Ben and I reach the roof, and look out at the most well-preserved level of the station - the one made to survive the elements. I leap up to the edge and look out over the entire city of Detroit. From here I can see the Ambassador bridge and even Windsor.

It's hard to see the beauty of Detroit from close up. When you're walking on the streets, you see bums, grime, and broken roads. Most people I know see no reason to enter Detroit proper, and don't understand how cool it is, and how cool it could be. From atop the station, you see the sleek lines and lights of a city that has a chance to become something more than it is. I would be so happy if some day, when I say I'm from Detroit, people would say "How cool!" instead of "Have you ever been shot at?" or "Is it rough?" High above everyone else, I see the best parts of our city.

On this particularly bright spring morning, we take a few pictures and meet a couple who've come up to the roof to look around and have lunch. This place is ideal for contemplation, and the view itself is enough to inspire poets, artists, and musicians. Of course the temptation remains to find out what it would be like to jump... I'm surprised no one has done it yet.

I hope that the station will be used well instead of torn down. Much of it is in very poor shape at this point, but the building itself stands there, 100 years old, and likely to last another 100 or 200 years before falling on it's own. The outer structure, beyond some serious cleaning, is perfect. If I happen to run into a few million, I'd love to renovate the building, turn it into a swanky condo, restaurant on the ground floor. Presuming it hasn't been destroyed.

Update: My last visit was in April of 2003. You'll find a few of the photos from that occasion in my MCS Gallery.

Update 2: I created an MCS Advice page for those people who want to try for themselves.

Latest News: Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has actually announced an agreement to turn MCS into a police station. This has long been rumored, but now he's put his mouth on the line. Rumor is that the Ambassador Bridge Company will pay for the renovation if the city agrees to be a permanent tenant.

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