DETROIT – Bill Ford Jr. and his company bankrolled the billion-dollar transformation and deserve the most credit for reopening Michigan Central Station and putting on the big celebratory concert.
Ford got involved in 2018, but another Detroiter, Stanley Christmas, 75, put his flag in the ground to save Michigan Central Station nearly a decade earlier.
Christmas went to war with the Detroit City Council back in 2009. Though a security guard at the time, he took the city to court, pleaded his case himself before a judge, and stopped the demolition process in its tracks.
“It was almost a crime,” said Christmas.
Few will forget the Charles Pugh and Monica Conyers version of the Detroit City Council.
They were so exasperated with Central Station owner Matty Moroun that they voted to demolish the building, but Christmas came early.
“I was determined not to let this building, in my small powers, in my small ways, be torn down,” Christmas said.
Suing under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Christmas led one hearing in front of a judge against city attorneys, and the demolition talk seemed to end there.
So, without Christmas, Thursday’s (June 6) concert celebration would never have happened, but he wouldn’t have.
“I don’t think it was completely me, but I was a thorn in their side at the city council, and they knew who I was and what I was trying to do,” Christmas said.
The 75-year-old didn’t get an invite and didn’t try to get a ticket to the show, but Local 4 simply couldn’t bring him to the relaunch and not sneak him inside, so we did.
“It was a dinosaur, and now it’s in ecstasy, and people are going to enjoy this, use this, and get the maximum usage out of this for a long, long time, long after I’m gone,” Christmas said.
The 75-year-old said he was too excited and couldn’t say enough about Bill Ford’s billion-dollar renovation.
“I’m so happy for the Ford’s, the great family, the incredible Ford family, Christmas said. “They came and took it over and brought it back to life, and what a beautiful building it is.”
We often hear about the Spirit of Detroit. Christmas embodies that never-say-die attitude while bearing gifts for his fellow Metro Detroiters.
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