DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Belle Isle Conservancy are collaborating on a new strategic development plan for the Detroit island.
The new plan will build on the 2018 plan, and it "aims to review and identify potential park enhancements in a holistic manner."
Watch Meghan Daniels' video report below:
After evaluating park buildings and spaces, plus reviewing public comments, the DNR and conservancy identified 11 potential projects for future improvements.
The DNR and Conservancy are asking people to take a survey where they will rank the 11 projects in order of importance to each person. You can take the survey here.
The 11 potential improvements include:
- Extend the beach & renovate the bath house
- Restore and reactivate the Belle Isle Boathouse for public use
- Create a park cafe at the Belle Isle White House
- Improve access to canals and create trails
- Renovate the Nancy Brown Carillon Peace Tower
- Create a bigger, better Kids Row Playground
- Restore and activate the Remick Music Band Shell
- Rebuild piers and docks for fishing and potential ferry service
- Create an interpretive center at the historic sawmill
- Clean up and activate the former stable yard
- Create community and volunteer space at the historic police headquarters
Because of the size of the projects, the DNR wants to make sure they prioritize the facility that is most important to visitors.
"These are all popular sites. They're big projects. They'll take a lot of community support and partnerships to lift these up," said Amanda Treadwell, the urban area field planner for Michigan DNR.
The multi-step process for planning will also include securing funding and partners to move the priorities forward and celebrating the completion of the plan in 2026.
"So we'll take all that input from the community and develop that prioritization list through the fall, and we're looking to have a final recommendation list early 2026," Treadwell said.
Residents are excited to see more growth on the island.
"It beautifies the island more and it gives them more events, more things to see," Tracy Willis said. "Maybe the zoo. I used to love the zoo."
Visitors are already considering what their No. 1 priority would be.
"If the Kids Row is what I think it is, you know, you can never have enough things for kids to do," said Will Willington.
The volunteer space is another one people would like to see.
"Volunteer space, 100%. It's gonna get my up vote," said Amia Chapman.
"I like the community volunteer space. I love that it gives everyone a chance to get involved. A lot of times people just don't know where to start," Willington said.
And of course, the beach is a popular choice.
"There's a lot of good things on that list, but the beach number one," Sunn Anderson said.
