Detroit (AFP) - The hollow hulk of Detroit's once majestic train station draws a steady stream of tourists to see how far the mighty Motor City has fallen.The Beaux Arts building was the tallest railway station in the world when it was built in 1913, and its 18-storey office tower once housed more than 3,000 workers.
Abandoned to the elements -- and to vandals who smashed its windows, spray painted its yellow brick walls and stole its brass fixtures, marble and decorative railings -- Michigan Central escaped demolition largely because the city lacked the funds for such a monumental task.
"It's kind of like the ancient pyramids -- once an amazing place and now completely run down," said Bernhardt Karg, an IT manager who was taking a group of friends visiting from Germany on a ruin tour.
There are signs of life behind the razor wire fence erected to keep the vandals and squatters out. A handful of new windows fill the gaping frames and trucks and workmen come and go. So far, no formal plans for the building have been announced.
The city of Detroit's spectacular bankruptcy -- the largest in US history when it was filed in July and a complex legal process expected to take years to complete -- has masked a long-sought revival which is gathering momentum.
