Places / People Mover / Stop 11 of 13
Detroit People Mover stationCadillac Center
The station for Campus Martius and Hudson’s Detroit, home to Pewabic’s greatest historic tile hoard; its ridership quintupled in 2024.
- Code
- CC
- Opened
- July 31, 1987
- Boardings 2023
- 14,653
- Boardings 2024
- 68,391 (+367%)
01 / Story
The station’s story
It is named for the Cadillac Center shopping mall planned nearby in the 1980s but never built. The station sits at Gratiot Avenue and Library Street beneath the One Campus Martius parking garage; when that garage was built for Compuware’s headquarters, the station closed temporarily and the structure literally rose around it. It survived almost untouched, gaining only a larger entrance and a walkway to the garage.
The platform and stairwell are lined with Diana Pancioli’s mosaic “In Honor of Mary Chase Stratton”. Its 26,000 tiles were made by Pewabic in the 1930s for a Stroh Brewery building never built; the Stroh family kept them for fifty years before donating them to the People Mover art commission. On the stair wall hangs Italian sculptor Carlo Romanelli’s 1901 bronze tablet to Madame Cadillac, wife of Detroit’s founder, on permanent loan from the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The Campus Martius QLINE stop is a block away. It was the penultimate station to reopen after the pandemic, on May 23, 2023, and with free rides and a reviving downtown its ridership leapt from 14,653 in 2023 to 68,391 in 2024, one of the biggest jumps on the system.
- A Pewabic mosaic of 26,000 1930s tiles
- Romanelli’s 1901 bronze from the DIA
- Campus Martius and Hudson’s Detroit
- One of 2024’s biggest ridership gains
02 / From the window
What you see from the car
The station is enclosed in the garage’s concrete, but through the openings you catch Campus Martius and see the Hudson’s tower rising on the old store’s site.
03 / Art in the Stations
Art at this station
Mx. Granger · CC0 Diana Kulisek Pancioli / Pewabic Pottery · 1987
In Honor of Mary Chase Stratton
tile mosaic, 26,000 1930s tiles
This tribute to Pewabic’s founder uses 26,000 tiles Pewabic made in the 1930s for a Stroh Brewery building that was never built; the Stroh family kept them for fifty years before donating them to the commission.
Carlo Romanelli · 1901
In Memory of Madame de la Mothe Cadillac
bronze tablet (on permanent loan from the DIA)
The Italian sculptor’s bronze tablet honouring the wife of Detroit’s founder, lent to the station from the Detroit Institute of Arts’ storage.
04 / Timeline
Station timeline
Opens
With Pancioli’s mosaic and the Romanelli tablet.
A derailment
After a manhole cover fell onto the track.
A garage rises around it
Temporary closure while One Campus Martius is built.
Reopens
Second to last after the pandemic.
Five times the riders
From 14,653 to 68,391 boardings.
The station is part of the loop today; today’s departures are shown above, per timetable.
05 / Curiosities
Curiosities
It is the nearest station to the Skillman Branch Library; the DTC also lists Capitol Park and the water department offices.
The 2025 assessment sometimes calls it “Cadillac Square” station.
A closer look
Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-09-25
Every figure is compiled from the sources below, including the DTC’s official pages, board minutes and its 2025–2026 planning documents. Where sources differ, we give both. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, freely licensed and credited per author.
06 / Nearby
A short walk away
Places, restaurants and venues from our guide, with straight-line distance and an estimated walking time.
- 2 min walk · 145 mDeluxx FluxxA basement nightclub and event space in The Belt alley downtown, pairing DJ nights with art installation and arcade games.
- 5 min walk · 290 mSolo Latin-éBilled as Detroit's only all-Latin burlesque and drag revue, staged each year around Latin Heritage Month.
- 5 min walk · 306 mParamita SoundA record store and downtown bar on Broadway Street hosting intimate, community-based DJ nights.
- 6 min walk · 343 mBleu DetroitA downtown Woodward Avenue nightclub with DJ-driven nights spanning hip-hop, house, techno, Latin and Top 40.
6 min walk · 354 mGreektownRestaurants, historic facades, and evening city life around Monroe Street.
6 min walk · 360 mDetroit Opera HouseA former movie palace turned opera house, bringing opera and dance into downtown Detroit.- 6 min walk · 387 mLevel Two Bar & RooftopA Greektown bar and rooftop above The Greek restaurant, with DJ nights and house and techno day parties.
7 min walk · 408 mSaint Andrew’s HallAn intimate concert experience inside a historic Detroit community hall.- 7 min walk · 418 mThe Elephant RoomA bar and kitchen next to Saint Andrew's Hall in Bricktown, with an outdoor patio and a wide range of DJ nights.
Around the station
- Campus Martius Park 3 min
Downtown’s living room: ice rink, beach, concerts.
- Hudson’s Detroit 3 min
The tower on the site of the old department store.
- One Campus Martius the station’s building
Former Compuware headquarters, now Rocket offices.
- Skillman Branch Library 2 min
The downtown branch library.
07 / Events
Events near this station
Upcoming events at nearby venues, from our event guide.
Oct 8, 2026, 7:30 PMDetroit Story Fest
Detroit Opera House · 6 min walkDetroit Story Fest — opera performance at Detroit Opera House, Detroit.
Oct 17, 2026, 7:30 PMBallets Jazz Montréal
Detroit Opera House · 6 min walkBallets Jazz Montréal — ballet or dance performance at Detroit Opera House, Detroit.
Nov 1, 2026, 2:30 PMTosca
Detroit Opera House · 6 min walkTosca — opera performance at Detroit Opera House, Detroit.
Nov 5, 2026, 7:30 PMTosca
Detroit Opera House · 6 min walkTosca — opera performance at Detroit Opera House, Detroit.
Nov 7, 2026, 7:30 PMTosca
Detroit Opera House · 6 min walkTosca — opera performance at Detroit Opera House, Detroit.
Jan 23, 2027, 7:30 PMRENNIE HARRIS PUREMOVEMENT American Street Theater
Detroit Opera House · 6 min walkRENNIE HARRIS PUREMOVEMENT American Street Theater — stage performance at Detroit Opera House, Detroit.