  Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 957 Registered: 11-2005 |
So I had been wondering what the deal was with the scott fountain and why it wasn't on. So while I was investigating wedding receptions I decided to ask. It turns out that scrappers stole all of the copper piping and that the city isn't quite sure how to go about replacing it... It is sad to see this time and time again. | ||
Hans57 Member Username: Hans57 Post Number: 304 Registered: 05-2006 |
Thats any absolute fucking travesty. I hate so many people. Sorry for swearing. | ||
Detroitstar Member Username: Detroitstar Post Number: 1219 Registered: 01-2006 |
Unbelievable. That is one of the most beautiful pieces of Detroit and we cant even keep that nice. There is a giant lock on the door to "the vault" below the fountain. Someone must have been serious about getting in there. It bugs me that there is a police station on the island but stuff like this, and bikes being stolen from the nature center are still happening. There was a car burned out on central ave in the forest last month. How this stuff happens on our "Island Gem" is beyond me. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 918 Registered: 11-2003 |
Nooooo...... darn it. There goes a bunch of ideas I had, and this is a blow to the city. I say let's raise some money and put it under the Detroit 300 Conservancy or something with private security. Belle Isle needs restricted access, especially at night. | ||
Detroitstar Member Username: Detroitstar Post Number: 1220 Registered: 01-2006 |
There is a police car that blocks the driveway to the island overnight. What more can you do? These things are happening during the damn day. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 920 Registered: 11-2003 |
There's a lot more you can do. You can actually patrol, instead of having six cars at the damn police station (that's what I saw last time I went to the DYC). You could install full, ornate, gorgeous gates with barricades and security to regulate traffic both in and out, and you could charge a small, reasonable admission. | ||
Pkbroch Member Username: Pkbroch Post Number: 32 Registered: 02-2008 |
I never even heard about this on the news, This is like stealing the Spirit of Detroit for it's metal. What a Waste. | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 1468 Registered: 07-2007 |
Why doesn't our worthless police chief just give orders to shoot anyone ripping shit off buildings. That would put a quick stop to most of it. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 13188 Registered: 12-2003 |
D'star, That car does NOT sit out all night, only until the uninvited partiers are chased away, and Kwhyme is done partying on the island. I'd bet he was toking it up with Bobby Ferguson, after riding their Harleys for a couple of quick laps in the wee morning hours in OUR Island Paradise...PISSING in the fountain...when they got the idea to turn that 'gold underground' into cashola. NOTHING would amaze me anymore with this gang of thieves... | ||
Bigb23 Member Username: Bigb23 Post Number: 2063 Registered: 11-2007 |
All scrap and junk dealers should post a public record online of all purchases over two pounds of scrap metal. Without buyers of illegal scrap, there would be no problem. | ||
Johnnny5 Member Username: Johnnny5 Post Number: 767 Registered: 06-2005 |
"You could install full, ornate, gorgeous gates with barricades and security to regulate traffic both in and out, and you could charge a small, reasonable admission." Is there ANY excuse why this has not been done yet? Small admission charges for vehicles should have been set up years ago. The only reasonable excuse I have heard against doing so is that some people would not be able to afford the extra cost. How about having free annual permits set aside for those willing to donate their time to cleaning and maintaining the island? | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1346 Registered: 10-2003 |
"There's a lot more you can do. You can actually patrol, instead of having six cars at the damn police station (that's what I saw last time I went to the DYC). You could install full, ornate, gorgeous gates with barricades and security to regulate traffic both in and out, and you could charge a small, reasonable admission." Amen Digital! I went down there for the DYC Regatta party after we raced...no cops anywhere and the streets were a madhouse. Ella Bully Cummings is about the most useless piece of crap this city has seen in the PD. As far as the scrappers. I have heard the rather obvious idea that these guys are tied in as high as KK. To those who might seem astonished by such an idea, you have to ask yourself how a building like the YMCA which took over 3 1/2 weeks to fully strip, could possibly be looted in broad daylight over such an extended period without the nod of a whole lot of people. It would be absolutely impossible. | ||
