Renaissance Center | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General information | |||||||||||
Location | 400 E Jefferson Avenue Detroit, Michigan 48243 United States | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°19′49″N83°02′24″W / 42.33020°N 83.03992°W | ||||||||||
Owned by | Detroit Transportation Corporation | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
Connections | DDOT 9 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Structure type | Elevated | ||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | July 31, 1987 | ||||||||||
Rebuilt | 2004 | ||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||
2014 | 487,758 | ||||||||||
Rank | 2 out of 13 | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
|
Renaissance Center station is a Detroit People Mover station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located on Jefferson Avenue at Beaubien Boulevard, attached to the Renaissance Center complex. The station's lobby is located inside the Renaissance Center, on its second floor, with a street-level entrance connected by an elevator; a skybridge connects the lobby to the station structure.
The station serves the Renaissance Center, which provides access to the Detroit Riverwalk, and is connected by skybridge to the Millender Center, which also has its own People Mover station. [1] In 2014, this stop was the second most heavily trafficked (behind only Greektown) with 487,758 riders. [2]
The original Renaissance Center station opened with the system on July 31, 1987, and was built into a large concrete berm separating the Center from downtown Detroit. The station and berms were demolished in September 2002, after which the current station was completed, opening on November 22, 2004. [3] [4] [5]
The People Mover shut down temporarily on March 30, 2020, due to decreased ridership amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [6] Following the system's May 2022 restart, the station reopened on September 14, 2022. [7]
Both the original and rebuilt stations opened with tile mosaics created by George Woodman. The original station's work, Dreamers and Voyagers Come to Detroit, consisted of hundreds of multicolored hexagonal tiles, designed by Woodman to connect in infinite combinations. [8] It was destroyed in 2002 with the station's demolition, and Woodman was commissioned to design a replacement work, Path Games, for the new station. [5] Path Games emulates its predecessor, with 2,625 square tiles of similar design. [9]
The station's lobby also features Siberian Ram, a bronze sculpture by Marshall Fredericks, a Michigan sculptor best known for creating The Spirit of Detroit . Siberian Ram is displayed against a backdrop of green Pewabic Pottery tiles, similar to those used at Cadillac Center station, flanked on either side by Path Games. [10]
The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, shortened to EPCOT or E.P.C.O.T., was an unfinished concept for a planned community, intended to sit on a swath of undeveloped land near Orlando, Florida. It was created by Walt Disney in collaboration with the designers at Walt Disney Imagineering in the 1960s. Based on ideas stemming from modernism and futurism, and inspired by architectural literature about city planning, Disney intended EPCOT to be a utopian autocratic company town. One of the primary stated aims of EPCOT was to replace urban sprawl as the organizing force of community planning in the United States in the 1960s. Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial, and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, "Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future".
The Detroit People Mover (DPM) is a 2.94-mile (4.73 km) elevated automated people mover system in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The system operates in a one-way loop on a single track encircling downtown Detroit, using Intermediate Capacity Transit System linear induction motor technology developed by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 656,500, or about 2,700 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.
Pewabic Pottery is a ceramic studio and school in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1903, the studio is known for its iridescent glazes, some of which grace notable buildings such as the Shedd Aquarium and Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The pottery continues in operation today, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.
The Renaissance Center, commonly known as the RenCen, is a complex of seven connected skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riverfront and is owned and used by General Motors as its world headquarters. The central tower has been the tallest building in Michigan since its completion in 1977.
The Guardian Building is a landmark skyscraper and class-A office building in downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Financial District. Built in 1928 and finished in 1929, the building was originally called the Union Trust Building and is a bold example of Art Deco architecture, including art moderne designs. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, and is currently owned by Wayne County.
The David Whitney Building is a historic class-A skyscraper located at 1 Park Avenue, on the northern edge of Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Grand Circus Park Historic District. The building stands on a wedge-shaped site at the junction of Park Avenue, Woodward Avenue, and Washington Boulevard. Construction on the 19-floor structure began in 1914.
The Millender Center is a mixed-use complex in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The complex spans two city blocks, containing a retail atrium, Detroit People Mover station, and parking garage on its first seven floors, plus the 33-floor Renaissance City Club Apartments and a 20-floor, 265-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Developed by Forest City Enterprises and completed in 1985, the Millender Center is now mostly owned by Bedrock Detroit.
