Leah Graham and Nadav Pais-Greenapple

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

The first "thank you" DTE Energy CEO Gerry Anderson handed out Thursday at the grand opening of Beacon Park went to the weather gods.

“Yeah, you can clap for them,” he said, pausing for laughter as he addressed the hundreds gathered on the 1.5-acre green space in the shadow of DTE’s downtown headquarters.

With the sun peeping through, and fears of rain unrealized, Detroit’s new public space at Grand River and Cass Avenue debuted Thursday before an audience of DTE employees, business leaders and government officials, including Mayor Mike Duggan and City Council President Brenda Jones.

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Funded by DTE Energy, Beacon Park, which Anderson described as “a gem that will enrich the lives of Detroiters for many, many, many decades to come,” features a performance area, restaurant and sports lawn.

Possible activities on the turf field include badminton, soccer, ping pong and ultimate Frisbee. Come Play Detroit, a social athletics club for young adults,plans to use the space for recreational sports such as volleyball and kickball.

“We didn’t want it to be another Campus Martius,” said Meg Walker, senior vice president at Project for Public Spaces, the nonprofit design firm that developed the concept for Beacon Park. “One of the other things we learned is that there aren’t enough places for downtown office workers to go out after work, and you can’t really do that at Campus Martius. We wanted to have a little more freedom for that kind of activity here.”

In coming up with its design, the New York-based Project for Public Spaces conducted focus groups with DTE workers.

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“We heard from a lot of the DTE employees that they’d love to have a place to walk to for lunch and after work and even to have outdoor meetings,” Walker said. “Also they wanted food trucks, a whole food truck area for lunch.”

Birmingham restaurateurs Norm and Bonnie LePage, proprietors of Big Rock Chophouse and Griffin Claw Brewery, will open their newest venture, Lumen, featuring indoor, outdoor and rooftop dining, at the park in spring 2018.

Beacon Park, its name a nod to Anderson’s hope that the space serves as a “beacon for development and progress and growth and revitalization on this side of our city,” is managed by the Downtown Detroit Partnership, a nonprofit organization focused on generating commercial and civic investment in the city.

According to its annual report, DDP oversees more than 350,000 square feet of public space in the downtown area, including Campus Martius and Grand Circus Park. DDP estimates 2 million people visited its five parks in 2016, Campus Martius being the most popular. With the addition of a sixth, Beacon Park, they predict an additional 1 million visitors annually. The other city parks DDP manages are: Cadillac Square, Capitol Park and Paradise Valley Park.

Beacon Park will host 600 events between now and the end of the year, 50 of which will take place this weekend. Activities include live music, yoga, film screenings and dance performances.

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Anderson cited Leventhal Park in Boston, a similar public green space, as his inspiration. Like Leventhal Park, Beacon Park was funded and designed by the businesses around it.

“Our hope is that it’s going to become an important glue for this neighborhood as it grows and evolves, just like that park is in Boston,” he said. “Beyond its amenities, the real purpose of this park is to serve as a catalyst for renewal in our city.”

The newly constructed Little Caesars Arena, financed by the Ilitch family, sits just north of Beacon Park.

“Chris Ilitch tells me that the lots he just paved, they aren’t going to stay paved all that long,” Anderson said, indicating future developments on the northwestern edge of downtown. “He’s just done something amazing, we’ve just put this here. When you put nice things in place, people want to come be near them. I don’t think it will take long.”

Mayor Mike Duggan drew historical parallels between the original planning of Detroit and the modern renewal spreading along the city’s central “spokes” from the riverfront, north.

Now that Woodward and Michigan Avenues have seen extensive development, he said, Beacon Park heralds a similar investment along Grand River.

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“This is gonna be the Grand River corridor,” Duggan said. “You just go a mile up and Woodbridge neighborhood, if you haven’t seen it, it’s spectacular. I think you’re going to see the development start to reach out to the neighborhoods, and that’s what we’re looking forward to.”

Clinton Township resident Ronnie Greene, 72, has followed changes in downtown Detroit for a long time and visited Beacon Park to see the new space.

“I’ve been watching this development since it first started,” Greene said. ”I think it’s a good idea and I think it’ll just get bigger and better.”

Beacon Park has been a longstanding topic of interest for DTE employees as well. DTE employee Anita Springer, 40, of Royal Oak, came to the opening with her family.

“I’m really excited to see this piece of land being developed,” Springer said. “I’ve been here for 10 years and it’s been an empty lot.”

Dearborn resident Wisal Hammoud brought her 4-year-old daughter Zayma to the celebration.

“It’s beautiful. I’m really excited, looking forward to it because I work at DTE, and it’s something nearby. Throughout the day it’s somewhere to go and relax,” Hammoud said as Zayma played on the temporary see-saw installation just outside the park. “She’s having a lot of fun, so this is great for her.” The installation will be in place until Aug. 27.

As live music played on the temporary stage where Anderson and Duggan had delivered their remarks minutes earlier, Rebecca Brinker, 29, of Ypsilanti, danced on the lawn.

“I’m having a really good time,” she said. “Good music, good vibes, the summer sun is out. The city seems so alive right now.”