Philip A. Hart Plaza, located in downtown Detroit, is a city plaza along the Detroit River. It is near the spot where Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, arrived in 1701 to establish Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, the settlement that later became Detroit. In 2011, the Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority opened a new cruise ship passenger terminal and dock at Hart Plaza, next to the Renaissance Center, which serves large cruise ships like the MS Hamburg and the Yorktown.
The 14-acre plaza, named after the late U.S. Senator Philip Hart, opened in 1975 and can hold about 40,000 people. At the center of the plaza is the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain, designed by Isamu Noguchi and Walter Budd in 1978.
History
The area where Hart Plaza is now located is thought to be where Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, arrived in 1701. The waterfront area was the main place for people and goods to move in and out of the region until railroads and telegraphs were invented. By the middle of the 19th century, this area had many docks, warehouses, and other industries, just like most of Detroit's waterfront at that time.
In 1890, Hazen S. Pingree, who was Detroit's mayor at the time, suggested that the location would be a good place to build a waterfront center for city activities. However, the project was not completed.
In 1924, the architect Eliel Saarinen was asked by the AIA of Michigan to design a waterfront civic center. However, World War II delayed the project, and work did not begin until the late 1940s. The first buildings constructed in the area included a veterans' hall, an auditorium, and a city-county building.
Eventually, Hart Plaza was created. The final design was different from Saarinen's original plan, which had been a grassy lawn. Instead, a concrete plaza was built, with amphitheaters for concerts and the Dodge Fountain. The final design was completed by the firm of Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls, with help from Isamu Noguchi.
Hart Plaza opened in 1975 and was named in 1976 after Philip Hart, a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 1976. The park was fully completed in 1979.
On July 24, 2001, which marked the city's 300th anniversary, a statue was unveiled showing Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, arriving in what would become Detroit in 1701.
On October 20, 2001, the Gateway to Freedom International Memorial to the Underground Railroad opened. It honors Detroit's role in the Underground Railroad and was sculpted by Edward Dwight, who won a competition to design it.
In 2003, the Transcending arch sculpture and the Michigan Labor Legacy Landmark were dedicated. It is located west of Hart Plaza's entrance, near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Jefferson Avenue.
In 2006, the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority added a cruise ship dock and passenger terminal to the site.
In 2024, Hart Plaza cohosted the 2024 NFL Draft with the Fox Theatre.
Events
Many people from the Midwest and Canada gather in the summer for celebrations, concerts, and festivals. These events usually take place between May and September at Hart Plaza's two outdoor theaters.
Some of the events held at Hart Plaza over the years include:
Surroundings
Hart Plaza is near many important places and buildings in Downtown Detroit. It is close to the GM Renaissance Center (RenCen), Joe Louis Arena, and TCF Center. In recent years, Hart Plaza has become part of the Detroit International Riverfront.
People who visit Hart Plaza can see across the river to Windsor, Ontario's riverfront and Belle Isle State Park.
Layout
The park covers eight acres and is surrounded by the Detroit River to the south, East Jefferson Avenue to the north, Bates Avenue to the east, and Civic Center Drive to the west. It has two levels: the upper level, which is a concrete platform covered with red granite and concrete, located at the level of Jefferson Avenue, and the lower level, which is at the level of Atwater Street. The upper level is built above the lower level. The plaza was designed by Detroit-based architects Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, who worked with Japanese American architect Isamu Noguchi.
The main entrance to the plaza is at the bottom of Woodward Avenue, south of the Joe Louis Monument. At the entrance stands the Pylon, a stainless steel sculpture created by Isamu Noguchi. To the west of the entrance is the Michigan Labor Legacy Landmark, which features a 63-foot-tall steel arch sculpture titled Transcending, designed by David Barr and Sergio de Giusti. Near the center of the courtyard is the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain, the main attraction of Hart Plaza, also designed by Isamu Noguchi.
The lower level of Hart Plaza includes an open-air amphitheater near the center of the courtyard, dressing rooms, food preparation areas with a food court, three public restrooms, permanent beverage booths, temporary storage spaces, offices, a Detroit Police Department post at the southeast corner of the plaza, an art gallery, and a loading dock.
