Grand Boulevard (Detroit)

History

As early as 1876, Bela Hubbard and other Detroiters were cognizant of the efforts of Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann to make Paris into a beautiful city by designing parks, broad streets, and grand boulevards.

These citizens proposed adopting Haussmann's concepts by surrounding Detroit with its "Grand Boulevard." When Belle Isle was transferred from the state to the city of Detroit, Michigan legislator James Randall included a rider calling for the construction of this Grand Boulevard. However, the city government refused to begin work on the road right away, although a few people built homes along the Boulevard's proposed route.

Finally, in 1891, Detroit mayor Hazen S. Pingree supported the idea and broke ground on the construction of Grand Boulevard, a ring road that wrapped around the city of Detroit. The Boulevard ran for 12 mi, curving from the Detroit River on the west and returning to that river on the east, crossing Woodward Avenue at a point approximately 3 mi north of the downtown area. The Boulevard was originally thought to represent the absolute limit of the city's expansion. However, tremendous growth at the beginning of the 20th century quickly pushed the city limits far beyond Grand Boulevard to its north, its east, and its west.

By 1913, Grand Boulevard was completed, encircling the central most and oldest portion of the city. It was generally recognized as a major attraction of the city; the entire length was decorated with trees, shrubbery, and flowerbeds.

By the early 1980s, to accommodate the construction of a new General Motors plant, portions of East Grand Boulevard were reconfigured. This was part of a controversial use of eminent domain by the City of Detroit which allowed for demolition of a substantial portion of the nearby Poletown neighborhood in order to make way for the plant. The controversy sparked opposition within the neighborhood. The Michigan Supreme Court, in the 1981 case of Poletown Neighborhood Council v. City of Detroit, settled the matter by ruling that the project did constitute a legitimate use of eminent domain authority and that the evictions could proceed.

Many years ago, the streetcar route which traveled along much of Grand Boulevard, as well as on neighboring streets parallel to Grand Boulevard, was formally called the "Grand Belt" line because of Grand Boulevard's belt-like configuration around the most central part of Detroit. The subsequent bus route which likewise traveled on some, but not all, of Grand Boulevard retained the "Grand Belt" name until a service cut in 2009 eliminated that public transit coverage entirely.

Landmarks

References

References

1. (November 26, 2016). "Bela Hubbard and the creation of Grand Boulevard".
2. (October 19, 2007). "Detroit street named after Motown's Gordy".
3. McGraw, Bill. (May 26, 2018). "Coleman Young at 100: The 10 greatest myth".
4. "East Grand Boulevard Historic District".
5. (May 11, 2014). "The Renaissance man who envisioned Grand Boulevard". The Detroit News.
6. Bak, Richard. (2001). "Detroit Across Three Centuries". Sleeping Bear Press.
7. (November 30, 1999). "East Grand Boulevard Historic District".
8. Risen, James. (September 18, 1985). "Poletown Becomes Just a Memory : GM Plant Opens, Replacing Old Detroit Neighborhood".
9. (February 17, 2015). "Auto plant vs. neighborhood: Poletown remembered".
10. "Poletown Neighborhood Council v Detroit".
11. "DETROIT TRANSIT HISTORY.info: Grand Belt Streetcar".
12. "DETROIT TRANSIT HISTORY.info: Grand Belt".
13. AIA-Detroit. (January 10, 2006). "Look Inside: Top 10 Detroit Interiors".
14. "General Motors Building/Cadillac Place".
15. "Weather fluctuations likely to blame in collapse of bridge at old Packard Plant". The Detroit News.
16. "City begins demolition of Packard Plant".
17. "Belle Isle Park".