Eastsidechris Member Username: Eastsidechris Post Number: 245 Registered: 12-2003 |
Pkbroch, when I drove by it last week, the Spirit of Detroit statue was covered up with scaffolding and a tarp, with a sign that it was being restored or something. Now I half wonder if the thing really is even there!! | ||
Retroit Member Username: Retroit Post Number: 256 Registered: 04-2008 |
"the city isn't quite sure how to go about replacing it" Would PVC pipe coated with deer dung work? | ||
Cooper Member Username: Cooper Post Number: 32 Registered: 02-2008 |
quote: Belle Isle is a *public* park. Central Park in New York has no gates and no admission fee. Grant Park in Chicago has no gates and no admission fee. The island should be better patrolled, but Belle Isle should remain free and should never be "barricaded." | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 305 Registered: 11-2007 |
Just because a park is public doesn't mean it can't have gates. If you don't have the manpower to secure it at night, you probably should close it. Lots of parks all around the country aren't open after dusk or some specified time at night, for various reasons. If the park isn't open, I don't see any reason you can't physically block access to it. That said, there needs to be a strategy for dealing with scrappers--they are a menace. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 922 Registered: 11-2003 |
Bingo, Mwilbert. The city can't afford to maintain it anywhere near the level of Grant or Central. I've been to those parks, and Belle Isle doesn't hold a candle to them in regards to being kept up and maintenance. Belle Isle is beautiful, has tons of the same great qualities, and don't take this the wrong way but compared to those parks, looks like junk. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. | ||
Detroiterbychoice Member Username: Detroiterbychoice Post Number: 42 Registered: 04-2008 |
How much repair does it need? I say we sneak past the cops at night, break through the fountain gate, and replace the copper ourselves. We will take back what is ours guerilla style. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7070 Registered: 08-2004 |
Currently the Belle Isle Conservatory and gardens have wrought iron gates and fences that close every day at 5PM. Belle Isle could have some very interesting gates. Check out the pedestrian gates at the St. Louis Zoo, by metal artist Albert Paley. Absolutely awesome! http://www.cadinfo.net/editori al/StLouisZoo.htm A set of CAD designed metal gates and fence at the entrance to Belle Isle could be really make for an awesome entranceway, especially if designed by Albert Paley. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 13205 Registered: 12-2003 |
Metaldoctor already has the gates MADE...heh...inside his yard east of the Market! Fabulous display of his artistry, and an amazing surprise to anyone who doesn't expect to see 'em. I'm sure he'll get right on it just after he finishes the redo of the Spirit. | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1262 Registered: 11-2005 |
" The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix continues its primary goal of improving its home on Belle Isle Park in 2008. Working in conjunction with the Downtown Detroit Partnership and the City of Detroit Recreation Department, the Grand Prix made over $5.5 million in improvements on Belle Isle last year including the renovation of historical island landmarks Scott Fountain and the Belle Isle Casino." So it was likely fresh copper. Nice. A year after it's restored, the scumbags destroy it. | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 923 Registered: 11-2003 |
DBC - I'm in. I'd volunteer my time to help fix it however I could. Seriously, I'd give 8-16 hours on a weekend. I've (with others) taken down a former crackhouse and another is coming down the line, it'd be nice to help build something for once. Gistok - I was thinking more traditional wrought iron, but you know, that's pretty different and interesting. Would be quite original. | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 958 Registered: 11-2005 |
I would love to see the Hurlbut Moved there and still have the pedestrian walk ways open at night but the road blocked off. I know that would take a lot but the Hurlbut deserves a more prominent spot. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7074 Registered: 08-2004 |
Agreed Urbanoutdoors, it would be cool to make a large traffic circle there with the Hurlbut Gate as the centerpiece. After all it's totally inaccessible where it's currently at, with the more beautiful side with double staircase out of public view (away from Jefferson) since World War II. (Message edited by Gistok on June 30, 2008) | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 5051 Registered: 02-2005 |
