Detroit MI

 August 2010 - Detroit MI

We tacked on a stay in Detroit on our way home from Mackinac Island.

We stayed at the Greektown Casino Hotel.

Great views.

Tiger Stadium.

Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a multi-use stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood. The stadium was nicknamed "The Corner" for its location at the intersection of Michigan and Trumbull Avenues. It hosted the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1912 to 1999, as well as the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1938 to 1939, 1941 to 1974. Tiger Stadium was declared a State of Michigan Historic Site in 1975 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The last Tigers game at the stadium was held on September 27, 1999. In the decade after the Tigers vacated the stadium, several rejected redevelopment and preservation efforts finally gave way to demolition. The stadium's demolition was completed on September 21, 2009, though the playing field remained until 2018, when the site was redeveloped for youth sports as the Corner Ballpark.

Wandering around.

Before a casino became Greektown’s most popular draw for people in Metro Detroit, an innovative indoor shopping center spurred retail and positive attention in a 1980s downtown desperate for revitalization. Trappers Alley eventually became the name of a project to adaptively reuse the Traugott Schmidt & Sons complex along the south side of Monroe Street, between Beaubien and St. Antoine Streets. Traugott Schmidt & Sons was a successful fur tannery operation incorporated in 1889, so prolific that by 1892 there were 120 employees producing 200,000 dressed skins daily. However, by 1924 the factory ceased production and the space passed through a number of tenants. By 1958, the last member of the family involved with the business died, and the property was given to the University of Michigan.

In 1975, the local Americal Development Co. purchased the brick buildings and started plans to create an indoor marketplace. Unfortunately, these ambitions were never realized and it wasn’t until Baltimore firm Cordish Embry & Associates took over the property in 1983 that the idea began to materialize. When Trappers Alley finally opened in 1985, it gave Detroiters a unique shopping experience not found in suburban malls. Much of the industrial and architectural elements were retained in the structures, so that visitors had the feeling they were in a historic and urban environment. When Greektown Casino opened in 2000, Trappers Alley became an essential piece of the new complex. Physical alterations did away with the distinctive water tower and smokestack, but guests can still experience the expansive atrium and appreciate the preserved buildings.

The Old Wayne County Building is one of the last survivors downtown of early 1900s Detroit.

The Detroit People Mover is an automated light rail system operating on an elevated track in downtown Detroit’s Business District. The shuttle-style circular service has 13 People Mover stations, placing you steps away from sporting and entertainment venues, restaurants, lodging and landmarks. the Detroit People Mover is free to ride.

The May 21, 1987 issue of The Detroit News is made of bronze, and it's forever being read by a statue in the Grand Circus Park station of downtown Detroit's People Mover. Crafted by prolific 20th century sculpture artist J. Seward Johnson, Jr., the artwork went up when the elevated rail made its debut later that year.

Joe Louis Arena. Completed in 1979 at a cost of US$57 million as a replacement for Olympia Stadium, it sat adjacent to Cobo Center on the bank of the Detroit River and was accessible by the Joe Louis Arena station on the Detroit People Mover. The venue was named after former heavyweight champion boxer Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit.

It was the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and the second oldest NHL venue after Madison Square Garden until the start of the 2017–18 NHL season.

UPDATE In April 2017, the Red Wings hosted their final game at Joe Louis Arena; the venue was succeeded by Little Caesars Arena. The arena closed in July 2017. Demolition started in early 2019 and was completed by mid-2020. A 25-story residential tower called the Residences at Water Square opened at the site in February 2024