Ford Motor Co. announced that Google will join its effort to transform an abandoned train station in Detroit into a research center for electric and autonomous vehicles.
Detroit and the state of Michigan have agreed to provide infrastructure and other support to the Central Michigan Innovation District that will occupy the abandoned station and other nearby buildings in the historic Corktown neighborhood adjacent to downtown, Ford said.
“Google’s arrival as a founding partner is exactly the kind of investment and progress I knew was possible to rejuvenate our hometown.”, Ford Motor Co. manager Bill Ford said in a statement. “I am extremely pleased that the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan are joining this ambitious effort.”
Ford announced plans to create the Central Michigan Innovation District in 2018, shortly after acquiring the 46,450-square-meter, 18-story rail hub. Renovation of the century-old building is expected to be completed next year, Ford Motor Co. Fund President Mary Culler told The Associated Press.
Ford’s intention is to research, test and launch new vehicles from there.
The station, which towers over Corktown, has been abandoned since the last train left in 1988 and has become a symbol of Detroit’s decline, from America’s manufacturing powerhouse to the country’s biggest municipal bankruptcy.
Source: Gestion
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