Renaissance Center station is a

Detroit People Mover The Detroit People Mover (DPM) is a Elevated railway, elevated People mover, automated people mover system in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States. The system operates in a one-way loop on a single track encircling downtown Detroit, using ...

station in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It is located on Jefferson Avenue at Beaubien Boulevard, attached to the

Renaissance Center The Renaissance Center, commonly known as the RenCen, is a complex of seven connected skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. Located on the Detroit International Riverfront, the RenCen is owned and used by General Motors ...

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. In 2014, this stop was the second most heavily trafficked (behind only

Greektown Greektown is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Greeks or people of Greek ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. History The oldest Greek dominated neighborhood outside of Greece were probably the Fener in Istan ...

) with 487,758 riders.

History

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. The People Mover shut down temporarily on March 30, 2020, due to decreased ridership amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Following the system's May 2022 restart, the station reopened on September 14, 2022.

Public art

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. 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. ''Path Games'' emulates its predecessor, with 2,625 square tiles of similar design. The station's lobby also features ''Siberian Ram,'' a bronze sculpture by

Marshall Fredericks Marshall Maynard Fredericks (January 31, 1908 – April 4, 1998) was an American sculptor known for such works as '' Fountain of Eternal Life'', '' The Spirit of Detroit'', ''Man and the Expanding Universe Fountain'', and many others. Early life ...

, a Michigan sculptor best known for creating '' The Spirit of Detroit''. ''Siberian Ram'' is displayed against a backdrop of green

Pewabic Pottery 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 I ...

tiles, similar to those used at Cadillac Center station, flanked on either side by ''Path Games''.

References

External links

DPM station overview

Dreamers and Voyagers Come to Detroit - Woodman Family Foundation
Detroit People Mover stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1987 1987 establishments in Michigan {{Detroit-struct-stub