Ask Detroiters where their city gathers, and the answer is Campus Martius Park. The two-acre park at Woodward and Monroe — the point from which Detroit’s mile roads are measured — was reborn in 2004 and has anchored downtown’s comeback ever since, hosting more than a thousand events a year.
Summer brings The Beach, a sandy hangout with lounge chairs and food stands; concerts and movie nights fill the lawn; and the Woodward Fountain keeps things cool. In winter, the park transforms: an ice rink opens beneath a towering Christmas tree, and the city’s annual tree lighting ceremony draws tens of thousands to kick off the holidays. The rink typically returns in November, with the tree lighting just before Thanksgiving.
Surrounded by the Guardian Building, the First National Building and the gleaming Hudson’s Detroit development, Campus Martius is the city’s living room. The Downtown Detroit Partnership posts the park’s event calendar at downtowndetroit.org.
