Executive Committee Meeting 10-15-24

President's Report

Page 24 of 95

EXPLORE DETROIT

DOWNTOWN

Downtown aaa Enclosed within one of Detroit’s archetypal freeway loops, Downtown is easy to discover on foot—which can hardly

be said for the rest of this vast city. While quite compact, the neighborhood is no less complicated to orient your way around owing to its multitude of zones and curiosities to discover in a fast-changing environment. An open-air museum of architecture awaits you around the backbone of Woodward Avenue. A present measure of the city's past might. � Getting there: The tour begins on the banks of the Detroit River, which can be reached on foot if you're staying in Downtown, or from the Renaissance Center People Mover station. Local Map pp. 20-21. Detachable Map DH5-7. � Tip: An overhead metro line, the Detroit People Mover ( DPM ), loops around the lower part of the district. It's great for taking in the cityscape from a different perspective, but also for the decor at several of its stations ( T p. 123) . Our circuit takes in several office buildings with remarkable architecture:

feel free to walk in to admire at least the lobby. T downtowndetroit.org T Addresses, p. 77.

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RIVERFRONT a To discover Detroit, you should logically start along the river, where everything began. Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac planted the French flag on a promontory overlooking the river at the intersection of the current Shelby St and Jefferson Ave, in 1701. After setting out from Montreal, he landed on the site of what would become Detroit, to which he laid claim

on behalf of the king of France, Louis XIV. Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, also known as Fort Detroit, from which the city owes its origins, was built not long after ( T pp. 23 and 58) . Renaissance Center a G7 Access on Atwater St or Renaissance Dr - DPM Renaissance Center – gmrencen.com . w Climb to the top floors for

After the Fire, a Star After the devastating Great Fire of 1805, Augustus B. Woodward, first Chief Justice of the Michigan Territory, took inspiration from Pierre Charles L'Enfant’s plan for Washington to design the layout of Detroit. From Grand Circus, the star-configured avenues leading to the river form a regular layout that opens up the perspectives. The backbone of Downtown is the well-named Woodward Avenue, which stretches miles to the north and even beyond the city’s borders.

Downtown and the Renaissance Center in the background. Paolo Novello/Getty Images Plus