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Freelance writer Michael Betzold, a former Detroit Free Press reporter, bikes daily to Belle Isle and opposes the Grand Prix being held there.
Dear Roger,
Near the end of the Department of Natural Resources' public session on Belle Isle last week, after so many Detroiters had denounced you for taking over their park every spring, Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, said he's willing to broker a "creative solution" for the Grand Prix.
He assured me you are a reasonable man. But so are all of us folks who believe the city's most precious public park shouldn’t be used as a private racetrack.
You know more than I do about public relations, but from my perspective your reputation seems to be getting pretty sullied. The overwhelming majority of Detroiters who go to Belle Isle oppose your event being held there, but their voices are being ignored. Is it really good business to be so deaf to customers?
We’re fine with your product—we just object to your product placement. It would be good for your bottom line to consider a new venue. In fact, think how you and the city could benefit from identifying a good spot for a permanent racetrack.
There are plenty of possible sites where you could have your race and much, much more—drag races, automotive exhibits, test drives, fun stuff for kids, a sort of motor sports mecca. You could even name the thing Penske Place.
If you get city officials on board, hopefully they'll do the right thing with neighbors and landowners. The plan should have a realistic neighborhood economic development component. Public money could be allotted to that aspect, but you need to be the hero, so no public money for the racetrack complex itself.
Then, to further polish your image, why not join the Belle Isle Conservancy in a campaign to raise money to remove your 10-acre concrete paddock and replant the trees that used to be there? (That was a memorial grove for slain children; are you sure you want to own the rep for its removal?)
Everybody wins with this plan, I humbly suggest:
- Detroiters get back their island refuge year-round.
- The city gets points for preserving precious resources.
- Belle Isle could be promoted as one of the very best public places in the country.
- Your event could become even more popular and universally acclaimed when it's no longer dogged by controversy and protests.
Just think—each year’s winner could be honored at a big parade on Belle Isle with all the drivers and corporate sponsors, a tribute to you for all your philanthropic efforts for the park. Because, Eric Larson assured me, you really do care about the island.
So why not do the right thing and leave it alone from now on? You could still do everything you’re doing now for Belle Isle, you could have a better racetrack, your reputation would soar, and those boos you’ve been getting would turn into cheers.
It’s a great opportunity.
Sincerely,Michael Betzold