Tunnel by Belle Isle

[EastsideAl]

A couple of interesting things about that piece posted by Esighed above. First, "fires" may have been used as a pretext for getting rid of Electric Park, but the real reason had to do with prohibition.

Electric Park had originally been built by a combination of the much-hated DUR streetcar company and the Kling family who owned the land and ran a brewery there. Electric Park [[which was actually a collection of privately leased attractions run under various names) was built around the brewery and designed to appeal to the east side's population of beer-loving Germans, with several beer gardens and dance halls on the premises. Although the brewery was closed, beer continued to be pretty openly served there under prohibition [[my grandfather delivered and served beer there as a teenager and young adult, both before and after prohibition came into effect).

1927 was the height of gangland activity in Detroit. There was a sensational trial of Purple Gang members in relation to the violent "Cleaners & Dyers War", and the Purple Gang - Licavoli Brothers war was in full swing. In that year's mayoral campaign, incumbent John W. Smith and longtime councilman John C. Lodge were busy trying to out "reform" each other in a race that became a moral crusade led by local churchmen [[Lodge won). Electric Park, with its honky-tonk reputation for beer-drinking revelry and connections to bootleggers, was an easy target. It closed at the end of the 1927 season, and was soon condemned by the city. It's no coincidence that the park that replaced it is named after one of the area's most famous religious figures.

Also, although the tunnel under Jefferson may have been built as a "trolley tunnel" it was, in fact, never used as such. The underpass was used solely for car and pedestrian traffic, and only buses, which bypassed the tunnel to stop at the bus terminal, ever ran onto the island. Streetcar tracks were installed on the bridge when it was built, with the intention of connecting them to the Crosstown [[Grand Belt after 1931) and Jefferson lines, but those connections were never made and the unused tracks were paved over in the '50s.

[SixthofTwelve]

It was amazing seeing the photos and the diagram confirming the existence of the walkway. Thanks, everyone!