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Detroit's Decaying Old Train Station Has 5 New Windows and No One Knows Why
- joezydeco 13y agoIf you're going to renovate the building into something like apartments or offices, wouldn't you want to create a model unit to photograph (from the inside) and use for later?
- CaveTech 13y agoThere won't be any "model" units in this building anytime soon, unless you staff it with 24/7 security.
- GavinB 13y agoSimplest explanation: The owners had them installed to test different contractors, designs, and/or materials. Wouldn't you have someone put a few in before you signed a contract to put them all up?
- notatoad 13y agoTypically no, you wouldn't. Building contractors aren't teenage web designers, they don't put up with that sort of nonsense. Either you give them the whole job, or they walk away.
- devicenull 13y agoYou think someone is going to walk away from a job that size because you asked them to put in one window to start with? I seriously doubt it
- notatoad 13y agoMaybe not in Detroit, but most places, yeah. If a customer signals that they're going to be a pain in the ass, the contractor will bail. There's no shortage of work for builders.
- rst 13y agoIn Detroit?
- unreal37 13y agoThere are hundreds of windows to be added. The owner is a billionaire. The contractor will do whatever he asks. Also, maybe they're testing window designs and not checking out the contractors work. "Does it fit?" "Let's order 3 and try." It's not hard to imagine why someone would want to install a few windows in a big abandoned building before installing all of them.
- marshray 13y agoThey do if the client and his architect ask for it. I've seen builders make little brick monoliths in a vacant lot to test the look of different materials. I think these were likely installed at the expense of a window materials salesman.
- jaynos 13y agoEspecially in Detroit where quality contractors might be harder to come by. I'd send my best guy for the chance to land the whole project.
- rickdale 13y agoQuality contractors are not hard to come by anywhere in Michigan. Because most new construction dried up, you can usually find quality contractors for good prices willing to start right away.
- jebeng 13y agoYou would probably find the best bang for your buck in Michigan. Lots of quality, just little work.
- unreal37 13y agoThey're not testing the contractors, they're testing the materials and designs.
- aaron695 13y agoI assumed art, but also like the test theory
- KerrickStaley 13y agoWho upvotes irrelevant junk like this?
- Claudus 13y agoOne would assume the mystery could be solved through city permit records, but according to Todd, there are no permits, even though there should be. "For that kind of work and the dollar amount that would come with it, yes, permits would be required," says Todd. Wow, you need a permit in Detroit to put glass into a window?
- blackjack48 13y agoYou do in most major metros. Especially if the building is considered a "historic resource."
- dsl 13y agoI live in a 10 story condo building in San Francisco, and had a window crack during a Giants fireworks show. After speaking to our building manager I found out the cost to replace a window above the 3rd floor is about $10k. You need all sorts of specialized permits, a contractor, and a paramedic on site during the work.
- laurenstill 13y agoparamedic on the window floor, or at ground level?
- billybob255 13y agoOn a historic building 100+ feet off the ground? Yes, permits are generally required wherever you are. It's not quickly replacing a ground floor window in the suburbs.
- pudquick 13y ago"Work is continuously occurring in the interior" Might be nice to have a window in a room so you have a dry area to stage your work from or take a break in. Maybe pair it with a lockable interior door for overnight storage.
- coldcode 13y agoI would have thought it should have 8 New Windows and no start button.
- jimmy90 13y agoThat dipshit from trust me I am lying talked about Detroit.
- akkartik 13y agoAh, the owners are the 'bridge to Canada' family: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4695608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4695608
- e2e8 13y agoThankfully the voters voted for the new bridge. http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/michigan_proposal_6_call_for_v.html http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/michigan_pro...
- IvyMike 13y agoMy guess is that someone was doing a video or photo shoot inside, and needed a window for their scene.
- mturmon 13y agoThat was my guess too. But the owners do seem to be oddballs, so maybe seeking a sensible reason is unwarranted.
- rglover 13y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory
- jwarzech 13y agoWill be interesting to see if anything starts moving with this. I drive by it everyday (our office is downtown Detroit) and it never ceases to amaze me how you can practically 'see-through' the building with all the windows missing.
- LeafStorm 13y agoThe funny thing is that according to Freshwater Railway's fictitious "history of Michigan Central Station" page [1], 2013 is the year that the Marouns sold the station to Freshwater Railway Corporation to begin constructing a commuter rail depot. [1] http://fwrail.org/mcs.htm http://fwrail.org/mcs.htm
- mariuolo 13y agoArticle doesn't it say whether the train station is abandoned or still functional.
- jwarzech 13y ago"...former train station" It hasn't been operational since the late-80s
- garrettlarson 13y ago> Michigan Central Station stopped serving trains in 1988 with multiple plans to redevelop the building falling through since. The Morouns have owned the building since 2001. FTA
- kwx 13y ago..squatters.
- losethos 13y agoI wrote ever line of the 140,000 lines of code, including the 64-bit compiler from scratch. It's 64-bit with no legacy 32-bit shit like ELF. Fucken retards think 640x480 is real mode. It's 64-bit. God said 640x480.