Hart Plaza renovations enter final phase

Hart Plaza's makeover is preparing to enter its final phase. The city's multi-million dollar renovation featured the restoration of the iconic Dodge Fountain earlier this year .

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Today was a pretty quiet day at Hart Plaza. Clara Hill and her family took a stroll down memory lane.

“I’ve been here for the Jazz Festival for, like, 35 years. Almost every year. So, that was awesome," Hill recalled.

The longtime Plymouth resident visited from Florida.

She said, “We wanted to see the resurgence. We wanted to see the new beauty, the revived beauty of Detroit.”

Daveayon Jones is visiting from Texas.

“It’s my first time being here, but I’ve heard that it’s been a lot of improvement," he said.

The City of Detroit is spending $9 million to improve Hart Plaza. The Dodge Fountain restoration was a huge part of that, during a previous phase.

Of that $9 million, $2.4 million is going towards the next and final phase of renovations.

Crystal Perkins, the Director of the City of Detroit’s General Services Department, said demolition should start on the grand staircase either at the end of this month or the beginning of next month. It's where the Gateway to Freedom Statue is, and the city said it will be more accessible for those with disabilities.

“This is huge. The renovations that we’re doing because you have so much foot traffic. So, this increases accessibility to the plaza from the river," she explained.

Perkins said, “The team that won the current bid that will be doing the work, they have promised to work throughout the non-construction season as much as possible but also work around the Hart Plaza event schedule. So, any events that we have scheduled will not have to be rescheduled or will not interfere with their events.”

The project is expected to be complete by Memorial Day of next year.