunteered to do it on my own time if enough people donated the funds necessary to purchase decorations. We collected enough funds and decorations to do it, so I spent an evening by myself after business hours decorating it. Being very tall helped, as I could almost touch the ceilings by standing on a chair. Still, it took quite a while to finish, into the wee hours of the AM, but the looks on the faces of my co-workers that morning made it all worthwhile. Our grinch department manager, of course, wanted to know if it had been done on company time, but after being informed that it hadn't, he even brought in his personal tape recorder and played Christmas music during the next week, but it was opera or operatic..ewww...I did not know at the time that there even was such a thing! | ||
Psewick Member Username: Psewick Post Number: 101 Registered: 03-2006 |
When the train station is ultimately imploded, I would like to see all of those cool suburban hipsters who vandalized the building chained together inside first. I guess that's a little harsh... but someone should at least slap them or something. | ||
Busterwmu Member Username: Busterwmu Post Number: 459 Registered: 09-2004 |
SpiritofDetroit, I know for a fact that the graffiti on the walls in photo 10, 11, and 15 of the sequence which are taken in the Concourse was not there 5 years ago. I suppose some thugs could have done it, but with movie set cranes and lifts and equipment it would be much easier to get up that high than by piling up shopping carts and cardboard boxes. | ||
Rax Member Username: Rax Post Number: 202 Registered: 11-2007 |
A lot of things looked better 5 years ago. I wouldn't sweat it too much. Does it really matter at this point? | ||
Spacemonkey Member Username: Spacemonkey Post Number: 363 Registered: 03-2006 |
Seems like it would be dangerous to film there. | ||
Border5150 Member Username: Border5150 Post Number: 200 Registered: 03-2004 |
I heard that, in spite of the tax breaks (or whatever) being available to film in Michigan, the owner of the train station wouldnl't allow any more filming there, since it IS now too dangerous... The Big 2-0-0 for me!! | ||
Detroit313 Member Username: Detroit313 Post Number: 637 Registered: 02-2006 |
does anyone know about filming in the Packard Plant? I think that would be perfect to film in. Wasn't Robocop Filmed there? <313> | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 5044 Registered: 12-2005 |
Border5150, I had heard the same thing but now they're saying that was a "miscommunication." Michigan Central Depot owners say 'Roll 'em!' | ||
Ramcharger Member Username: Ramcharger Post Number: 544 Registered: 05-2006 |
It is really too bad the station wasn't converted into one of the casinos. It would have truly been grand, much better than an old bread factory. | ||
Ed_golick Member Username: Ed_golick Post Number: 959 Registered: 10-2003 |
I believe a super hero film was shot at the Packard Plant last summer. | ||
Detroitwhat Member Username: Detroitwhat Post Number: 7 Registered: 10-2007 |
Psewick I happen to be a "hipster suburban kid" who ventures into the train station and other vacant Detroit buildings. We don't vandalize or destroy the buildings we simply admire and try to revisit how Detroit used to be. As for the graffiti, some of it is good and these artists just need a refuge. I don't see anything being done to the building in the near future, so who cares if a few artists are just using the walls as a canvas. Would you rather them "tag" buildings that are non vacant? I think not. Do not categorize all hipster kids into being vandals. It's all part of the urban landscape that we so much admire. | ||
Sciencefair Member Username: Sciencefair Post Number: 72 Registered: 10-2007 |
Isn't it great how Matty is being rewarded with movie money for owning a decrepit death trap of a building, without having to put any extra revenue into it? | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1066 Registered: 10-2003 |
I wonder if the article should have read something like "Tax package encourages destruction of train depot". It worries me a bit that the Detroit International Bridge Company might just realise that they can make money by allowing filming inside MCS without having to spend a dime on the preservation of the building..... | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 447 Registered: 04-2004 |
Psewick is referring to the vandals Detroitwhat...which many of them are spoiled brats from the suburbs with nothing better to do than shit on these wonderful buildings (along with the owners). Taking photos for the sake of historical preservation and interest is a whole different story. (Which is one of my interests) With that said, it's an awful shame to see that graffiti. It was never there a year ago. I also agree with you 100% Sciencefair. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 1367 Registered: 11-2003 |
Detroitwhat-- If those artists need a refuge, they should use chalks on the sidewalk. Even if a building is owned by a slumlord like the MC Depot is, spray painting it without permission is vandalism and worsens the image of the building. The architects of the MC Depot did not intend for people to deface their walls. And sorry if it's a hard fact to face, but the type of people who illegally spraypaint often have companions who smash stonework. (Message edited by Burnsie on April 09, 2008) | ||
Flyingj Member Username: Flyingj Post Number: 136 Registered: 08-2006 |
EdGolick, ah yes, that's DetroitYes answer to goatse; http://defamer.com/hollywood/d efamer-casting/strike-superher oes-287522.php | ||
Southen Member Username: Southen Post Number: 398 Registered: 08-2006 |
http://www.flickr.com/photos/s outhen/sets/72157603340002047/ | ||
Hunchentoot Member Username: Hunchentoot Post Number: 83 Registered: 03-2005 |
Detroitwhat, Graffiti has been cited as a contributing reason leading to the demolition of buildings in the past. This is a city where countless buildings have been leveled for sometimes dubious reasons. It is not more noble to to tag or paint on an abandoned building than it is to deface one that is in use. I don't hate all of it -- the Dequindre Cut and United Artists have/had some excellent work. But "HI LISA" on giant columns sucks and adds a significant amount to the cost of renovation. And yes, these people often bring others who smash things for fun and otherwise loot the property. I know because I've met them and they have boasted about it to me, and on another occasion they have also stolen the property belonging to people I know. Matty is the primary one to blame for the current state of MCS, but its decay to this degree has not been inevitable even with a slumlord public-loathing monopolist owning it. Every person who has destroyed a part of it is responsible for their own actions. Also, a tagger doesn't usually do research on the conditions of the building. One could be damaging work by famous sculptors, painting over material that cannot be easily cleaned, adding to the cost of someone's limited renovation budget as well as wasting their time. Most "abandoned" buildings are owned by someone, and the conditions of their ownership are impossible to understand just by observing that the building is unused and in poor shape. So tag your mom's house. | ||
Traxus Member Username: Traxus Post Number: 134 Registered: 02-2006 |
Graffiti is going to happen, whatever. I just wish there was more etiquette on behalf of the painters, it always bothers me when I see some throw up on elaborate brick work like in the back room: http://multimedia.detnews.com/ pix/photogalleries/newsgallery /04082008trainstation/index10. htm Especially when it's a well known name, I've seen Vomit around a bit. That is a pretty recent piece, I was there about a year ago: http://theundergroundnation.co m/Visual/Photo/MichCen07.03.04 /Insignificance14.htm Not to mention that its a garbage piece of graffiti. With that much paint, that much privacy, and that much time I'd like to see something worth looking at. There's art and then there are these dick measuring contests that have engulfed the MCS. Take that shit to Packard where there is plenty of cinder block wall space for that garbage. Ironically, a lot of the work at Packard is actually worth looking at, suggesting that the better painters may in fact have some standards. </rant> | ||
Hunchentoot Member Username: Hunchentoot Post Number: 84 Registered: 03-2005 |
One of the things that I thought was beautiful with the UA graffiti was that it was all on the windows. This respected the building itself, it called attention to its neglect, it was beautiful, and as was proven in 2005, it washed right off. Like a sand mandala. Also it is on a building owned by a family who certainly have the resources to pay for some paint removal, even if they take out a loan in order to demolish salvageable properties and turn them into YMCA budget parking. |
