Beacon Park Opening & Gerry Anderson

**Lowell** · July-15-17, 10:45 AM

The upward spiral of Downtown Detroit hits an upbeat plateau with the opening of Beacon Park, as reported here by John Gallagher of the Free Press and shown below in the accompanying image. It opens with a bang next weekend and four days of events.

Who'd a thunk it? Just a few years ago we had the magnificent vacant and decaying ruin of the GAR Building and, across Grand River Ave, a crumbling faceless asphalt parking lot. Today the GAR is filled with two restaurants on the ground floor and and edgy tenants above like film producers Running With Scissors and Mindfield. And now Beacon Park opens.

The backstory of DTE CEO Gerry Anderson, whose baby this project is, is also a bright spot. Inspiration came from Bostons Leventhal Park

His other civic efforts are very commendable. From the same Freep article:

"Today, the Beacon Park and [soon-being-head] of the Detroit Economic Club are just two of the many things on his agenda:

Over the past year, Anderson has quietly recruited Detroit's top CEOs to join him in a behind-the-scenes working group to tackle issues such as insurance rates in Detroit and the need for more public transportation. Among those on the team: Mary Barra of General Motors, Chris Ilitch of Ilitch Holdings, and auto magnate and Grand Prix head Roger Penske.
DTE Energy, in collaboration with the City of Detroit, began construction this year on nine acres at O’Shea Playground in northwest Detroit on one of the largest urban arrays of solar panels in the U.S. When completed, the solar park will generate enough clean energy to power 450 homes.
And recently Anderson announced that DTE Energy will reduce carbon emissions from its plants by 80% or more by 2050. "It shapes the way that we’ll reinvest in power production," he said. "We’re retiring a lot of plants that have powered this state for the last half century.”

**renf** · July-15-17, 02:02 PM

These are very favorable developments. The future might be bright.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · July-15-17, 02:03 PM

Quite a snazzy looking space. And nice to see that side of downtown getting some improvements.

**southen** · July-15-17, 04:48 PM

I love it but I wish for the life of me that they would have put real grass in for the lawn. Such a shame that it is astroturf.

**MikeyinBrooklyn** · July-15-17, 09:45 PM

Another little piece of the downtown puzzle falling into place. It looks wonderful, although I agree entirely about the astroturf. I assume there is a soil/water/drainage issue at the root. Still, it will be a lot better than before.

I am not sure exactly when it happened [[my guess is right after the bankruptcy) we finally hit the oft-mentioned "critical mass" downtown, where reinvestment downtown/midtown began to generate its own economic growth, one project leading to more, residents following jobs, retail following residents, etc.

**Gsgeorge** · July-16-17, 09:28 AM

Really hoping this sparks some ancillary development in the lots and plazas surrounding the park. This is nice, but just because the GAR fronts it, does not mean it will be busy. Thanks to Mike "Parking! Parking!" Illitch and the DTE Superblocks, that area is pretty desolate. I'm hoping DTE takes the initiative and does some development in their lots, or the Leland builds a wrap-around parking deck with ground floor retail. By my estimation DTE is the dominant land owner along the park. Some of the other triangular blocks around there could be interesting retail developments: for example, the lot bounded by Grand River, Cass, and Bagley, which has been a parking lot for decades.

**Honky Tonk** · July-17-17, 12:19 PM

And this just in...

http://downtowndetroitparks.com/parks/Beacon-Park

**MrChrome** · July-17-17, 09:42 PM

Looks like Beacon Park has... a beacon.

**EastsideAl** · July-18-17, 01:09 PM

The park looks great, but I do hope that some other development pops up nearby soon, because it is currently somewhat off the beaten track downtown. If only we hadn't allowed [[encouraged?) our local cheap pizza and expensive [[& publicly supported) sports baron to turn the surrounding neighborhood into a parking lot moonscape.

Having said all that, I urge music fans to get down there to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band at the opening event. If you don't know about Robert, and you ever wanted to see someone play pedal steel like Jimi Hendrix [[and beyond), this guy is it. I saw him in a driving rainstorm at a blues festival in upstate NY, and holy hell...

Met him at the CD selling session afterwards, and he was also a really nice guy with a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of guitar history and styles. Added bonus: our own Ms. Thornetta Davis.

**emu steve** · July-19-17, 06:19 AM

Crain's article [[think it is behind a paywall).

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...s-expectations

Has a real nice overhead shot.

Think you can see the overhead by clicking on the photo from this Tweeter post.

https://twitter.com/ChadLivengood/st...11216503463936

**emu steve** · July-19-17, 06:26 AM

I see the Leland in background with its surface parking.

I was in Detroit a few weeks ago and was told by an informed source that the city is requiring asphalt and landscaping for parking lots. Just look behind the Fox and not only asphalt but I believe I saw small trees to be planted.

If the city is going to have surface parking lot at least they can be nice lots.

A little O/T but I really thought the new parking garage next to Comerica was really nice.

EDIT: I'll post a photo for those who don't make it to Comerica.

**1953** · July-19-17, 10:57 AM

DTE is actually one of the reasons the area is so desolate [[in addition to Ilitch). The utility's campus is gated, hedged-in, and otherwise sealed, ala the old Ren Cen, but with greenery. I hope that their development of the former Salvation Army building on Bagley, and this park, foreshadow a gradual opening up of their space. I'd love them to ditch their giant front lawn and open the spaces around their building to development and pedestrian access again.

**southen** · July-19-17, 01:13 PM

I just walked by today. I feel like they put out an opening date and instead of adjusting it for the work completed they decided to stick with it. The restaurant area isn't anywhere close to being finished and the permanent performance space is currently filled with a temporary stage. I wonder how many people will use the park outside of DTE if a good chunk of it is still being constructed.