Detroit Auto Show: Cobo Shows New Center--And High-Speed Rail?

By Marty Padgett

Marty Padgett

Editorial Director BIO

Marty Padgett is High Gear Media's Editorial Director, overseeing the words that skim across High Gear Media's portfolio of automotive destinations... More

LATEST ARTICLE
2012 VW Passat Six-Month Road Test: Wash, Wax, And 40.5 MPG
It's been nearly a month since we took delivery of our Six-Month Road Test sedan, the 2012 VW... Read More

• #11LEADERBOARD RANK
• 4951ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 100COMMENTS POSTED

1 236 views Mar 24, 2011

Follow Marty

Add to circle

Cobo Center renovations

Enlarge Photo

The plan to reinvent Detroit's Cobo Center is moving along nicely--and if the facility gets all the items on its wish list, it may also become the hub for future high-speed rail in Detroit.

The North American International Auto Show's (NAIAS) YouTube channel has published an animation video (no embed available) showing the coming renovations to Cobo Center, which began earlier this year. The $221 million plan has already put control of the center under the control of a regional authority, and has made repairs to the center's roof and current systems to address concerns of automakers about the facility's current disrepair.

Over the next three years, Cobo will get the full makeover, with glassy new additions giving the center a river view, forming a canopy over the front entrances, and capping a new Cobo Arena, which will be converted into display and meeting space.

In the official video, though, there's clearly a bigger plan afoot. The last third of the animation shows Cobo Center as the new hub for rail transportation, with a train line wrapping around the river side of the facility. Detroit is one of the cities named in President Obama's plan for high-speed rail--and it seems the city, the state and the Cobo Center authority may have a vision for integrating it into the revamped center. Purposely vague, the video's train cars suggest HSR, while the track itself doesn't.

The NAIAS says some improvements will be in place for the 2012 and 2013 Detroit auto shows, with all renovations complete in time for the 2014 NAIAS.