Shortly after a fire nearly destroyed Detroit back in 1805, the city coined its motto: Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus (We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes). Now, as it makes a remarkable recovery from the devastating blows of recession and bankruptcy, Detroit is once again putting those words into action.
Detroit pulsates with positive energy these days, with new residential and commercial structures going up and abandoned structures, many of them beautiful examples of 19th and early 20th century architecture, being restored and repurposed. Artists and young professionals are moving into the city, evidenced by a public art movement of murals and sculpture parks, a revitalized riverfront and over 100 new restaurants opening within the past two years.
Some of this resurgence is directly aimed at improving the meeting experience, including a $279 million expansion and renovation of the Cobo Convention Center, which enabled the downtown facility to host such high-profile groups as last year’s ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo. Hotel options near the center are improving as well, including a major renovation of the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit and the opening of the Aloft Detroit at The David Whitney in the historic David Whitney Building.
“Hosting ASAE, which brought in 2,800 association planners to the city, really was an eye-opener for people,” said Bill Bohde, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Detroit Metro CVB. “Many had heard about our comeback story, but they came with low expectations. They were wowed by what we had accomplished.”
Detroit is receiving many new bookings not only from such traditional sources as automotive and engineering groups, but also from the corporate sector, including pharma and technology, according to Bohde.
“The major investment in Detroit from movers and shakers like Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans has resulted in a lot of new businesses, including tech startups, coming into the city,” he said. “We’re seeing an impact on our meetings business from this.”
Much more revitalization is on the way, most notably continuing work on The District Detroit, a 50-block area of restaurants, parks, offices, hotels and visitor attractions stretching from Downtown Detroit to Midtown. The area is already home to such landmark attractions as the Fox Theatre, a restored 5,048-seat movie palace from the 1920s that accommodates dinners for up to 800 guests in its ornate lobby; Comerica Park, home to the Detroit Tigers baseball team; and Ford Field, home to the Detroit Lions football team.
Complementing the other sports and entertainment facilities in the District will be the 20,000-seat Little Caesars Arena, which will be home to the Detroit Red Wings hockey team as well as a venue for concerts and other events when it opens in summer 2017. A new light rail system through the heart of District Detroit is also under construction, with completion scheduled for next spring.
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“What the District Detroit is doing is taking 50 blocks of space that was largely blighted buildings and parking lots and creating a new entertainment district that will do for us what the Power & Light District did for Kansas City,” Bohde said. “Young people have already been moving back into the city, but this will draw even more. An estimated 10,000 new housing units are expected to open up along the light rail system in the next few years.”
Classic Venues
Along with all the new developments in Detroit, the city continues to improve upon some of its long-time venues and attractions. At the Detroit Zoo, which includes a wide variety of indoor and outdoor spaces available to groups of all sizes, the Polk Penguin Conservation Center opened in April. The spectacular habitat for 80 penguins representing six different species contains three levels of viewing areas around a central 326,000-gallon aquatic exhibit, plus two acrylic tunnels where visitors can watch the birds swim above and around them.
Other features include a 4-D projection feature along the walls depicting polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s epic voyage to Antarctica and an exterior designed to resemble a towering iceberg with a waterfall cascading down the side. The venue accommodates up to 200 guests for a reception or dinner.
At one time threatened with losing some of its priceless collection due to the city’s economic woes, the Detroit Institute of Arts remains one of the nation’s premier art museums and a stellar venue for events. Among its most impressive areas is the Rivera Court, where the 27 panels of Diego Rivera’s masterwork mural Detroit Industry is an inspiring backdrop for events for up to 300 people.
Of course, no one should miss the small white bungalow where one of Detroit’s most enduring legacies—the music of the Motown era—was born. Groups can arrange for private tours of the Motown Museum, still located in Berry Gordy, Jr.’s modest home, to see Stevie Wonder’s harmonica and other memorabilia and the small studio where The Supremes, The Temptations and many other young artists from the neighborhood recorded their soon-to-be classic hits.
These historic venues show that miracles are nothing new in Detroit.
