January Night At Campus Martius

 Campus Martius is popular in winter for its ice skating rink... you can rent skates if you don't have your own. It is open for skating everyday until March, even on holidays.

I try to imagine this space as the "Field of Mars" of the 1780's, when it was a training ground for the militia, on the outskirts of the fort and settlement along the river.

Then I try to imagine Judge Woodward arriving in Detroit in 1805 after the city was destroyed by fire. He drew up a plan for this to be ground zero of Detroit, the place where all other streets are mapped from. He laid out the major streets of Detroit as the spokes of a wheel, and this park is the hub they originate from. Below- looking north along Woodward Avenue coming from the park.

I picture the Civil War rallies, and the old City Hall watching over this public space. This is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument built after the Civil War.

I like the new park, redone in 2004, for its human scale and intimate, neighborly feel. It reminds me of turn-of-the century pictures of Cass Park or Capitol Park, with lush greenery in the summer, the sound of water, and plenty of places to sit and watch the city go by. It reminds me of smaller public parks and plazas in France and Spain. I think of it as my downtown front porch.

I'm young enough that I don't remember Detroit in its grand glory days. Sometimes I have older folks come downtown with me, and unfortunately usually all they can see (and say) is how great Detroit was when they were growing up. They still miss what is long gone, to the point where they can't see anything good that's happening now. Unfortunately, many people here still don't get the connection between having a thriving downtown and having a thriving regional economy, because the automotive industry's presence here buffered the impact of that failed connection for so long. I'm glad viewpoints are starting to change.

Sometimes my dogs help with the picture-taking and create happy accidents that I really like. They pull me in one direction while I am taking a one-handed photo in the other direction.

Sometimes I just get lucky and the lights look beautiful downtown.