Campus Martius Park

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One Kennedy Square (left) and 1001 Woodward (right) behind the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument.

View from Campus Martius Park ice rink.

Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Aft the fire of 1805, Campus Martius (named after 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.

Augustus Woodward's plan following the 1805 fire for Detroit's baroque styled radial avenues and Grand Circus Park.

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 (4,900 m²), 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.