Campus Martius Park

Campus Martius Park
Campus Martius Park
Type	Municipal (City of Detroit)
Location	Detroit
Coordinates	42°19′53″N 83°2′48″W / 42.33139°N 83.04667°W
Opened	2007
Status	Open all year

Campus Martius Park
Campus Martius Park
Type	Municipal (City of Detroit)
Location	Detroit
Coordinates	42°19′53″N 83°2′48″W / 42.33139°N 83.04667°W
Opened	1850; 2004
Status	Open all year

Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the fire of 1805, Campus Martius (from the Latin for Field of Mars, where Roman heroes walked) was the focal point of judge Augustus Woodward's plans to rebuild the city.^[1] It is where the "point of origin" of Detroit's coordinate system is located. Seven miles (11 km) north of this point is 7 Mile Road; eight miles (13 km) north is 8 Mile Road, and so on. The precise point of origin is marked by a medallion^[2] embedded in the stone walkway. It is situated in the eastern point of the diamond surrounding the Woodward Fountain ^[3], just in front of the Au Bon Pain store.

File:Detroit Front.JPG

Campus Martius.

The park is located at the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Michigan Avenue. The original park covered several acres and was a major gathering area for citizens. The park was lost in the 1900s as the city's downtown was reconfigured to accommodate increased vehicular traffic. Hart Plaza, along the riverfront, was designed to replace Campus Martius as a point of importance. But as Hart Plaza is a primarily hard-surfaced area, many residents came to lament the lack of true park space in the city's downtown area. This led to calls to rebuild Campus Martius, the site of the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of the American Civil War located across from the new Compuware Headquarters. Grand Circus Park is on Woodward Avenue, down the street from Campus Martius Park.

The new Campus Martius Park was dedicated on November 19, 2004. It includes two stages, sculptures, public spaces and a seasonal ice skating rink. At 1.2 acres (0.49 ha), the park is smaller than its predecessor, as a full restoration of the original would have required the demolition of several buildings. However, the city is currently working to increase the amount of park space in the area by constructing the new Cadillac Square Park immediately to the east of Campus Martius. Cadillac Square Park is scheduled to open in the late summer of 2007

The park's skating rink is designed to resemble the one at Rockefeller Center in New York City. Campus Martius Park is the home of the annual Motown Winter Blast, an event that draws 450,000+ people to the downtown area every year.

Cadillac Square Park

Cadillac Square Park is a re-established park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. The city of Detroit is currently working to increase the amount of park space in the area by constructing the new park, which is immediately to the east of Campus Martius Park. Cadillac Square Park opened in the late summer of 2007.

In January 2008, the City of Detroit announced plans for a new Cadillac Centre, a $150 million mixed-use residential entertainment-retail complex attached to the Cadillac Tower. Designed by architect Anthony Caradonna and patterned after the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the contemporary steel and glass 24-story skyscraper complex to be located on Campus Martius Park planned to begin construction in the fall of 2009.^[4]

Photo gallery

Augustus Woodward's plan following the 1805 fire for Detroit's baroque styled radial avenues and Grand Circus.
Cadillac Tower, looking up from Cadillac Square.
Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
Downtown buildings flanking Campus Martius.

Downtown buildings flanking Campus Martius.
View from Campus Martius Park ice rink.
View from Campus Martius Park ice rink.

View from Campus Martius Park ice rink.
Campus Martius at night.
View straight up Woodward Ave.
Hard Rock Cafe sign in Compuware World Headquarters for the park.
Campus Martius Park Skating rink.