Walter, one of the representatives, also pointed out where the company had recently beefed up security in the building; effectively making the common way of sneaking into the building virtually impossible by adding reinforced steel bars to the concourse ramps at six foot intervals three or four times...it was impressive...
Anyway what was accomplished today was a very good clean up of debris in the concourse area...where those waiting for a train would arrive or go to purchase an item from the snack shop or near the restaurant. The floor was very well swept and the kids had to have filled nearly a ton of debris in their buckets: tera cotta, bricks, lots and lots of dirt and dust, metal, and trash...
Upstairs where I was sort of in charge of we cleaned out the west stairwell leading to the mezzanine, had to make it safe to bring out the buckets;) Cleaned the first corridor past the Pullman Co. offices, the notary, and the postal services old offices. The great thing is since the floors were covered by an almost 4 inch caking of dirt they were surprisingly very intact; very little cracking, and almost no holes. We then rounded the corner and got more than 3/4's down that hallway swept out and cleaned out. John, the man in charge, myself and another guy started tackling the Pullman Co. office, tearing out the rotted floorboards, and shoveling up the soil that had formed over the years...hence some of the vegetation that had grown in.
That was just day one, and this is going to be an all summer project, or at least where summer in the city is concerned.
For all the bad things that have been said about The Ambassador Bridge company for all the bad dealings they've done with the bridge, they've actually surprised me by showing they're into our effort and are helping us every step of the way. It also should be noted, the exterior deterioration was not the result of Mouron and his company. Infact the gentleman who owned the station prior to ABC (who purchased the station for $1) left it wide open with no fencing, there's a photo from 1993 that shows the exterior looking very similar to how it looks today. Since the city and the canadian railroad company are in dispute as to who owns the former underground baggage claim/post office (where most urban explorers enter from) the building did fall victim to looters...while you can condemn ABC for not doing a better job of securing the interior, the City Of Detroit seems to own most of the blame.
From talking to the representatives who were there today it seems like progress is finally being made on Saving Detroit's Michigan Central Station =)
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