Interest in Michigan Central grand opening crashes website

There was so much interest in the grand reopening festivities for Detroit’s long-abandoned Michigan Central that it caused the website to crash, officials said Tuesday.

Registration for a free concert and guided tours at the newly renovated former train station opened to the public at noon, but Michigan Central said it had to put it all on pause due to overwhelming demand.

“We appreciate the community’s incredible excitement to take part in the Michigan Central OPEN celebration, however, the demand for tickets exceeded even our highest expectations and stress tests for website capacity,” Michigan Central said in a statement. “For that reason, and to ensure fairness for all, we immediately paused ticketing for both the opening concert and the open house. We will set a new date for ticket availability and open registration again at that time. We sincerely apologize.”

Michigan Central says the registration sites will relaunch at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Tickets to Detroit: The Concert will be available at livefromdetroit.eventbrite.com while tickets to the OPEN House tours from June 7-16 will be available at michigancentralopenhouse.eventbrite.com.
The free tickets are available on a first come, first served basis while supplies last.

“We thank everyone for your patience and understanding,” officials added.

The surge in interest came even as the concert’s musical acts haven’t even been announced yet, though organizers promised they will be “legendary” artists from Detroit, causing our imaginations to run wild.

The hulking train station had been abandoned for nearly 40 years and had long been considered a symbol of Detroit’s decline. In 2018, Ford Motor Co. announced it would renovate the building to build a mixed-use campus that would include its own laboratories as well as retail and restaurant options for the public, reportedly spending nearly $1 billion dollars on the project.