The architecture of metropolitan Detroit continues to attract the attention of architects and preservationists alike. With one of the world's recognizable skylines, Detroit's waterfront panorama shows a variety of architectural styles. The post-modern neogothic spires of One Detroit Center refer to designs of the city's historic Art Deco skyscrapers. Together with the Renaissance Center, they form the city's distinctive skyline.
The Detroit International Riverfront is a tourist attraction and landmark of Detroit, Michigan, extending from the Ambassador Bridge in the west to Belle Isle in the east, for a total of 5.5 miles along the Detroit River. The International Riverfront encompasses a cruise ship passenger terminal and dock, a marina, a multitude of parks, restaurants, retail shops, skyscrapers, and high rise residential areas along with Huntington Place. The Marriott at the Renaissance Center and the Robert's Riverwalk Hotel are also situated along the International Riverfront. Private companies and foundations together with the city, state, and federal government have contributed several hundred million dollars toward the riverfront development. Key public spaces in the International Riverfront, such as the RiverWalk, Dequindre Cut Greenway and Trail, William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor, and a cruise ship passenger terminal and dock at Hart Plaza complement the architecture of the area. The area provides a venue for a variety of annual events and festivals including the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Detroit Free Press International Marathon, the Detroit International Jazz Festival, Motor City Pride, the North American International Auto Show, River Days and Detroit China Festival. In February 2021, the Detroit International Riverfront was voted best riverwalk in the United States by USA Today readers. It was selected a second time as the best riverwalk in the U.S. in 2022.
Planning and development in Detroit since the late 20th century has attempted to enhance the economy and quality of life of Detroit, Michigan, United States. In 1970, the private group Detroit Renaissance began to facilitate development in the city. Its successor, Business Leaders for Michigan, has continued to facilitate development into the 21st century. Projects have included new commercial facilities, revitalization of neighborhoods, hospitality infrastructure, and improvements to recreational and public facilities, such as the QLine light rail project.
George Edgar Woodman was an American ceramicist, painter, and photographer.
Carlo Alfred Romanelli (1872–1947) was an Italian sculptor, born in Florence, Italy August 24, 1872 and died August 9, 1947. He came to the United States in 1902, settling in Los Angeles, California. He moved to Detroit, Michigan in the early 1920s. He was the son of Italian sculptor Raffaello Romanelli (1856–1928) who created the 1927 bust of Dante Alighieri on Belle Isle Park in Detroit. Among Carlo Romanelli's Detroit works are the bronze tablet of Cadillac's landing, now at the Cadillac Center People Mover Station downtown, and La Pieta at the entrance of Mt. Elliott Cemetery. Carlo attended the Royal Academy of Art in Italy and studied with his father and sculptor Augusto Rivalta; Rivalta's Detroit statue of Christopher Columbus (1910) is now at Jefferson Avenue and Randolph Street.
Grand Circus Park station is a public transit station in downtown Detroit, Michigan, served by the Detroit People Mover and the QLine. The station takes its name from the adjacent Grand Circus Park. It is also the terminus of the D2A2 commuter bus to Ann Arbor, and serves as a transfer point to SMART's FAST Michigan and Woodward express bus lines.
Cadillac Center station is a Detroit People Mover station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located at the intersection of Gratiot Avenue and Library Street, beneath the One Campus Martius parking garage. It is named for the Cadillac Center, a shopping center proposed for construction nearby in the 1980s, but never built.
Greektown station is a Detroit People Mover station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located on Beaubien Street at Monroe Street in the Greektown Historic District, for which it is named. The station's lobby is located inside Hollywood Casino at Greektown, connected to the platform structure by a short skybridge. Its exterior features a large neon sculpture designed by Stephen Antonakos.
Millender Center station is a Detroit People Mover station in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located inside of the Millender Center, on the building's fifth floor, with elevators and escalators inside the building connecting the station to street level.
Financial District station is a Detroit People Mover station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Located on Larned Street in the city's Financial District, the station is attached to 150 West Jefferson, with direct access from the platform to the building's lobby.
West Riverfront station is a Detroit People Mover station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located on Steve Yzerman Drive across from the former site of the Joe Louis Arena, near the intersection of 3rd Street and Jefferson Avenue, where M-10 terminates.
Huntington Place station is a Detroit People Mover station in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is located inside the Huntington Place convention center, on the third floor near Congress Street, with elevators and escalators inside the building connecting the station to street level.