Latest news with #BelleIsle
Yahoo
12-08-2025
- General
- Yahoo
DNR seeks public input on prioritizing future Belle Isle improvements
Belle Isle park managers are seeking community input on what improvement projects to prioritize next at the city's island park on the Detroit River. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Belle Isle Conservancy are asking for input on 11 potential investments designed to significantly enhance enjoyment of Belle Isle Park. Visitors, community members, stakeholders and others interested in this beloved park are encouraged to learn more and rank 11 potential large-scale projects. Links to both the project page and online public survey are available at and the survey is open through Labor Day weekend. This public feedback is a key component of the development of a new Belle Isle strategic development plan, which builds upon the 2018 Belle Isle Park Strategic Management Plan, DNR officials said. Potential projects for consideration include: Beach. Extend the beach and renovate the bath house. Boathouse. Restore and reactivate the Belle Isle Boathouse for public use. Park cafe. Create a park cafe at the Belle Isle White House. Canals and trails. Improve access to canals and create trails. Carillon Peace Tower. Renovate the Nancy Brown Carillon Peace Tower. Kids Row. Create a bigger, better Kids Row Playground. Music band shell. Restore and activate the Remick Music Band Shell. Piers and docks. Rebuild piers and docks for fishing and potential ferry service. Sawmill. Create an interpretive center at the historic sawmill. Stable yard. Clean up and activate former stable yard. Community and volunteer space. Create community and volunteer space at the historic police headquarters. This summerlong community outreach effort also includes an on-the-ground team of staff and volunteers who will gather feedback at the park and at various community events throughout Detroit. More: Belle Isle's transformation under state control: What's changed, what's still coming More: Decades of Michigan lake data, hidden in filing cabinets, digitized with volunteer help The strategic development plan team created this list of projects by evaluating park buildings and spaces, reviewing public comments during the recent multimodal study and consulting with staff. Since these are significant undertakings, moving forward on any of them likely would require a strategic funding approach, including philanthropic partnerships. Critical ongoing efforts, such as opening restrooms, slowing vehicle traffic, keeping the bridge open and improving trash pickup, are not listed as potential projects because work is already underway to address them. "This fall, the project team will draft a set of recommendations to improve park resources for the next 10 years based on their research and public input," said Amanda Treadwell, urban area field planner for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. The final recommendations will be shared with the community in early 2026. "We're looking forward to hearing from people all across the city of Detroit and beyond about how we can make this treasured destination better for everyone," said Tom Bissett, urban district supervisor for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. For more information, contact Amanda Treadwell at TreadwellA@ or 313-269-7430. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DNR seeks public input on prioritizing Belle Isle improvements Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The 67th annual Ford Fireworks: A beloved tradition
Hundreds of people gathered at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on the afternoon of Monday, June 23, to save their viewing spot for the 67th annual Ford Fireworks show. The Fireworks show is put on by The Parade Company, the same company responsible for the annual Thanksgiving Day parade in the city. The CEO of the company said that this year would be the biggest and best show yet. The mid-90-degree weather didn't stop families from setting up their front-row seats to the much-anticipated show. Most people who were first to arrive set up chairs at the edge of Hart Plaza, overlooking the Detroit River. By 6 p.m., Belle Isle had closed to vehicles after reaching capacity for the fireworks. Many families sat under trees or umbrellas to stay out of the sweltering heat, and children and adults alike ran through and stood under the Horace E. Dodge and Son memorial fountain to cool off. But 76-year-old Excell Moore and 77-year-old Wanda Smith sat happily in their chairs without shade and soaked in the sun. The couple arrived at Hart Plaza around 2 p.m. to reserve the same spot they've sat in every year for the past 25 years — with the exception of 2020. They come hours in advance with camping chairs, blankets and plenty of snacks to keep them satisfied for their eight-hour wait. The two have been a couple for 28 years and have made the Ford Fireworks show a beloved tradition. "It's always been a day for the people," said Moore. Smith nodded in agreement as she ate potato salad and Fritos chips. "But it seems like there is less people and more (area) blocked off every year," Moore said, pointing to the fence next to him. Although the added changes to the park can be an annoyance, the couple is eager to watch the new fireworks show. Smith's favorite part is the finale, and Moore's favorite part is seeing how the people and traditions change each year. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2025 Ford Fireworks show draws the crowds