Hurlbut was the product of Chauncy Hurlbut's estate, all of which was dedicated to the Water and Sewerage Dept. upon his death, to beautify the waterworks. He was the chairman of DWSD. I don't think it would be appropriate to move it. It complements waterworks park and East Jefferson beautifully. The problem is, WWP ought to be open to the public. Before we move anything to Belle Isle, let's repair and secure the Scott Fountain. This theft is egregious bullshit. | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 372 Registered: 12-2006 |
OMG. Totally unacceptable. My 2 cents: All the more reason security cams s/b at Belle Isle, if there aren't all ready. Is there a police sub-station there? We should protect this natural gift of an island park. I like Gistok's idea. Is Fantasy Urban planning your hobby? If so you're very good at it. A historical note about the Waterworks: After the Civil War, it became apparent that Detroit could no longer get it's drinking water directly from the river. The Waterworks was seen as literally saving lives at the time, hence Chauncy Hurlbut's generous donation. | ||
Pythonmaster Member Username: Pythonmaster Post Number: 185 Registered: 12-2006 |
I'm on the island almost every week and very seldom see a patrol car- except lined up in front of the police station | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 2576 Registered: 10-2006 |
"Why doesn't our worthless police chief just give orders to shoot anyone ripping shit off buildings. That would put a quick stop to most of it." That's probably an idea that honestly a majority of people might even support. The problem though, is that we have the ACLU that gets a kick out of imposing a minority's view onto everyone. "Belle Isle is a *public* park. Central Park in New York has no gates and no admission fee. Grant Park in Chicago has no gates and no admission fee. The island should be better patrolled, but Belle Isle should remain free and should never be 'barricaded.'" Not all parks are free, even those supported by taxes. Belle Isle could easily charge an admission such as the Metro Parks do. | ||
Urbanoutdoors Member Username: Urbanoutdoors Post Number: 968 Registered: 11-2005 |
yet neither of those parks are surrounded by water. by leaving pedestrian bridges open and the roads closed, it is still accessable just not by car. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7081 Registered: 08-2004 |
The Water Works Park of the early 20th Century no longer exists, except as many acres of unlandscaped grass. The trees were all cut down, the tall minaret water tower has been demolished, as has the beautiful Victorian Romanesqe Water Works Plant, the flowers, the gardens, the canals... ALL GONE... All that is left is the Hurlbut Gate. And even that has been shorn of its' beautiful landscaped approach during the widening of Jefferson early in the 20th century. So today all that the Hurlbut Gate is... is a 69ft. tall Beaux Arts confection that is nothing more than an inaccessible FENCE ORNAMENT that folks whizzing down Jefferson in their automobile get a quick glimpse at... nothing more... Detroit has many architectural jewels that are "misplaced" in awkward locations. As I've mentioned before, the Hurlbut Gate could be moved and become a centerpiece, rather than a mere fence ornament. Ditto for that Polish Bicentennial (1976) present to Detroit... the Thaddeus Kosiousko statue that has all the prominence of a roadside billboard on a grassy berm along Michigan & 3rd Ave. And then there's the long neglected Merrill Fountain at the southern end of Palmer Park... it may be nice to look at from a distance, but when you get up close, you see the years of neglect and disuse that over a 1/2 century of non-operation and lack of maintenance have bestowed upon it. When Merrill Fountain was built in the heart of Campus Martius in the early 20th Century by Lizzie Merrill Palmer as a memorial for her father Charles Merrill, the Merrill Fountain was a beautiful flowing fountain in front of the old Detroit Opera House, and was a complementary addition to the Soldiers & Sailors Monument and Bagley Fountain... in Detroit's premier square. Then it was moved and neglected. Again, Detroit has some real nice jewels... it's just that the city needs to relocate some of them from time to time as they did the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial & Bagley Fountain in the last few years. But as for the Hurlbut Gate... Chauncey Hurlbut would be turning over in his grave at seeing what the city did to his beautifully landscaped park. And I don't think he would begrudge anyone to relocate his memorial to a site where it can once again become a centerpiece and be appreciated by all... and not behind an inaccessible fence surrounded by no landscaping whatsoever. (Message edited by Gistok on June 30, 2008) |
