'Transformers 3' takes over downtown Detroit as filming nears an end

'Transformers 3' has transformed Griswold Street into a 'war zone'.

Reportedly scheduled to wrap up shooting in Detroit by Oct. 1, the 'Transformers 3' production hit high gear the past few days, dominating a three-block stretch of Griswold and setting up at various other locations downtown.

The Griswold stretch, from State Street, past Capitol Park and up to Clifford Street, looked like a war zone, with charred cars flipped everywhere, building burned out, and broken concrete scattered. It was really cool to walk through.

A block away on Washington Avenue, prop trailers were parked end to end with special cars and other pieces of the production's enormous equipment. A block further, crews were setting up banks of lights on Thursday afternoon in front of the AT&T building on Cass Avenue, preparing to film that evening. And at the Adams Street and Cass, huge white tents covered an empty parking lot to serve as the company's base camp.

But it was the Griswold Street location that drew swarms of people today. Crowds gathered at Griswold and Michigan Avenue to watch take after take. Some talked about the explosions they witnessed a night earlier when they visited the same location to see night scenes being filmed.

'Transformers 3' is scheduled to wrap shooting on Griswold this weekend. No word on where or if they'll set up elsewhere in town before finishing up.