Cityfest is history

[texorama]

http://www.freep.com/article/2010051...ew-Center-Park

The idea of trying to build more consistent street life in that part of the city is not bad in itself. Am wondering if anyone has more info on how the new park is going to be put together.

[UnsteadyYeti]

Its small. I ride past it every morning on the way to work. They built what I would call an awning in the small park that already existed. You could get maybe 60 people in there and it would be crowded. I hope they have better plans beacuse they didn't do much to that "park".

[UnsteadyYeti]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...h&z=19&iwloc=B

[Cooper]

Its small. I ride past it every morning on the way to work. They built what I would call an awning in the small park that already existed. You could get maybe 60 people in there and it would be crowded. I hope they have better plans beacuse they didn't do much to that "park".

They say the park has capacity for 1,000. You can see the plans for it here:

http://www.newcenter.com/park.htm

[R8RBOB]

Ok, so they want to concentrate building up New Center Park. I have no problem with that but CityFest could have continued. How about moving it to the Riverwalk? Since the Freedom Festival is over before July 1st, why not?

[rsa.313]

because the reason for cityfest is to raise funds and awareness for new center council and the new center area. if someone wants to start a new tastefest elsewhere, i'm sure they're welcome to.

[rb336]

I remember Wednesday lunch concerts when I worked down there in the late 80's. It was fun

[DetroitPole]

What a bunch of bullshit. They don't have the money or the sponsorships for it just like the rest of these festivals.
It's just like Festival of the Arts - and last year we only just barely barely had Noel Night [[by the way this year Noel Night is still on).
Yeah, as if Tastefest were profitable they'd give it up for some dinky park all for the sake of...publicity?

[rsa.313]

do you have anything to back up those claims dpole? no, i didn't think so. in the 21 years the festival ran it grossed over $1.2 million in profit for new center council. last year was a loss, but it was only one of 2 in the past 6 years. all major sponsors from last year had committed to sponsorships again this year, including comerica. [comerica is now the headlining sponsor of activities at the new park.]

i don't think detractors of this announcment realize that this is a change in focus. new center council is a non-profit organization based on keeping and improving the quality of life in the new center area. this is primarily a shift in tactics. taste/cityfest served very well as a once a year marquee event that spread the word about new center. now the focus is being placed on providing entertainment and amenities throughout an entire season.

[casscorridor]

It is sad to hear about this, but I'm have very glad to hear about the New Center Park plan. I just wish both could happen, and not at the expense of each other.

Remember what happened to the Detroit Festival of the Arts? It got "replaced" by Mid-Summer Nights in Midtown, which lasted only last summer and will not be returning this year.

Then the State Fair was shuttered. Now this.

What is next? The Jazz Fest?

[Caseyc]

I'm a little unclear on when the park will be completed...oh wait, I see the Freep says "early July." I looked at the site and saw mostly drawings and no timetable. In the newsroom I saw a lot of really old articles [[i.e. the newst one was August '07 about success in the loft rental market). I would think if they were going to replace Cityfest with more widespread summer programming that they would have this thing ready to go by Memorial Day. Alternatively, they could still work on it and keep Cityfest, if it is [[despite last year) such a moneymaker [[and the park certainly needs money).

I guess a concern would be that this park doesn't open until late summer and the opportunity for the Cityfest is lost with nothing to replace it.

[rsa.313]

hey casey! good to see you! [rsa.313 aka rockstarchitect] the freep article is a bit vague [[as seems to be the norm lately). to answer a few of your questions: the park, including lighting, fencing, grading, paving, and landscaping, is complete. the 880 sq.ft. pavillion they mentioned is complete. furniture is there and out. the pylons for the stage are being formed. after the concrete has cured, the installation of the steel portions and roof should not take more than a few days. event sound and lighting should shortly follow that. what might take up to july is the completeion of the bathrooms and service area for concessions in the adjacent building. construction is well underway, however.

the goal is to have a "block party" on the fourth of july weekend to replace the cityfest. this will include not only the park, but the 15,000 sq.ft. parking lot that new center council recently purchased and refurbished, the alleyway connecting the two, and closing off the portion of second between west grand boulevard and miwaukee. so, while it won't be as large as taste/cityfest, there still will be multiple [[3) stages and booths featuring food and wares.

their site does need updating. the rendering and plans for the park were done 7 years ago by a completely different architect and scope than what was completed.

[Caseyc]

Cool rsa. That's much better information [[not surprisingly freep would be incomplete). I was getting a bit of a disconnect when trying to match the article up with what I saw on the site. Best to all.

[rsa.313]

yeah, i've just about given up on the freep's reporting of area news. the detroit news is also a bit vague, but at least they updated the story to correspond to what was presented at the ribbon cutting this morning: http://detnews.com/article/20100518/...ivities-are-in