CBS News
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
2025 Ford Fireworks in Detroit. Here's what to know about parking, street closures and curfew
The Ford Fireworks show along the Detroit River will begin around 10 p.m. Monday, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to gather for views framed by the downtown Detroit skyline. This event is produced by The Parade Company. To watch the fireworks in person, authorities suggest picking a spot from the public viewing areas at Hart Plaza, Spirit Plaza or Belle Isle. Admission to the public viewing areas is free, but vehicle passes or parking garage fees apply at specific locations. A number of street closures, parking restrictions and public transportation announcements are in effect that day. Hart Plaza and Spirit Plaza Both Hart Plaza and Spirit Plaza are weapon-free zones for the public, with no weapons or knives permitted. Backpacks will be searched. Both plazas will be open until capacity is reached. Pedestrian set-ups and/or gatherings will not be permitted before 2 p.m. on June 23, no re-admittance for those who leave either plaza. Everyone who wishes to be part of a group should arrive together, as reserving an area in excess of the number of people currently in the group is prohibited. Coolers are allowed, but will be searched. Cooking is prohibited. Flames, fires and fireworks by the public are prohibited in the plazas. Belle Isle viewing Belle Isle will open at 5 a.m. June 23 to pedestrians and bicyclists. Vehicles will not be allowed on the island until 2 p.m. that day. From 2 to 4 p.m., all vehicles will be directed to the paddock area (except those with valid ADA placards). RV parking will be in the paddock area near the Casino. Once the island's capacity is reached, no additional vehicles will be admitted to the park. To get updates on when the island is full, text GEM to 80888. Motorists will need the Recreation Passport to enter the island. The passport, which is only needed for vehicles, may be purchased at the entrance for $14. The passport is $11 for out-of-state and international visitors for the day. Viewing from the MacArthur Bridge on Belle Isle will not be permitted. Alcohol consumption is prohibited on the island. No tents and canopies allowed. Consumer fireworks are prohibited on the island. Closed locations Several riverside parks will be closed on June 23, including the following: RiverWalk in its entirety from Gabriel Richard Park to Huntington Place AB Ford Park, 100 Lenox Dequindre Cut Erma Henderson Park, 8800 E. Jefferson Ave. Gabriel Richard Park, 7130 E. Jefferson Ave. Lakewood East, 14578 Riverfront Blvd. Maheras-Gentry Park, 12550 Avondale Mariner Park, 14700 Riverside Blvd. Milliken State Park/Harbor Mt. Elliott Park, 110 Mt. Elliott Owens Park, 8430 E. Jefferson Ave. Riverside Park Stockton Park, 9250 Dwight Municipal parking spots Detroit's Municipal Parking Department will not enforce the time limits on parking meters after 5 p.m. on June 23. However, motorists are advised to observe parking restrictions. Parking violators will be ticketed and, in some instances, vehicles may be towed. Motorists will be ticketed for: Improper parking (vehicles within 20 feet of a crosswalk; within 15 feet of an intersection; within 30 feet of a stop sign or traffic control device; and within 15 feet of a fire hydrant) Parking in front of fire hydrants and bus stops or blocking driveways and alleys. Parking in designated zones, such as handicap zones (without proper credentials), fire lanes, no parking zones or no standing zones Parking garages The Municipal Parking Department will provide parking at two city-owned garages. Ford Underground Garage, 30 East Jefferson Avenue, will be open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. The parking fee is $10. Eastern Market Garage, 2727 Riopelle Street, will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The Parking fee is $5. Fireworks viewing and tailgating are prohibited at the parking garages. For more information, call (313) 221-2500 or go online to Street and freeway closures The following traffic changes will begin about 6 p.m. on June 23: No northbound or southbound traffic will be allowed on Woodward Avenue beginning at Park and Witherell. Motorists may cross Woodward at John R/Clifford, Grand River, and