A few readers were inspired by Tuesday’s Detroit pizza haiku to compose their own Detroit food haikus. Enjoy.
Starlings pick breakfast
from a puddle of vomit
by the Majestic
-Nancy Nall Derringer
Loose burger you say?
You just take a coney dog
and take out the dog.
-Justin Carinci
|
|
CAN DETROIT AQUARIUM HARDER?
An aquarium along the river -- an idea floated by the Detroit Zoo last week -- seems like an obvious addition to the cultural landscape, one that could boost downtown’s pull for tourists and families. Even Dan Gilbert seems excited. Problem is, the ratio of hype to details is about 10 to one. And while top facilities around the U.S. bring in annual revenues upwards of $50 million, dozens of lesser ones have closed in recent decades.
While we wait to see what the Zoo comes up with, take a look at how other cities turned their aquariums into top destinations -- and which factors sunk the others.
DON’T HATE THE STINGRAYS, HATE THE GAME
Much of the aquarium game is an arms race (fins race?) for tourist dollar dominance. There’s a lot of competition and Detroit is sandwiched between two of North America’s finest aquariums (Toronto’s Ripley’s Aquarium and Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium). America’s biggest fish palace, the Georgia Aquarium, recently announced the $100-million-dollar Expansion 2020, which includes a floor-to-ceiling shark exhibit. Monterey Bay Aquarium, America’s top aquarium for kids, has a child-themed Splash Zone with underwater camera, child-sized microscopes and touch ponds. What we’re saying is, fish tanks are not going to cut it.
AQUA-LEADERS MAKE IT RAIN
Successful aquariums require major donors and major dollars on the table. Shedd raised almost $15 million from contributors in 2017 and has a total endowment of more than $200 million. Those are serious numbers. Crain’s wondered whether Metro Detroit’s elite will be tapped out by the legion of local institutions who are currently fundraising for “finite dollars” -- like the City of Detroit, Riverfront, the DIA, Michigan Opera Theatre and other players.
And do residents want their tax dollars to pay for Shamus? Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto received more than $30 million in funding and incentives from every level of Canadian government -- city, provincial and federal. The state of Georgia will give its aquarium a $4.5 million sales tax break to help fund new exhibits. Even our own tiny Belle Isle aquarium was funded in the year 1900 with $150,000 of bonds through a voter referendum (about $4 million dollars today). While the Detroit Zoo’s last millage passed swimmingly, a larger tax burden may make voters nervous -- especially if voters in Macomb County were asked to pony up (voters there approved zoo funding by a smaller margin).
IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME GAWK?
The nation’s top aquariums each attract more than 2 million tourists every year -- Detroit Zoo CEO Ron Kagan estimated that Detroit’s aquarium would attract a million visitors. But the fight for aquatic tourists isn’t as simple as counting fish. After an attendance dip, Georgia Aquarium embarked on a data-centric targeted ad campaign to boost family tourism and memberships. That campaign, which cost $2.7 million in media spending, was so successful that it was written up by Harvard Business Review. But that’s one whale of an advertising budget. A Detroit aquarium will need serious marketing and media firepower to keep up.
BE ONE WITH THE RIVER
Baltimore’s National Aquarium will spend the next few years finalizing the vision of a renovation that restores waterfront access to aquarium visitors, including a floating wetland, interactive piers and terraces to the water’s edge."It's all about connecting people with the water that they depend on to live,” said CEO John Racanelli.
It should go without saying that the aquarium's design should incorporate the riverfront as an asset rather than blocking water access and views, but this city has seen plenty of self-defeating design choices. The Zoo may also want to look for a location with more room for expansion. The old Ford Auditorium site is relatively small (15 acres) and congested (the traffic around Hart Plaza is already crazy). Moving the site further east, near the Outdoor Adventure Center, or due west, to Joe Louis Arena, could give the aquarium more room to grow. No location should be chosen without carefully considering how families and tourists will park, walk or use mass transit to get there.
