New life for Belle Isle’s old police station?

Belle Isle Police Station

• Belle Isle Police Station

Address: Near Central Avenue and Inselruhe Avenue, Detroit

Architecture: Romanesque

History: Opened in 1893 as the second oldest building on Belle Isle. In 1928, it was the location of the first instance of police communicating through radio on a dedicated frequency.

Show and tell: What building in Detroit has special significance to you and why? Email aaron@outliermedia.org with your favorite, and we’ll dig into its history.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is mulling the future of a few high profile vacant properties on Belle Isle . The island’s boat house faces an uphill preservation battle in my opinion, and the DNR will revamp where the zoo once was . The former Belle Isle Police Station on the other hand might have a future.

Amelia Benavides-Colón, a Detroit Documenter , reported for the Detroit Free Press that the Detroit Community Sailing Center (DCSC) is in the very early stages of potentially renovating the old police station . The Grosse Pointe Park-based community nonprofit provides sailing education and docks its boats at the Belle Isle Boat House, which has been in a steady state of decline. The center partnered with the University of Michigan to identify alternative locations, and the police station, now operated by the DNR, is on the list.

DCSC President Harry Jones told Outlier Media the organization has been in talks with the DNR since last fall about occupying the building. A potential agreement would have the nonprofit fundraise for the renovation and use it under a long-term lease. As a first step, DCSC will hire a contractor to assess the cost of redevelopment, which Jones said will be “definitely into the millions.”

The building, with its distinct stone facade, looks solid from the outside. But a DNR representative told the Free Press there are issues with the foundation and asbestos, and reopening the building will require a substantial interior renovation. Detroit police left the station when the DNR took over management of the island park in 2014.

“We’re pretty experienced at fundraising, but this will be taking it to a new level given that restoring historical sites like the police station are very costly,” Jones said.

DCSC will keep its boats at the boat house for as long as possible, Jones said, but may need to find an alternative location for those as well.

The police station is historically significant. It opened in 1893 and is the second oldest building on Belle Isle. In 1928, Detroit police became the first department in the nation to broadcast dispatches on a dedicated radio frequency, which made response times faster. There’s a Michigan Historical Marker outside the building commemorating this milestone .

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