[Michi]

Capitol Park targeted for revitalization
Consultant firm hired for $50,000
March 21, 2007

BY JOHN GALLAGHER

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority took the first step Wednesday toward a hoped-for revitalization of the city’s Capitol Park district.

Located between Woodward Avenue and Washington Boulevard, the small enclave is named for being the site of Michigan’s first state capitol in the 19th Century. In recent years, seriously rundown and the site of many abandoned buildings, it has been best known as the location of the downtown bus terminus.

But with bus operations moving in 2008 to the planned Rosa Parks Transit Center, the city hopes to revive Capitol Park.

On Wednesday, the DDA agreed to hire the Detroit consulting firm Katherine Beebe and Associates to create a preliminary reinvestment strategy for the district.

The contract with the firm will cost $50,000, paid for out of DDA planning funds.

The work will take four months, after which the DDA and city planners expect to create specific development proposals.

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All I have to say is if this can only get under way after the terminal moves, it's going to be years away if they don't get crackin on the new Rosa Parks Terminal. I seriously don't understand the intensity of the technicalities in so many Detroit development cases. What is the hold up?