FIND A MISSION
America’s finest aquariums are preserving endangered animal species, conducting groundbreaking research and supplementing science education in nearby classrooms. At the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans, students can even learn about the impact of oil spills on local wildlife. For Detroit’s aquatic adventure to really raise the necessary funding and goodwill, it needs more than just 49 varieties of starfish -- it will only survive by developing a regional identity, and a stronger rationale for its existence than tourist dollars alone. --Ashley C. Woods
|
|
PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT...
|
|
|
A roof over their heads: Homeless population dropped 15 percent city-wide, thanks to a new emphasis on permanent housing and wraparound services to ensure success. Detroit will add 300 more supportive housing units over the next five years. (Michigan Chronicle)
Lions’ head coach once indicted on sexual assault charges: A new report from Detroit News’ ace Rob Snell uncovers the 20-year-old accusation. Matt Patricia and a former teammate were accused of breaking into a woman’s room while on spring break in South Padre Island, TX, and raping her. The victim did not testify and charges were dropped. (DetNews)
Destination Detroit: Priceline CEO Brett Keller says the Motor City is #4 on the travel booking site’s list of top emerging destinations (below Hot Springs, AK, Cleveland and Durham, NC). His take? “A bit of a renaissance” and “interesting urban culture.” Looks like tourists aren’t turned off by the continuing “most dangerous cities” ranking. (CBS News)
Paved glory: Detroit is repaving 58 miles of surface roads throughout the city. More than half of the workforce is made of city residents! (MLive)
The gory details: The Pistons’ disappointing season is far from team owner Tom Gores’ biggest problem. A lawsuit filed by Massachusetts inmates last week puts Securus Technologies, a company owned by Gores’ firm Platinum Equity, in the crosshairs. According to the suit, Securus allegedly jacked up prices for inmate phone calls by paying kickbacks to a county sheriff to secure exclusive contracts for phone service. (Detroit Free Press, Boston Globe)
Always be closing: Bedrock is charting new territory in augmented reality -- all for the sake of sexier pitch meetings with potential retail tenants, it seems. Android users can get the AR experience themselves at a couple sites downtown via the Vertical Detroit app, though maybe not the meeting with Dan Gilbert. (Crain’s)
NEIdeas is back! Win $10,000 to help your company grow! NEI says 70 percent of winners were minority-owned and 60 percent were women-owned. (Model D)
F’d-150: What’s being called a “black swan” supplier fire created a parts shortage so severe that Ford halted production of the F-150 pickup truck. (Freep)
‘Tis the primary season: Who won the first GOP debate in the race for governor? Attorney General Bill Schuette and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley both got some good lines in Wednesday night, but pretty sure all Michiganders lose when candidates play political hot potato with Flint, a city that still does not have clean water. (Free Press)
Did Mitt Romney really buy his Met Gala tux from Amazon? Somewhere, Jack Donaghy is horrified. (Splinter)
Kalkaska tosses racist government official: He called for “killing every last Muslim,” among other social media gems. (Detroit News)
Just because: Dr. Dre loses trademark battle to real-life gynecologist Dr. Drai. (HuffPost)
|
|
With the constant drone of construction, bumper-to-bumper traffic and flurry of development announcements, it’s obvious something is going on in “The District,” the name for the area the Ilitches are developing around Little Caesars Arena. But it’s not always clear what that something is, apart from the lineup of games and big-name concerts.
Enter Francis Grunow, Nain Rouge creator, former Preservation Wayne executive director and the new chair of the little-discussed Neighborhood Advisory Committee, the public’s voice in the District Detroit project. Grunow knows the ins-and-outs of the incremental progress around the arena, and is trying to hold Olympia Development accountable to the promises it made in exchange for $320 million in public money.
The NAC, made up of a dozen residents who live or work in or near the arena’s footprint, was formed in 2014 as part of the city’s land transfer deal for the arena. It has no formal powers, and often isn’t apprised of LCA news before the public, giving them no chance to weigh in. The committee’s relationship with Olympia has been collegial, but not exactly collaborative. “It seems like we’re a box to check,” Grunow told Detour.
The NAC has been quietly meeting for several years, but their task is getting more urgent. 1. Now that the arena is open, development of the outer areas should start to take shape, and 2, they’re authorized to exist for under two more years. So Grunow is working against the clock to use the influence they do have to steer public opinion and offer guidance to City Council so taxpayers get what they paid for. That’s why Grunow began sending weekly updates to the Council's Planning and Economic Development Committee he began this spring, which he is also sharing via email with followers who aren't at the meetings. They’re short and sweet reads that tackle the District’s impact on the community it’s supposed to be improving.
