Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau 211 W. Fort Street #1000 Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 202-1800 (313) 202-1808 (fax) Population 1027974 Time Zone Eastern Latitude/Longitude 42.34° /-83.06° Today's Forecast HIGH: 64 LOW: 48

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Attractions

In the central city, the splendor of Detroit's heyday lives on in fine museums, historic homes, and public institutions built with the tremendous wealth generated by the early auto industry.

Begin your downtown adventures on the riverfront with dramatic views of the city, lakes, and neighboring Canada from the top of the GM Renaissance Center (the "Ren Cen"), a glittering, 73-story hotel and office complex with an upscale restaurant up top and futuristic cars in the GM World exhibit. The Ren Cen is one of 13 stops on the Detroit People Mover, an elevated loop that whisks riders to business locations like the Cobo Center and entertainment stops like Cobo Arena and Greektown. In recent years, Detroit has staked its economic hopes on the introduction of casino gambling. You'll find three major gaming facilities downtown: the Greektown Casino, the MGM Grand Casino, and the MotorCity Casino.

New sports facilities have also popped up downtown as part of Detroit's revitalization efforts. The Lions now play football at Ford Field, which opened in 2002 and is considered the anchor of the entertainment district, while the Tigers play baseball next door at Comerica Park, which replaced venerable Tiger Stadium in 2000. Over on the river, the Red Wings make their home ice at Joe Louis Arena. Basketball fans still have to travel to suburban Pontiac to watch the Pistons (NBA) and Shock (WNBA) at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

For a night of high culture, patrons of the arts can choose among the opulent Detroit Opera House, the magnificent Orchestra Hall (part of the new Max M. Fisher Music Center), and the jazz and dance programs at the Music Hall. Broadway touring productions and pop music concerts can be found at the resplendent Fox Theatre, while another remodeled movie house of the 1930s, the State Theatre, hosts rock and rhythm and blues performers down the street.

The great wealth of the city's first philanthropists becomes evident when you visit the Detroit Institute of the Arts. The museum features works by Old Masters, Egyptian antiquities, suits of armor, and "Detroit Industry," the 27 Depression-era murals created by Diego Rivera, whose labor-movement sympathies ignited a firestorm of controversy among the museum's industrialist benefactors. Music fans make a beeline for the Motown Historical Museum, "Hitsville USA," to see the original recording studio used by legends such as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes and the Temptations. Other central city museums include the Museum of African-American History, the New Detroit Science Center (with live demonstrations, working laboratories, and a multistory domed theater), the Detroit Historical Museum, the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, which features an outstanding doll collection, and the Detroit Children's Museum which includes a planetarium.

For recreation in an unusual setting, visit Belle Isle, a downtown island park with a glass-domed conservatory, maritime museum, playgrounds and trails. Also on the river you'll find Hart Plaza, the site of summertime festivals and a spectacular $30 million fountain with computerized water displays designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. From the plaza, depart for a two-hour narrated river excursion that provides another view of the city and plenty of history.

In nearby Dearborn, The Henry Ford is one of the area's most popular attractions. A tribute to industry, the museum includes curiosities such as the chair in which Abraham Lincoln was assassinated plus the preserved buildings of Greenfield Village, Ford's gargantuan effort to save historic Americana (Thomas Edison's laboratory, a working farm, a riverboat, colonial American homes, and more) for posterity. The Automotive Hall of Fame is nearby.

On the northwest side, the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak was the first in America to go "barless," creating exhibits resembling natural animal habitats. The arctic wildlife and great apes exhibits are the standouts here. Along with 40 acres of gardens and a stunning English manor house, Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills features science exhibits and a museum of 20th century art. In Farmington Hills, the Holocaust Memorial Center boasts an extensive library and research center plus the Museum of European Jewish Heritage.

For more insight into the lives of Detroit's auto barons, you can visit the mansions they erected: Fair Lane, Dearborn's national historic landmark that was Henry Ford's estate; the ornate Fisher Mansion, built by the founder of Fisher Body Works on the Detroit waterfront; the elegant Edsel and Eleanor Ford House on Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores; and Meadow Brook Hall, built for auto pioneer John Dodge in Rochester.

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