Quotes & Comments

It should’ve been down years ago.
—Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, after the council passed a resolution on Monday to tear down the Michigan Central Depot.

In July, it looked like the city of Detroit finally had it right when it agreed to tear down  a majority of Tiger Stadium. Now, the council has resorted to proving it has no idea how to run the city.
As a lifelong Tigers fan and someone who has many childhood memories inside the stands of Tiger Stadium, it hurt to agree with the demolition of the landmark. But it had done nothing but deteriorate and collect dust since the team that used to inhabit it left for Comerica Park following the 1999 season.

This time it’s different. The ballpark no longer had any use. There wasn’t going to be another sports team that would move in and make use of the over 50,000 available seats. But Detroit Central Station is still useful.

Aside from being recognized by the National Register of Historic place, the neglected train station is perfect to suit a business, market itself as a tourist attraction or to be used as a government building, such as the headquarters of the Detroit Police (a proposed idea in 2003). Built in 1913, it stood tall for several generations as a reminder of Detroit’s strength and luxury. But like the city itself, it is battered and falling apart.

The station is currently under the private owner of a multi-billionarie, Manuel Moroun. Obviously, Moroun has elected not to share his wealth on an important site in Detroit, instead focusing on adding another bridge to Canada.

I’m aware the city does not have a lot of money. But if they were wise, the council would elect to buy the building off of Moroun and develop it in an attempt to bring tourism back into the city.
But then again, this isn’t the greatest group of politicians in the country. This is the same group that heavily criticized Jay Leno for hosting a free show to the unemployed because he held it in Auburn Hills and not within city limits. Sounds like a class act to me.

What a mess. At least it’s baseball season.

—Mike Feld
Sports Editor

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=5589

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Apr 8 2009. Filed under Opinion, Quotes & Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com