But the improvement isn’t materializing. The major problem, as Grunow sees it, is “cognitive dissonance” between how Olympia sold the project and the reality on the ground.
The development has already failed to live up to its agreement -- the arena was supposed to be built with 51 percent of the work done by city residents, but Detroiter labor was used for less than half that. With the arena complete, Grunow laid out three major goals for the next year in his commentary last month: “advocating for real change on three interconnected issues -- affordable housing, preservation of existing building stock, and reasonable parking and traffic management.”
The original plan described five new neighborhoods where people could live, start businesses and explore “independent shops, local markets and galleries.” In reality, Grunow said, there are fewer businesses and residents than when the Ilitiches moved in, with no new housing units or rehabs. Instead, you can see their priorities in what’s being built: the arena, the beginnings of some outbuildings and lots and lots of parking.
“They’re operating like a large entertainment company that needs to pull in a ton of people and then push them out, and that’s what you see,” Grunow said. “We know its a huge undertaking, but ... when you're only doing stuff to create even more of a deficit, then it's not a good trend line.”
Last month, Grunow implored City Council’s planning committee to be proactive:
"I’m counting on you to not forget ... our subsequent responsibility to everyday Detroiters to create policy that works to serve the public good, even while billionaires still make a profit.”
Want to stay clued in? Email Grunow and ask to get added to his NAC Statement list, and keep reading Detour.
-Kate Abbey-Lambertz
|
|
|
There is something special about this moment between seasons: the end of spring and beginning of summer. We thought winter would never end, but it did and now we’re drunk on sunshine and energy. Celebrate by getting off the couch and doing something awesome around Detroit. Here are a few ideas...
|
|
👩🎨 If you’ve ever read Design*Sponge, you’re probably a little obsessed with founder Grace Bonney. She's coming to town to talk up her new mag for women creatives, thanks to Pages Bookshop. She'll be joined by some of our favorite local ladies in charge. May 10. (Facebook, Brown Paper Tickets)
🍍 Don’t sleep on this soft opening event for Detroit’s most anticipated new cocktail lounge -- the tantalizing Lost River tiki bar. Featuring tropical-inspired threads from The Velvet Tower, tunes from Detroit Pistons’ mix goddess, DJ Thornstryker, and delish Mexican eats from Esto’s Garage. May 11. (Facebook)
🎭 National theater group Ping Chong + Company bring their “seated opera for the spoken word” piece “Undesirable Elements/Dearborn” to the Arab American National Museum, featuring local women telling their stories. May 11-12. (AANM)
🕺 You know you make me wanna... Motor City Soul Club returns to Marble Bar with Soul Stomp, featuring the finest 60s and 70s deep cuts. May 12. (Facebook)
👨🏽🎤 ...Or stick to Motown and celebrate Stevie Wonder’s 67th birthday with a show in his honor at El Club. Bonus: proceeds go to an afterschool music program for Detroit students. May 12. (Facebook)
🎉 We already admired the Commons, MACC Development’s new coffee shop/laundromat/community space anchoring the Mack corridor on the east side. Now they’re celebrating their grand opening with a festive block party. While you’re there, congratulate MACC Executive Director Ezekiel Harris on his Crain’s “20 in their 20s” honor. May 12. (Facebook)
👗 We adore the vibrant colors and prints of Rahyma’s African dresses and pantsuits. Grab a free ticket to their latest pop-up shop at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. May 19. (Facebook, Eventbrite for tickets)
💐 Flower power: It’s a Detroit ritual. Mark your calendars for Eastern Market’s annual celebration of all things blooming and bright. May 20. (Facebook)
🛶 A magical evening paddling around Belle Isle beneath the rising moon and stars. It sounds like a poem but this is real life. May 29 and beyond. (Riverside Kayak for tickets)
🎙️You've heard about Free Comic Day -- meet Free Podcast Day! Record a take of your best "Serial"-esque mystery for free at the Podcast Detroit studios. June 2. (Podcast Detroit)
|
|
Thanks for being here!
Please send us to a friend.
|
|
You don't need to write
a pizza haiku to say
Hi. Just hit reply!
(or email ashley@detourdetroiter.com.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
