Event to include pre-party in Belle Isle Aquarium historic speakeasy

Guests will get first look at new sturgeon exhibit

Speakeasy is second hidden room highlighted on Belle Isle

Few have seen the speakeasy below the Belle Isle Aquarium, which was used as a hub for bootleggers bringing liquor to Detroit from Canada during Prohibition in the 1920s and 1930s.

But guests of the Belle Isle Conservancy's Deeper Dive: Urgin' for Sturgeon fundraiser benefiting the aquarium will get that chance, along with the opportunity to win a private party in the speakeasy as part of a silent auction.

The Nov. 30 dinner will include a pre-party in the Prohibition-era speakeasy.

The event will be anything but dry, with specialty cocktails by Ferndale-based Valentine Distilling Co. and other drinks, and a first look at the aquarium's new Great Lakes sturgeon exhibit showcasing the prehistoric fish.

Sturgeon-themed reproductions of art from 42 U.S. artists will also be on display as part of an exhibit housed at the aquarium for the next three months.

The Belle Isle Conservancy hopes to activate the speakeasy more often over the coming years, said Summer Ritner, vice president of operations and director of the Belle Isle Aquarium. But renovations of a bathroom in the basement will be needed to use the speakeasy on an ongoing basis.

The speakeasy is the second hidden room on Belle Isle the conservancy has used to attract guests to its fundraisers.

In August, those attending Sunset at the Scott were offered tours of the little-known room below the Scott Fountain. The room is filled with brightly colored antique valves, pipes and drains to make the fountain spray.

In the weeks leading up to the return of the Grand Prix on Belle Isle in 2007, DTE Energy Co. manager Robert Carpenter spent weeks in the room below the fountain, unraveling its mysteries to bring the long-silent fountain back to life.

Carpenter still returns to Belle Isle each year with his motor home to camp there from mid-April through May to clean the fountain, fix any leaky pipes and prime the pumps.