Penske only pays $200,000 to rent 26% of the island from April 16 to June 23.
The Grand Prixmiere Dinner Fri before the race brings in $300,000 to $900,000 to pay the Belle Isle Conservancy for some programs on the island and to keep the aquarium free to the public. These are VIP donors and friends of Penske who drink a lot and pay $600 per plate for pricey auction items. Just charge a fee for the aquarium.
The repaving of the racetrack was done by MDOT for $4.1 million.
The lights on the bridge were paid for by Tom Gores for $80,000. The Casino which is Penske's media center had upgrades like AC and fire control. The 10 acre cement paddock was an "improvement" which cost Penske a lot. The fountain is working again but the 100 yr. old Pewabic tiles were destroyed in the process.The other "improvements" to the island are the permanent pedestrian bridge bases which are ugly and there year round, the curb cutouts where VIPs park across from the Boat Club, "free" storage of ugly cement barricades on the island all year, loss of access and views to the west end of the park to look through fences and grandstands, "priceless". The other "benefit" of the Prix is disturbing the bald eagle's nest on the island during the race, disturbing the migratory birds, turtles, snakes, foxes, beavers, oh, and sex trafficking on Jefferson increases tremendously during the race. Most people at the race go straight home and don't spend $ in Detroit. Millennials hate car races and ratings are down.Detroit doesn't need TV exposure of this race ruining our best park. Since DNR fixed the bathrooms, water mains, put in solar lighting and made it safer, 4.2 million people came to the park last year. That's $11 per year [[$9/day for out of state) per car going to state coffers.
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