Most of the community benefits meetings for the Ford Motor Company development of the Michigan Central Station are scheduled for Mondays.
Tonight’s meeting is an exception. It will take place tonight, Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at 6:00 p.m., at a hall of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Works (IBEW), 1358 Abbott, not too far from the station.
Quick recap of the history of the train station: a few years after the last passengers boarded a train from there, it was bought by greedy Ambassador Bridge billionaire Matty Moroun.
The place quickly fell into a state of disrepair and became a shorthand for everything that’s wrong with Detroit.
Now that the Ford Motor Company has bought the historic building, it looks like it will finally get the regular maintenance it so sorely needs.
They have to bring the place up to code first. And it looks like they’ll ask for some taxpayer funds to help make that happen.
Even if Ford didn’t ask for taxpayer funds, the magnitude of the project is such that the community benefits ordinance applies regardless.
I won’t be going to tonight’s meeting, I have a prior commitment. But I did go to the previous meeting, in which I voted for Jerry Paffendorf to join the Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC).
Paffendorf and Heather McKeon were elected to the NAC at that meeting, to represent the interests of the residents of the impact area.
For information about future meetings, go to the city’s community benefits page and scroll down to the Michigan Central Station section.