The event will be marked by a short 12:30 p.m. ceremony at the location, to be attended by Edsel Ford II, chairman of the local branch board of directors; Edward Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor; Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick; and Michael Moskow, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. A construction time line is expected to be announced at the ceremony.

The current Detroit facility handles about two million checks and about 3.5 million pieces of currency a day in the Fed's role as the bank for the nation's banks and credit union. The Detroit location is a branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan visited the city in summer 2002 to announce plans for the new branch facility. Then, executives at the Detroit bank explained how the existing bank's building, at 160 West Fort St. Downtown, would be sold.

At the current facility, some $2 billion to $3 billion in cash is stored in the vault and another $8 billion is stored at the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank. Bank management went on to say that when the new facility is constructed, the split in money storage between Chicago and Detroit would be closer to 50/50.

Approximately 275 people work at the local branch, a number that is expected to stay about the same after the move.