The Beach at Campus Martius

Project for Public Spaces has worked with local partners in downtown Detroit for nearly two decades. As the city fell upon hard times, our placemaking efforts in the heart of downtown provided a beacon of hope for residents and an engine for economic revitalization. Over the years, Project for Public Spaces has worked with multiple sites and clients in the area, but it all started with Campus Martius. Once the hub of economic and social life for the city, by the time Project for Public Spaces began working in Campus Martius in 1999, it had become little more than an unfriendly traffic island. Across five engagements, Project for Public Spaces used every tool in its toolbox to transform this intersection into what locals now call “Detroit’s gathering place.” These community-driven improvements caught the attention first of Compuware and then of Quicken Loans, both of which moved their headquarters next to Campus Martius and brought jobs and investment back downtown. 

In 2013, Southwest Airlines Heart of the Community Program and Project for Public Spaces brought a taste of the northern Michigan beaches to an underused lawn in the center of downtown Detroit’s Campus Martius Park. Building on other placemaking efforts in the area, Project for Public Spaces transformed Campus Martius Park into a seasonal beach that includes a curved deck with colorful seating, a Beach Bar and Grille, and a large sand-filled area with lounge chairs, umbrellas, and an extra-long shared table.