Memorials and sculptures
Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac — the founder of Detroit — is shown in this sculpture, which depicts the moment he arrived at that location in 1701. The sculpture was a gift to the City of Detroit from the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Michigan Chapter, and was unveiled on the city's 300th birthday — July 24, 2001. The bronze statue was created by William Kieffer and Ann Feeley in 2001.
Located on the riverfront of Hart Plaza, the Gateway to Freedom International Memorial honors Detroit's role in the Underground Railroad. It was sculpted by Edward Dwight, who won a competition to design the International Memorial to the Underground Railroad, and was dedicated on October 20, 2001. The project was a collaboration between Detroit 300 and the International Underground Railroad Monument Collaborative. The companion monument by the same sculptor, Tower of Freedom, is located in Windsor, Ontario's Civic Esplanade, on Pitt Street East near Caesars Windsor. It shows a former slave raising his arms to celebrate his freedom while a Quaker woman helps a woman and her child, and another child looks back toward Detroit.
Until Emancipation, Detroit and the Detroit River community served as a gateway to freedom for thousands of African Americans escaping enslavement. Detroit was one of the largest terminals of the Underground Railroad, a network of people who helped enslaved individuals seek freedom. Detroit's Underground Railroad code name was Midnight. At first, Michigan was a destination for freedom seekers, but Canada became a safer place after slavery was abolished there in 1834. With the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, many runaways left Detroit and crossed the river to Canada to stay free. Some returned after Emancipation in 1863.
The success of Detroit's Underground Railroad was due to the work and cooperation of many groups, including people of African descent, Whites, and North American Indians. This legacy of freedom is an important part of Detroit's history.
Several routes of the Underground Railroad passed through Michigan. Detroit's terminal, known as Midnight, was one of the largest. At first, Michigan was a destination for freedom seekers, and by the mid-1830s, there was a modest population of former slaves living there who helped others escape to freedom. However, Canada became a safer place after slavery was abolished there in 1834. With the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, many runaways left Detroit and crossed the river to Canada to remain free. Some returned after Emancipation in 1863. This statue honors the route through Detroit. Another crossing point was near Amherstburg, Ontario.
The memorial has two gateway pillars that frame a 10 feet (3.0 m) by 12 feet (3.7 m) sculpture showing six fugitive slaves preparing to board a boat to cross to Canada. The man pointing from Detroit to Windsor is George DeBaptist, a Detroit resident who helped slaves cross the river to freedom. The monument's plaque mentions several Detroit institutions that were active in the Underground Railroad and continue to serve the city today.
In October 2011, for the 10-year anniversary of the dedication, the Downtown Development Authority spent $30,000 cleaning the monument, repairing fixtures, and fixing the area around it. The Wayne County Commission and Detroit City Council passed resolutions to commemorate the anniversary and recognize the sculptor, Edward Dwight, who was 78 years old at the time and was present to receive them. Additionally, Representative John Conyers Jr. introduced a resolution to the United States Congress celebrating the 10-year commemoration of the sculpture, but it did not move forward. A three-day conference titled "Celebrating the River at Midnight — The Fluid Frontier: Slavery, War, Freedom, and the Underground Railroad" was also held to honor the anniversary.
Located at the center of Hart Plaza, the Horace E. Dodge and Son Memorial Fountain was designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1978 and built in 1981. Anna Thompson Dodge gave the City of Detroit $1 million to build a fountain in memory of her late husband and son. The stainless steel fountain has two legs topped by a ring, standing 30 feet above a circular, black granite pool. The fountain has 300 jets and 300 lights with computerized lighting and nozzle functions that create different patterns based on temperature.
The Dodge fountain was not working from January 2013 to late August 2013 after vandals caused over $1 million in damage to Hart Plaza, $400,000 of which was to the fountain itself.
The fountain was repaired by Fountains By Water Works, a water feature design company from Rockville, Maryland. The repair project was funded by the city of Detroit as part of its preparation for the 2024 NFL draft, which attracted more than 750,000 fans. The project was completed in six months to be ready for draft day.
Luke and Ryan Miller, along with Brian Greenblatt, led the rebuild and are often called pioneers of the modern fountain repair industry.
Pylon is a stainless steel spire sculpture designed by Isamu Noguchi and placed near the entrance to Hart Plaza. The sculpture is 120 feet (37 m) tall with a 7 square feet (0.65 m²) base. It is shaped like a double helix, appearing to make a quarter turn from the bottom to the top