Belle Isle (Michigan)

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This article is about the island in the Detroit River. For the small island in Lake Superior, see Isle Royale National Park.

Interior of the Nature Center at Belle Isle

Belle Isle is a 982 acre (3.9 km²; 2.42 mi²) island in the Detroit River that is a park managed by the Detroit Department of Parks and Recreation. It is connected to the rest of the city by the MacArthur Bridge. It is home to the Detroit Yacht Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, a Coast Guard post, a municipal golf course, an aquarium, and a zoo, which was closed in 2003 due to budget constraints. The city still maintains a Nature Center where you can go on trails and view wildlife in its natural habitat. The island includes a half-mile (800 m) swimming beach, the only beach in the city of Detroit.

The island was landscaped in the 1880s by Frederick Law Olmsted, a prominent urban park designer. The 1908 Belle Isle Casino building is no longer an actual gambling facility, but is used for occasional public events. A highlight of Belle Isle is the combination of the America's oldest public aquarium ( closed in 2005) and a beautiful botanical garden in the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory. Both the casino and the conservatory were built by Detroit architect Albert Kahn, best known for developing open floor plan concrete factories.

Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Detroit's Belle Isle.

The island was home to a large herd of European fallow deer for more than 50 years. In 2004, the last of the 300 animals was captured and moved to the zoo property where some will remain as exhibits when it reopens as a nature center.

Additional recreational options include a nature center, wheelchair accessible nature trail, playground, picnic shelters, and tennis and basketball courts and baseball fields.

The island park has suffered from Detroit's economic difficulties. The Belle Isle Zoo was closed in 2002. The Belle Isle Aquarium, opened in 1904 and remains the oldest aquarium in the country, was closed in April 3, 2005 by the city government for budgetary reasons. On August 2, 2005, Detroit citizens voted to reopen the aquarium by an overwhelming margin (88% in favor, 12% opposed). [1] The vote was non-binding, however.

[edit] Auto racing

In 1992, a temporary street race circuit was constructed on the isle for CART races. The island hosted ten events at Belle Isle from 1992-2001. In 2007, the race is set to return as part of the Indy Racing League.

See main article: Detroit Indy Grand Prix