Belle Isle Park..... (Detroit, Clinton: sale, house, bankruptcy)

[Daytonnatian]

From what I've seen, this looks like the coolest park in the country. But, it's run down, I guess (so I've heard, because for me it has to look about like Hiroshima after the bomb to be considered run-down).

Do y'all think it should be "reborn"? It could potentially be a stellar tourist attraction for the city, bringing millions of dollars of revenue into the city.

Sorry this is random, but I had to get a local, non-relative perspective...

[Dexterguy]

The City of Detroit, the owner of Belle Isle, does not take care of Belle Isle at all. At least not the way that it should be. The Aquarium closed in 2005, the Detroit Boat House has been abandoned for over a decade now. It took the city a year just to fix its famous fountain, thankfully it was fixed a few months ago. The Isle needs to be marketed better, not only to City residents, but to suburbanites and the people of SE Michigan.

Belle Isle also needs some "outside" help that it probably will not get anytime soon. The City of Detroit just can't afford the upkeep of the Isle, and forget about improves.

[Wingnatic]

There is a post in this forum somewhere ( I won't look for it lol ) where I mentioned that I had read in the Detroit News that someone ( can't remember who) mentioned the City of Detroit should sell Belle Isle to the Metroparks system .I'll look around for the article , and I have no idea if Metroparks even made an offer .

[Wingnatic]

The Free Press (not News) has the article in archive , but I did find my post . If they don't/can't take care of it , they should sell it .

FREE PRESS EDITORIAL
Bing faces painful city choices
There are no easy options for city to avoid what a financial manager could do
May 17, 2009

Picture Belle Isle as one of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, replete with toll booths on the bridge. Or trash collection in Detroit handled exclusively by a private contractor. Or the sale of venues such as Cobo Hall and recreation centers to private operators. Anathema? Maybe, if your guide is Detroiters' long-standing aversion to them. But these are exactly the kind of changes newly elected Mayor Dave Bing and City Council members should be discussing if they hope to avoid relinquishing their authority to a bankruptcy court or emergency financial manager. "Nothing else gets the job done," said one municipal finance expert who has served in such a role.

[Daytonnatian]

Yeah, it's really a shame that this park is in the shape it's in.

Would y'all mind giving it to Canada?

[Dexterguy]

Originally Posted by Wingnatic

There is a post in this forum somewhere ( I won't look for it lol ) where I mentioned that I had read in the Detroit News that someone ( can't remember who) mentioned the City of Detroit should sell Belle Isle to the Metroparks system .I'll look around for the article , and I have no idea if Metroparks even made an offer .

Oh No!! You can't sell off Detroit's wonderful gems! That would actually be an improvement!!

[Dexterguy]

But seriously, if the metro parks system could somehow get through to city council to sell Belle Isle I think that Belle Isle could actually develop into a place that people from all over the metro area would be excited to go to.

[Wingnatic]

Thats prime riverfront area , and I'm sure Metroparks would improve it . The City could make a bundle on it and assuming it's a business , could charge taxes ? Speaking of Canada , I read somewhere that divers have seen remnants of vehicles , trucks , etc . on the bottom of the river between Belle Isle and Canada from when the Purple Gang ran booze to the States during Prohibition in the 1920's . It must have been the shortest route . I could probably do some research on it .

The City Council is so protective of it's assets from the '' suburbs'' I think they'd rather let it go back to its original state , which is tree's and weeds .

[Dexterguy]

I hope that the new city council that gets elected in the fall are reformed and they are not stubborn and just plain absolutely ridiculous like the people in office currently, or were in office.

If you don't have the money to take care of your own assets then sell them off so someone else can take care of them. It's hard to believe that the city council gets offered help from outside people (suburbanites) to improve the city, and they won't take it, they'd rather see Cobo Hall and Belle Isle decay before outside help is used. No other "region" works this way but Detroit.

[usroute10]

To Dexerguy,

Belle Isle is already a draw for suburbanites. One day last summer, at around the time of the Grand Prix, I decided to go to Belle Isle to try to get signatures to recall Mayor Kilpatrick, and I was pleasantly surprised at how many times I was rejected by suburbanites - black, white, and everything in-between - who were hanging out at the park.

Now the park could be much more of a draw if it was maintained! If we could bring the horse staples back, open up the aquarium, restore the Boat Club, etc. it would really be something special!

About the MetroParks - I don't think in this bad economy, that the MetroParks would be willing to take on a big project like Belle Isle. Back in the 1990's, a local firm did an analysis of the park, and estimated it would cost $180 million to restore the park. Also, I am not in favor of a toll.