State/Gratiot. All streets south of Fort and west of Woodward will be closed. All streets south of Congress and east of Woodward will be closed. Beginning at 6 p.m., freeways may begin to close. The Detroit Police Department might adjust the closing time, depending on the volume of vehicle traffic. Juvenile curfew enforcement The City of Detroit curfew for ages 17 and under will be in effect from 8 p.m. on June 23 until 6 a.m. June 24 for the area surrounded by the Detroit River, Rosa Parks Blvd., Lodge Freeway, Fisher Freeway, the extension of Fisher Freeway east to include Gratiot Avenue, Vernor Highway, Chene Street, Atwater Street and Chene Park. Minors can view the fireworks from any approved public area. However, for their safety, minors must be accompanied by a parent, legal guardian or other responsible adult (age 21 or over), if they choose to view from within the curfew boundaries. Minors will be allowed to travel to and from work, school, church or organized activities. Minors in violation of the curfew will be taken to the Butzel Family Center, 7737 Kercheval, and held there until picked up by a parent or guardian. The parent or guardian will also receive a parental responsibility violation ticket. Lost children Families can meet up with and pick up their lost children in these locations: Huntington Place, off Atwater Drive, in the atrium Detroit Police Department 3rd Precinct, 2875 W. Grand Blvd. (313) 596-5300 Detroit Police Department 4th Precinct, 4700 W. Fort Street (313) 596-5400 Butzel Family Center, 7737 Kercheval, 628-2100 DDOT bus lines The Detroit Department of Transportation said the following bus routes will be impacted by the fireworks: Grand River (#3), Woodward northbound only (#4), Van Dyke/Lafayette (#5), Gratiot (#6), Jefferson (#9), Dexter (#16), Fort (#19), Russell (#40), Chene (#52), and Cadillac/Harper (#67). Buses running on the west side of downtown will lay over at Rosa Parks Transit Center; buses running on the east side of downtown will lay over at the Bricktown People Mover Station. For reroute information, check the DDOT site. For more information regarding DDOT service, call 313-933-1300. Detroit People Mover service The Detroit People Mover will operate from 6:30 a.m. until midnight. Riders may exit at the Financial District Station for viewing at Spirit or Hart Plaza. Due to early closures at Huntington Place, Millender Center and Renaissance Center, trains will not stop at these stations after 2 p.m. All other stations remain open. People Mover rides are free. DDOT transfers from the Rosa Parks Transit Center should board at Times Square Station or the Bricktown Station for east side layovers. For more information, go to the People Mover site or call 313-224-2160.
The Drive
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Here's Why Detroit's IndyCar Street Course 'Sucks'
The latest car news, reviews, and features. At just 1.7 miles long, the Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar Circuit is the shortest in the series. One of the few true street courses still on the open-wheel calendar, it's also one of the newest—kind of, anyway. Downtown played host to the series back in the late 1980s and early '90s (before it was even called IndyCar, in fact) prior to its move a couple miles up Jefferson Avenue to Belle Isle. IndyCar just wrapped its third race there since its relocation, and while its return to downtown has been a shot in the arm for some, not everybody is thrilled to be racing on city streets again. Pato O'Ward didn't mince words after his disappointing performance earlier this month: 'I hate this place,' he told pit lane reporters. 'It sucks.' He's not alone. Drivers have lamented that Detroit's street course is bumpy and unforgiving, common complaints when it comes to street circuits. Despite recent infrastructure pushes in the state of Michigan, there will always be room for improvement in road surface quality simply due to Detroit's decades-long maintenance backlog. But is the situation really that bad, and if so, can anything realistically be done to improve it? O'Ward counts himself among those who would like to see the Grand Prix return to Belle Isle, which hosted the race for decades and offers a self-contained venue with fast, flowing corners and better driver sight lines, but its location far outside of Detroit's downtown commercial district puts it at odds with the objectives of local business boosters. 