Hart Plaza Future

[takascar]

I'm not at all sure what the hell you're going on about, or what Hart Plaza has to do with fascism, but here are a few facts. Isamu Noguchi was half-Japanese and was born in Los Angeles. At the time of WWII he lived in New York and was not interned [[the internment order only covered people of Japanese ancestry living west of the Mississippi). He did, however, volunteer to work in one of the camps for a time. From his furniture designs [[several of which are still in production), to his pioneering theater design work, to his architectural and landscape design work, and especially to his sculptural works, which are in the collections of literally dozens of major museums, he was among the most important artists of the 20th century. One of the very few artists with a permanent museum in a major city dedicated solely to his works. You may not like Hart Plaza or its design [[and you certainly seem to harbor some sort of distaste for Japanese people), but there's really very little doubt about Noguchi's accomplishments or status as an artist.

This has nothing to do with Japanese people. I have several Japanese friends. Its about government making choices for the wrong reason. It is a well known fact that many Japanese artists / designers were chosen during the "Sorry" campaign in the late 70's and 80's. Also not saying that it was actually correct to imprison folks like that - they should have gotten more than they did. The fountain is ugly and always has been. My father was a food vendor and participated in many of the ethnic festivals down there over the years. They started out behind Cobo Hall, moved to West Jefferson, then Michigan and 3rd St. and finally to Hart Plaza. The kitchen areas were all underground and the whole place was designed in the brutalist style of bare concrete. Its been a disaster since it was built. At first, they didn't let any of the vendors decorate their "stalls" with anything - you had to use the menu board that they supplied. All clean and generic [[NOT what you want in a pleasant festive atmosphere). After awhile, they [[the city) didn't care anymore and people improvised the best way they could. Finally, they closed the underground vendor area and allowed food service booths up-top. That made it a bit better.

[downtownguy]

This has nothing to do with Japanese people. I have several Japanese friends.

I'm not a racist. I know several black people.

[Enduro]

I love the Brutalist style and I mostly like Hart Plaza especially the underground areas and the stages with the tiered seating areas. However, I'd like to see more shade, some food vendors [[perhaps a cafe or small restaurant) and better Riverwalk integration but that's about it. Well, if money is no object I'd keep Jefferson underground and cap it until you pass the park. Having a grand plaza in front of Cobo would be amazing [[and will never happen in my lifetime).

As it is it's really well suited for high traffic, frequent festivals - it certainly would have been a much better fit for Metallica's failed festival. Maybe they could work a way to divide it so you could cost effectively host smaller or two festivals at a time.

This is a unique park, it's already completed, we already have plenty of traditional parks like Rogue, Belle Isle, Campus Martius, Grand Circus, eventually Capitol Park... Seems like we may have buyer's remorse if we take away this iconic piece of the city.