Ren Cen Groundbreaking
Powerful business interests joined together to form the Detroit Renaissance Group. This organization saw investment in the downtown area as a way to attract business back to the city and create jobs for all. Initial plans included a riverfront football stadium project, which was aborted when the Detroit Lions announced their intention to move to Pontiac. The crown jewel of the business collective was the Detroit Renaissance Center, a state-of-the-art structure to symbolize rebirth and serve as a catalyst for renewal.
Image from the groundbreaking ceremony of the Detroit Renaissance Center. May 22, 1973. Source: Detroit News Photograph Collection. Source: Detroit News Photograph Collection.
Mayor Coleman Young in front of the under-construction Renaissance Center. June 20, 1975. Source: Detroit News Photograph Collection.
“What It Really Means!” Detroit News story on the Renaissance Center. April 15, 1977. Source: Detroit Renaissance Records, Box 3, folder 19.
“Detroit 1971: A Panorama of Progress” promotional pamphlet. 1971. Source: Mel Ravitz Papers, Box 72, folder 2.
Letter from a local citizen to Common Council President Mel Ravitz regarding the Detroit Renaissance, Inc. and the role of development in the city's recovery. Source: Mel Ravitz Papers, Box 29, folder 4.
Letter from Common Council President Mel Ravitz to a local citizen regarding the Detroit Renaissance, Inc. and the role of development in the city's recovery. Source: Mel Ravitz Papers, Box 29, folder 4.
Was Councilman Ravitz correct in opposing the concentration of tax dollars to downtown development rather than the many neighborhoods, or were those projects vital in stemming the loss of business and jobs within the city? What data might have been collected in the 1980s and 1990s that could test your opinion?
Mock-up of the proposed riverfront domed football stadium. c. 1969. Source: Detroit Renaissance Records, Box 5, folder 33.
How would a new sporting complex have affected Detroit’s long underutilized riverfront area?
Continued Economic Struggles
Three workers assist patrons who wait in line at an unemployment office. Municipal/State/Federal Employees, an Unemployment Office in Detroit. Undated. Source: Tony Spina Collection.
Protesters outside the Veterans Memorial Building where a conference addressing the needs of the nation’s poor, attended by President Jimmy Carter, was taking place. 1977. Source: Detroit News Photograph Collection.