Detroit moves forward with plans to get historic Fort Wayne redeveloped

[masterblaster]

HourDetroit article from May 2021:

That is, rather than the city handling the project or selling out to a major developer, Detroit will divvy up the property, leasing individual buildings to a variety of organizations and companies. Fort Wayne will remain a cohesive unit, operating as a network of small adaptive-reuse projects, with tenants paying to remodel the spaces and the costs being deducted from their rent. A full redevelopment is likely to take a decade, Chief Parks Planner Meagan Elliott says

Five applicants have expressed interested in joining the fort’s current tenants, which include the Detroit Historical Society, the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, and the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition. Among the possible new arrivals is:

- a partnership between Detroit Rising Development and Grand Circus Media to turn stables into an indoor-outdoor concert venue and brewery

- C.A.N. Art Handworks and the Southwest Detroit Business Association, which hope to establish a skilled trades training center and a museum focused on the region’s Latinx community.

- Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi is looking to take ownership of the existing Great Lakes Indian Museum and remaining burial mound as cultural sites.

- James Oliver Coffee Co. co-founder David Shock wants to relocate the roastery’s site at East Davison Street and Mt. Elliott Street on Detroit’s east side — an area that Shock calls “the middle of nowhere” — to Fort Wayne, where he would also add a café.

Crain's article from March 2021 with more info


I'll keep beating this drum, but I don't understand why the city didn't take this kind of innovative approach of adaptive re-use and creating a campus of cultural amenities with the Michigan State Fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds was in a much better location and was much more well-known and beloved.

[Richard]

HourDetroit article from May 2021:



Five applicants have expressed interested in joining the fort’s current tenants, which include the Detroit Historical Society, the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, and the Historic Fort Wayne Coalition. Among the possible new arrivals is:

- a partnership between Detroit Rising Development and Grand Circus Media to turn stables into an indoor-outdoor concert venue and brewery

- C.A.N. Art Handworks and the Southwest Detroit Business Association, which hope to establish a skilled trades training center and a museum focused on the region’s Latinx community.

- Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi is looking to take ownership of the existing Great Lakes Indian Museum and remaining burial mound as cultural sites.

- James Oliver Coffee Co. co-founder David Shock wants to relocate the roastery’s site at East Davison Street and Mt. Elliott Street on Detroit’s east side — an area that Shock calls “the middle of nowhere” — to Fort Wayne, where he would also add a café.

Crain's article from March 2021 with more info


I'll keep beating this drum, but I don't understand why the city didn't take this kind of innovative approach of adaptive re-use and creating a campus of cultural amenities with the Michigan State Fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds was in a much better location and was much more well-known and beloved.

I do not get it either,see fairgrounds all across the country closed or closing down,but yet the one by me is packed every weekend and during the week,when the fair is not in season it is concerts,events from RV and boat shows to craft shows,there is never not something happening where there are thousands attending.

Maybe in this case there is more money in the redevelopment for a few verses as a large public venue.