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DIA outlines cultural-district plaza plan and $35 million underground garage rebuild; fundraising halfway there
Summary
DIA officials told the Detroit City Council the Detroit Cultural Center Association-led plaza project aims to pedestrianize portions of the district and that a planned $35 million repair of the museum's unused underground garage is about half-funded.
Elliot Broom, chief operating officer of the Detroit Institute of Arts, told council members that a multi-institution cultural-district project now managed by the Detroit Cultural Center Association would transform street space near the DIA and rebuild an unused underground parking structure.
Broom said the nonprofit Detroit Cultural Center Association (DCCA), led by Elena Rau, now oversees a project that aims to connect 12 partner institutions in the cultural campus and transform some streets — including Farnsworth and portions of John R and Kirby — into dual-purpose, pedestrian-first spaces where bollards would rise on weekends to create plaza areas and lower on weekdays for vehicular traffic.
On the adjacent underground garage, Broom said the structure was closed to public use in 2011 and requires an estimated $35,000,000 rebuild to return roughly 250 parking spaces. He said the DIA and foundations and the state have pledged funds and that the project was “about halfway there” on the fundraising target.
Broom described the garage as two-level parking under the museum’s south lawn with an upper slab and a basement level. He told council members the museum and partners saw parking shortages during busy periods (for example, a spring-break attendance spike) that funded restoration would help alleviate.
When asked how the remaining funding would be raised, Broom said a small team drawn from DIA staff, Midtown Detroit and DCCA continues to seek foundation support and state leadership contributions. He did not identify specific remaining funders or firm commitments beyond the pledges and said the organization is continuing outreach.
The cultural-district plan remains at the fundraising and design stage; Broom compared it to other urban cultural-campus projects, saying the scale in Detroit could be larger because of the number of institutions "nestled" in the same neighborhood.
Council members pressed for additional information about the garage location, funding sources and timelines; the DIA said it would provide further written material on fundraising and project status.
