Kilpatrick commented Tuesday, in his annual state of the city address, that Detroit would purchase the building from Cen-Tra Inc., a Warren-based trucking company that also owns the nearby Ambassador Bridge, which links Detroit to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The depot will become the city's new police headquarters, which is now located in a dilapidated building at 1300 Beaubien.
While Kilpatrick says a deal is in place for the train depot, he would offer no details during his annual speech. He plans a press conference to be held next week that will outline the details—-and the costs involved.
The train depot was built in 1913 and is a landmark not far from Tiger Stadium. Over the years, various plans have been put forward for the depot—-everything from razing it to converting it to a Customs and Immigration center—-but nothing has ever moved beyond the press conference stage.
The mayor also said the city is close to being able to make a presentation about the Book-Cadillac Hotel. A deal had been reached with a development subsidiary of consumer products maker Kimberly-Clark Corp. last year to redevelop that hotel, but the deal collapsed last month just after work began because of higher-than-anticipated construction costs. Kilpatrick said the city is in negotiations with the Ferchill Group to take over the project.
For much of the 20th Century, the Book-Cadillac was the top luxury hotel in the city. It closed in the early 1980s and, like the train depot, has been the subject of various renovation plans since then that have borne little fruit.
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