DETROIT – Officials have developed a plan to put a public square on Detroit’s Belle Isle.
Meagan Elliott, the president of the Belle Isle Conservancy, shared more details about the conservancy’s plans for a public square and provided other updates about the island.
Belle Isle welcomes millions of visitors each year
Belle Isle is a 982-acre island park located in the Detroit River and is the second most visited state park in the country, following Niagara Falls, according to Elliott. It welcomed about 5.5 million visitors last year.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources manages the grounds maintenance and runs the capital projects on the island, while conservation officers and Michigan State Police manage public safety.
The Belle Isle Conservancy handles the fundraising to support projects, handles coordination for the volunteer projects, and runs the aquarium, along with other programming.
Plans for a public square on Belle Isle
The planned square, called “The Belle Isle Commons,” would make the island more walkable for visitors.
The plan for a public square came about from the “Belle Isle Multimodal Mobility Study,” in which residents gave input about what improvements could be made to make the island more accessible, including:
- Getting on the island
- Getting around the island
Responses showed that residents want to be able to easily walk from the beach to the conservatory, and from the Dossin Great Lakes Museum to Sunset Point.
“People are really hungry for a way to get around better on the island and not have to get back in their car and go to the next parking lot to enjoy the park,” said Elliott.
Belle Isle leaders also used the study to see where visitors tend to go when they visit the park.
They discovered that the aquarium and conservatory are the top destinations for 61% of visitors.
So, they used that data to develop a plan for a public square that connects the beloved destinations on Belle Isle.
The square would encourage visitors to walk to and from their favorite destinations, rather than drive to each.
The plan centers around removing the parking lot that’s in front of the aquarium and conservatory, and creating the same number of parking spaces nearby, according to Elliott.
The plaza would make Belle Isle more walkable for guests and provide space for public programming, allowing the conservancy to attract more visitors to the park year-round and not just in the summertime.
Next steps for public square project
The conservancy has been working on the design for the Belle Isle Commons.
Elliott said they kept it pretty “rough” and don’t have fully finished renderings because they want residents to weigh in on the process.
On Sept. 16, the Belle Isle Conservancy is going to transform the lot into a temporary version of the Belle Isle Commons. The public is invited to attend, to experience it for themselves, and share their thoughts with the conservancy about what they like and what could be changed.
When will this project be done?
The timeline for the public square project depends on the money.
“At the conservancy, we always work to fundraise so that we can deliver on these capital projects that we’re asking folks so much time to weigh in on. We’re already in the process of trying to raise those dollars, and we’ll keep going with that, and we’ll be able to develop a timeline once we have funds in hand.”
Other Belle Isle projects
In addition to this planned public square, there are also several other projects underway on Belle Isle.
The iconic James Scott Memorial Fountain is undergoing a $6 million renovation for improvements. It is closed for the construction project and is expected to run again in 2027.
Read more: Iconic Belle Isle fountain to temporarily close amid $6 million renovation project
The Belle Isle Aquarium is receiving an HVAC upgrade, with most of the work being done in the basement.
So, while visitors will see fences around the aquarium, it is still open to the public from Thursday to Sunday.
There’s also a new chicken restaurant on Belle Isle. For more information about that, visit here.
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