Michigan Central now open for non-reserved, self-guided tours

DETROIT (WXYZ) — After 10 days of reserved tours, Michigan Central Station is now open to the public.

Starting this weekend, anyone can stop by Michigan Central and take a free self-guided tour every Friday and Saturday through the end of August.

In less than an hour after the opening on Friday, more than 700 people came through the doors to hear the station’s history firsthand. There was a long line waiting for the tours to begin.

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“It was phenomenal,” said Nathan Brown, who has lived in Detroit his entire life. “It’s inspiring just to look at the work that’s been done throughout the facility.”

“It brought back a lot of memories. My mom always told me about this place,” Michelle Shelton said.

For Shelton, that moment was about her mother, whose parents arrived at the station from Mississippi in 1948 and settled their family in Detroit. Until now, Shelton had only seen it as a ruin.

“She’s passed away now, so it’s nostalgic for me to be here because I wish she was here to see it,” Shelton said of her mother. “How beautiful it is and how well it’s been restored and what it will mean to the city of Detroit.”

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The station is filled with exhibits that tell the history of the station and, in some ways, the history of Detroit’s residents.

“The pictures of the people and how you walk by and read their stories, it’s phenomenal,” said Susan McAmmond.

McAmmond and Donna Edwards ran out of tickets for the reopening celebration, so they took the first tour they could get. The building welcomed Edwards’ family to Detroit when her grandparents immigrated from Poland.

“Amazing,” Edwards said. “I feel them. It feels like you’re with them.”

VIDEO: Community explores Michigan Central Station as tours begin

Community explores Michigan Central Station at the start of the tours

John Ruggiero III is one of the lucky ones who was able to experience the building in all its glory and land a job in the railroad industry right out of college.

“It’s tough what they let happen with that, what never should have happened,” Ruggiero said. “But now it’s just… they did a fantastic job.”

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On the surface, Michigan Central is just a restored old building. But to Detroiters, it is much more than that. It tells a story not only of Detroit’s past, but also of its future.

“I think it represents the recovery, the renaissance of Detroit and that there are gems hidden under the rubble,” Shelton said. “We were down and out and never coming back. It represents a rebirth and what’s possible.”

VIDEO: 103-year-old former Michigan Central Station employee visits renovated building

103-year-old former Michigan Central Station employee visits renovated building

Everyone is welcome to stop by for a self-guided tour on Fridays from 5pm to 9pm and Saturdays from 10am to 5pm.