Riverfront plaza overhaul plans worry summer festival organizer
City council took a step closer to an elaborate $13-million renovation of the Riverfront Festival Plaza that one event organizer says would force the annual Summerfest and midway to leave downtown.
Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to spend $149,000 for a more detailed proposal and study that would divide the festival plaza into three sections, complete with sloped viewing area in front of the stage and trees in the middle of the space, which stretches for two football fields.
But David Grimaldi, representing the Windsor Parade Corporation, called the grand plan — designed to provide a more usable space when festivals aren’t on — short-sighted.
“We are in support of the project but we can’t get lost with esthetics when it’s going to affect the practicality of what festivals can do,” Grimaldi said. “You can’t put a bunch of trees and a park inside of the festival plaza and think that festival producers are going to be able to use that.”
Grimaldi said he was told by city administrators that Summerfest would have to move if the Festival Plaza is renovated as proposed. He said the World’s Finest Shows midway operator was also told he would have to find another location. Other large festivals such as Bluesfest might also have to move on, Grimaldi said.
This summer marks the 59th consecutive year a summer festival and midway — previously called the International Freedom Festival — has been held on the riverfront. Grimaldi noted that when riverfront construction almost forced the popular Summerfest to move out for a season in 2010, community anger bubbled over in the media and online.
Grimaldi took exception with comments Tuesday from Coun. Rino Bortolin, who praised the Riverfront Festival Plaza proposal for offering an attractive space along the river that people could use the 300 days of the year that events aren’t operating. Windsor books 12 to 15 events each summer in the plaza.
Bortolin said the plaza sticks out like a sore thumb in an aerial view of the riverfront, since the pavement essentially looks like a large parking lot.
“Coun. Bortolin’s remarks are really out in left field,” Grimaldi said. “We have enough parkland. That’s why we have Dieppe Park and all kinds of parkland on the riverfront.”
Councillors Bill Marra and JoAnne Gignac said they did not want the new design to force any festivals out and therefore asked that the next report to council include more consultation with event producers.
Gignac also worried that trees and other features might block the view of the Detroit skyline from Riverside Drive.
“We have to make sure that whatever design we adopt can meet our needs, and make sure we don’t push anybody off of that incredible, incredible waterfront,” Gignac said.
The plan, presented to council by Landmark Engineering consultant Dan Krutsch and city landscape architect Stefan Fediuk, offers a number of stylish upgrades, including brick patterns on the ground and green spaces in the back-of-house area behind the stage. Area 1: The concert viewing area would be a slightly sloped circle to allow better viewing for up to 3,000 people. A canopy would provide protection from rain and sun. Area 2: The transitional area would be a modestly elevated area with trees, incorporating green areas, to break up the look and provide an attraction for visitors when events are not on. Area 3: The plaza entry space would also provide a canopy for those entering from that side. It would provide a drop-off area and include the addition of washroom facilities and a storage building.