There's no debating this: Belle Isle is one of Detroit's great jewels.
Columnist Nancy Kaffer of the Detroit Free Press expresses concerns about what the state will allow on Belle Isle, and the need for the state to listen to Detoiters.
When I think about the news that the Red Bull Global Rallycross series will race there July 25 and 26, this is what I want to know: How will the folks running Belle Isle make decisions about what commercial uses are appropriate? And how will they balance those decisions against the island's literal and symbolic importance to Detroiters?
Years of dwindling city resources subjected the island to what's politely called "deferred maintenance" for far too long. A 2013 agreement to lease Belle Isle to the state Department of Natural Resources for 30 years promised new investment, the kind of upkeep Belle Isle dearly deserves. The state lease gave some Detroiters cause for concern, in no small part because of its complicated history — announced by state officials and former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing with no notice to the Detroit City Council, and approved by former emergency manager Kevyn Orr after the council voted it down. But thus far, the state has delivered, clearing paths and waterways, making repairs and promising to keep the opulent James Scott Memorial Fountain running through the summer months.
Some park admirers aren't happy with the Grand Prix's impact and next month's Red Bull race.
Controversy also surfaced recently when there was talk of letting a hotel open on the island. Some fear the park will be a playground for the well-heeled. Officials later assured everyone there would be no hotel.
"It would be a mistake for state officials to underestimate the importance of the decisions they'll make about Belle Isle," Kaffer writes, "and the need for transparency and input in that process. It is, after all, a place that matters."
