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A 982-acre island in the Detroit River, Belle Isle is owned
by the City of Detroit and in 2014 was leased by the State of Michigan and is
now managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Belle Isle was home to the Detroit Grand Prix from
1992-2001, utilizing a temporary street circuit that was constructed
specifically for the Championship Auto Racing Teams' (CART) races. In 2007 and
2008, it once again hosted world-class racing with both the open-wheel cars of
the Verizon IndyCar Series and the sports cars of the American Le Mans Series
competing at the event. After a four-year absence, the Chevrolet Detroit Grand
Prix presented by Lear returned to the island in 2012 with Verizon IndyCar
Series, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Pirelli World Challenge
Championship Series races. The same three racing series competed at the event
in 2013 on the newly-reconfigured 2.35-mile Belle Isle street circuit while
featuring the first doubleheader race weekend in the Verizon IndyCar Series. In
2014, the Grand Prix hosted a picture-perfect weekend on the Detroit River
featuring another Verizon IndyCar Series doubleheader race weekend - the
Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. The new unified sports car series also competed at
Belle Isle with the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the Pirelli World
Challenge Series also returned to the island. For the first time, the SST
Trucks raced at the Grand Prix in front of the over 110,000 fans in attendance
on race weekend. The same lineup
returned in 2015 and brought 65,000 people down to Belle Isle during a rainy
Grand Prix weekend.
In 2016, a crowd of 95,000 witnessed another action-packed
weekend of racing featuring the Verizon IndyCar Series competing in the Chevy
Dual in Detroit with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the return of
the Trans Am Series and the SST Trucks.
In 2017, the Grand Prix was back on Belle Isle as 100,000
fans enjoyed all the weekend action featuring the Verizon IndyCar Series races,
the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Trans Am Series presented by
Pirelli and the SST Trucks. According to an independent economic study, the
2017 Grand Prix generated $58 million in total spending for the region.
Last summer, the Grand Prix returned once again to Belle
Isle, entertaining the 105,000 fans by attendance with seven races from four
series, including the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Verizon IndyCar Series
doubleheader, the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar
Championship, the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli and the SST Trucks.
In 2019, the three-day racing festival returns to Belle
Isle, May 31 - June 2, with the NTT IndyCar Series competing in the Chevrolet
Dual in Detroit, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Trans Am
Series presented by Pirelli.
Connected to Detroit by the MacArthur Bridge, various
entities call Belle Isle home, including the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the
Detroit Boat Club Crew, the Detroit Yacht Club, a municipal golf course, an aquarium
and a Coast Guard post.
The island also includes a half-mile swimming beach, the
only one in the city, and a nature center. The aquarium opened in 1904, making
it the oldest public aquarium in the United States. Constructed, in part, by “the
man who built Detroit,” Albert Kahn, the aquarium features an arched tile-green
ceiling, designed to evoke the feeling of being underwater.
Landscaped in the 1880s by Frederick L. Olmsted, the
highlights of Belle Isle include the aquarium, James Scott Memorial Fountain
and the botanical garden in the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory. The
conservatory and the 1908 Belle Isle Casino were also constructed by Kahn,
well-known for developing open-floor plan concrete factories. The casino
building is not a gambling facility, but it is used for public events. Belle
Isle also was home to a large herd of European fallow deer for more than 50
years. A few remain as exhibits at the nature center, but the last of the 300 animals
was captured in 2004 and relocated.
In the future, Belle Isle will feature a new garden designed by renowned designer Piet Oudolf, who designed the world-famous High-Line park in New York City, as well as parts of Chicago’s Millennium Park. With a past as storied as any place in Detroit, the future looks bright for Belle Isle.
The Grand Prix continues its giveback to Belle Isle Park as
over $13.5 million has been contributed to improvement projects on the island since
the event returned in 2007. In 2018, $450,000 of the $1 million raised at the
annual Grand Prixmiere charity gala for the Belle Isle Conservancy was
dedicated to needed repairs that will help keep the iconic James Scott Memorial
Fountain on the island operational for the coming years.
GET TICKETS NOW!
We are excited to host you at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.
It promises to be an action-packed weekend - get your tickets now!