Nonprofit public-spaces advocacy group pays tribute to Campus Martius

Excerpts from the article:

That’s what makes the resounding success of Campus Martius — a new downtown public square built with the help of Project for Public Spaces — so remarkable. It’s a great public space, brimming with life, in a downtown that many people had given up for dead.

Only a year old, Campus Martius has hit a home run with public space advocates, designers and, most important of all, the people of Detroit and surrounding communities. People are coming back downtown to hear concerts, watch outdoor movies, admire the ever-changing flower gardens, delight in the fountains, meet a date at the Park Cafe, or simply sit and relax.

“Going back 300 years, Campus Martius had always been Detroit’s gathering spot,” explains Bob Gregory, a former General Motors executive who oversaw the planning of Campus Martius. But in recent years, Gregory admits, it had been a gathering spot only for vehicles.

“We wanted a place that was green and that was a center of activity for downtown,” he continues. “But we didn’t want a place that was tranquil and beautiful, but there was nothing to do.” Gregory says they hit on the idea of a lively town square by looking at examples like Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park in New York, and many European city squares.

Five hundred million dollars of new investment has flowed into the area since plans for Campus Martius were announced, including a new office building across the street, new retail shops, and loft developments in many of the area’s old buildings.

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