Latest news with #BelleIsleConservancy
Yahoo
4 days ago
- 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
07-02-2025
- Yahoo
There's good old-fashioned pond hockey at Detroit's Belle Isle
It was pure Michigan on a recent Sunday on Belle Isle — the sound of metallic blades swooshing and crunching and cutting through the ice, while dormant pond grasses and cattails danced in the light winds traveling up the Detroit River. As they have for the last four or so years, the Detroit Ice Boiz gathered at the island's Lake Okonoka for some good old-fashioned pond hockey, laughs and hot dogs. 'This is a really unique opportunity for us to enjoy winter,' said 34-year-old Detroiter Dima Lavorskyi, one of the Detroit Ice Boiz organizers. (Don't let the name fool you: There are girlz on the boiz team. 'I used to play in high school,' said Dana Chicklas, 39, of Detroit. 'It's very inclusive here.') Hockey and ice skating on Belle Isle are time-honored traditions. Not just because Michigan is sometimes referred to as "Water Winter Wonderland" — it must be true if it's on our license plates — but because the park was built for it. Belle Isle was designed in 1881 by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, who had a methodology for all his park designs, according to the Belle Isle Conservancy website: 'All of Olmsted's parks follow a design principle of three zones — a formal zone, an active zone and a natural zone, which can be seen in Belle Isle Park, with the formal zone encompassing the Scott Fountain and Sunset Point, the active zone encompassing the cultural attractions and athletic fields, and the natural zone encompassing the mesic wetland forest.' The natural zone allows a four-season playground for parkgoers, but with the progression of global warming, winter has been a challenge for skaters. Lavorskyi said this winter is the first time in at least three years when the ice has been consistently thick for more than a week. He is also a believer in the 'build it and they will come' philosophy. 'We just saw an opportunity to get people together and enjoy time on ice and just have some fun.' All are welcome!! Follow the group on Instagram: @detroiticeboiz. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: There's pond hockey at Lake Okonoka on Detroit's Belle Isle
CBC
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
You'll never guess what historical gem is hiding in the basement of the Belle Isle Aquarium
While the historic Belle Isle Aquarium is known for its beautiful freshwater fish, and for being the oldest aquarium in the United States, there's a hidden gem tucked away in the building's basement that is sure to delight history buffs: a speakeasy from the 1920s. Decades later, the original bar still stands. It's a "weird little piece of Detroit history," explained Summer Ritner, the director of the aquarium. During the Prohibition era, when alcohol was illegal in the United States, Belle Isle was "the perfect spot" for booze smuggling into the United States, from Windsor. "Bad influences over there, I guess," Ritner joked. Windsor's Marty Gervais, the author of The Rumrunners, explained that 80 per cent of all the liquor and booze that went into the United States during prohibition came through Windsor. "All along the riverfront, we had I think 26 breweries that were running. Now, why do you think they would be on the riverfront? Because they were close to the United States," he said. While he had never heard of the speakeasy underneath the Belle Isle Aquarium before, he wasn't surprised, given that bootleggers would often stash liquor on the island. 'Interesting piece of the building's history' The original bar in the aquarium's basement was concrete, and that concrete remains. A few years ago staff added a wooden top and wooden panels along the sides to make it "more esthetically pleasing" but you can still see the concrete peaking through. It sat unused for decades, but in 2019, the team at the aquarium decided to revive the space for their annual staff party at the time. And since then, it has been used for volunteer appreciation events and occasionally it gets rented out for private events. There have also been times when they have incorporated it as a feature to their aquarium events so that the public can also have a chance to experience it. "We make sure that she's taken care of," Ritner said, crediting Belle Isle Conservancy volunteers for leading the preservation effort. She says they "love this space and really saw this is such a great asset and such an interesting piece of the building's history — history that needed to be preserved." The space is decorated with antiques, old liquor bottles, and glassware. Hanging on the wall is a list of House rules, playfully imagined and written by a volunteer. The first rule? "Check all your weapons with the doorman." The last rule? "We never saw you, you never saw us, that's how we like it, that's how it's stayin." The goal it to keep its original intent in tact, Ritner explained: a bar in a working space. The bar is surrounded by boxes and work equipment like fish nets. "It's a real authentic speakeasy. So there's, you know, there's dirt on the floors, there's people working in here," she said. "So we're trying to also preserve that kind of cultural aspect of what a speakeasy is, which is not, you know, always beautiful and luxurious.... It's a little bit rough." When can the public see it? According to the folklore surrounding the Belle Isle Speakeasy, the big wigs of the time would gather in the Aquarium's basement. "As well as yes, some of the more organized crime folks, I imagine have also maybe sat here and, you know, sipped away at whatever, maybe, Canadian Club whiskey, I guess!" Ritner said with a laugh. She added that the old police station in the Isle also is said to have played a role in the whole operation at the time. "The myth goes that police officers were probably somewhere intertwined in the success of this program, considering the fact that they were just right down the street, and this seems to have been a pretty good stronghold during the Prohibition era," Ritner said. Gervais agreed that police at the time "made a lot of money just looking the other way." As for whether the Aquarium might be holding an event soon that would allow the public to visit the Speakeasy in the basement? "Not yet. But stay tuned," Ritner said.
