Rights Held By Tom Drake
Copyright Creative Commons

The Greyline’s location was once home to a bus terminal! You might have guessed that, given that our facade includes a sign that reads “Ann Arbor Bus Depot,” but when it opened on September 5, 1940, the station was named the Eastern Michigan Motorbus Terminal. It was built for $60,000 and replaced a brick building that had originally served as a station on the interurban railroad. The station housed the Michigan-based Blue Goose (owned by Eastern Michigan Motorbuses), and two national ones—Short Way and Greyhound Lines.

The building was designed in the Streamline Moderne style, a sub-style of Art Deco that is known for its simplicity and lack of ornamentation as well as long horizontal lines and curved forms. Streamline Moderne design elements on the Ann Arbor Bus Depot include the curved glass windows and black granite base surrounding the entrance, as well as the stainless steel-trimmed and porcelain enamel marquee, also featuring curved corners, above the entrance.  The Greyline still holds true to this style with its interior design, and signature pieces that have been restored from the original building. 

Streamline Moderne represented a break from the complex design and heavy ornamentation of earlier architectural styles in favor of futuristic, aerodynamic elements that suggest movement and speed, and was often used on buildings associated with transportation. The building’s design also represented progress and embracing the future. Something we like to think we are good at as well.  

There were alterations to the station in the decades that followed, and eventually Greyhound acquired Blue Goose and Short Way. A series of Greyhound remodels in the 1970s resulted in the removal of a number of decorative elements, so only a few original features remained when the station was demolished in 2014 to make way for a hotel, the Residence Inn by Marriott. 

The curved glass facade and marquee sign were saved and restored, and the Men’s and Women’s signs for the Greyline restrooms are the originals from the station! We worked with the architecture firm Cornerstone Design to incorporate the Art Deco design of the bus depot sign into the design of the event space. During construction, managing partner Grace Singleton told MLive, “We’re very excited to find this space,” said Singleton. “This is a unique place. There’s nothing like it in downtown Ann Arbor. We really wanted a venue that would help make our guests’ event dreams come true. The room has enough beauty that it stands alone. But we can also tailor it to a specific event, and whatever perfect dreams someone might have in their head for that event.”

More historical photos of the bus depot can be found on the Ann Arbor District Library local history archives and the University of Michigan Digital Library Collection.