'You get to really appreciate what an IndyCar can do at Belle Isle, and here you're just Mickey-Mousing around the whole time,' he said. Now, I'll be the first to admit I've never seen the Belle Isle circuit from the point of view of an open-wheel race car, but on paper, the old park course doesn't offer any meaningful advantages in terms of physical track width. In many cases, the right-of-ways are actually narrower than they are in downtown. Parts of the Jefferson Avenue straight are 10-15 feet wider than the old Belle Isle front straight, for example. So why does O'Ward remember it being so much less hostile? To answer that, we need to put down the paper and go outside—or at least to Google Earth. Above is a driver's perspective of each course's longest true straightaway. Jefferson Avenue in downtown might be wider in real life, but the perspective mutes that considerably. Even without the temporary walls erected on the curbing, the buildings and trees lining the street make the new course seem tighter. Throw in the barriers and catch fencing, and that compounds quickly. These shots also make the park's road surface look far better than that found in downtown, but keep in mind these images weren't captured at the same time. The pic below is current. Above is the same perspective, but from a pace vehicle that drove the course prior to this year's race. A tricky street course can be tons of fun for spectators who have the opportunity to savor slow corners and a tightly bunched field, but as dramatic as this can all seem on the ground, the lack of room for safe passing makes the racing itself less compelling. Once foul weather enters the mix, a street course can transform a bona-fide race into little more than a very expensive parade. As for widening the course? Detroit Grand Prix CEO Bud Denker says the course designers have already laid claim to as much space as they can and that the trackside walls are already right on top of the street curbing. There's simply no more elbow room left. But if they can't make it wider, can they at least make it longer? Physically, there are multiple reasons why the Grand Prix course is as short as it is. To extend the course west would either bring the end of the front straight closer to Huntington Place, eliminating much-needed runoff space, or force the course under the conference center, where race traffic would either need to be shunted through a narrow exit lane onto the continuation of Jefferson Ave (bad) or directed through the I-75 interchange with the Lodge Freeway—meaning both would need to be closed to traffic (worse). To the east, the issue is less physical and more logistical, Denker says. The first opportunity for the course to jog north beyond the existing turn at Rivard would be at Riopelle, which would divert the course north alongside a recently completed townhome development. Sprawling northward from Jefferson is the city's famed Lafayette Park residential area. Neither is the sort of neighborhood that wants IndyCars screaming through it, even for just one weekend out of the year. Without relocating it entirely, the most plausible expansion for the Detroit Grand Prix would take the course on a detour deeper into downtown as it loops back on itself from the east. Once it crosses I-375, the course is free to snake through city streets without fear of choking major arteries, plus it maintains most of the existing front straight, diminishing the impact on top speed. Hey, we all wanna go fast, right? A route similar to this would not only come close to doubling the track's length (from 1.7 to 2.9 miles), but it would loop in several major downtown landmarks, coming within a block of Campus Martius Park and the Monroe roe Street Midway. Sadly, including Woodward in the fun is essentially a non-starter. In short, the Q-Line streetcar runs all the way to its terminus, and nobody wants another Baltimore. That said, there could still be logistical headaches aplenty. Not only would this make parking more of a challenge (many of the best race-accessible garages are located somewhere along this route), but several businesses would likely take issue with the potential disruption to foot and automobile traffic alike. As badass as it would be to see IndyCars screaming through the Greektown Casino's valet lane in a Monaco-esque display of uncorked internal combustion, I imagine the safety stewards would have something to say about the arrangement. Sadly, any serious discussion of a course expansion will likely have to wait for at least a few years while the city works through ongoing road improvement projects, including a major streetscape overhaul in Greektown that will keep streets closed to vehicle traffic through at least part of 2026. The series has signed on in Detroit through at least 2028, and we can expect it to look fairly similar for the duration of that contract. But with the RenCen's days potentially numbered and multiple downtown projects vying for attention, the next generation of the Detroit Grand Prix may end up being shaped more by politics than practical necessity. Got tips? Send 'em to tips@
CBC
05-06-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Happy birthday Chrysler! Brand celebrates 100 years with Belle Isle jaunt
Chrysler marked its 100th anniversary on Wednesday by taking some historic cars out for a spin on scenic Belle Isle in Detroit. The CBC's Michael Evans was there to check it out.
