At Mayor Duggan's State of the City Address on 3/10/2021, it was announced that the historic Bandshell at the State Fairgrounds will not be demolished and has a possibility to be placed in Palmer Park.

"There's a lot of emotion," Duggan said. "I saw concerts at this bandshell. A lot of folks remember this, and they said, 'Can't we do something about the history of the Fairgrounds?' And I'm very glad to say that my partner [Detroit City Councilman] Roy McCalister has been emphatic that we are going to save this bandshell."

Mayor Duggan said the city did a "physical assessment" of the structure and hopes to be able to relocate the bandshell to Palmer Park, the city's first choice, as long as the neighbors want it there. If not, Duggan said they will consider other locations.

Two meetings held
The City of Detroit/General Services Department presented three location options at the  People for Palmer Park Annual Meeting on 4/17/2021 which sparked the first public discussion on the pros/cons, concerns and questions some of the surrounding community has about the proposed location.

The City then held another presentation and discussion on the bandshell relocation at their April District 2 Meeting on 5/11/2021. Because of the short notice, there were many voices not present at the discussion as we had hoped, but some support as well as some concerns arose. SEE 5/11/2021 MEETING NOTES below.

Next meeting
While the 5/27 late announcement of a FINAL DISCUSSION MEETING is once again very last minute, we are doing our best to get word out to the community. We hope you will attend, prepare to share your thoughts/concerns/support and spread the word to others in the community. 

5/11/2021 MEETING NOTES

About the bandshell structure:

• Heavy timber, wood bolted structure, still in very good condition. City would selectively dismantle, look at structure and to make sure it meets current day requirements, and transport over to the new site and assemble with same structural integrity.
• The clapboard/plywood siding in poor condition and will be restored with new materials to replicate.
• The move does not include the single story, back-of-house part of structure, which is also to be rebuilt. A smaller back-of-house likely that would serve the bandshell, loading for performance, storing and a green room.

Proposed Palmer Locations:

• Location options were whittled down from 5 or 6 to three (pictured) based on what was ideal for construction and community.

OPTION 1

• 7 Mile & Pontchartrain 
• New parking would be a grass-based (not paved) option

OPTION 2

• Near 12th Precinct, 7 Mile
• Closer to Woodward

OPTION 3

• Woodward & Merrill Plaisance
• Close proximity to Joe Louis Greenway and it’s planned connectivity
• Existing Parking lots in area

 

*** NOTE: WE HAVE A NEW TEXT ALERT NUMBER! PLEASE READ BELOW! ***
TEXT ALERTS FROM PEOPLE FOR PALMER PARK!

Will tonight’s bike ride be cancelled due to rain?
Is the ground too wet this week for yoga or t’ai chi?
Now you can receive instant updates for our recreation programs and events, in text form RIGHT ON YOUR PHONE.

We have a new number for our text alerts. This is due to an exciting upgrade to a more robust system with better capabilities. But it does mean we need you to sign up again at the new number. 

INSTRUCTIONS:
(This is a one time setup and will only take a moment...)

Text “PalmerPark” to the number 888-833-7575.
No quotes, no spaces. It is not caps sensitive. Now SEND.

You will receive a reply that looks something like this:

Welcome!
Msg&Data rates may apply.
Get 10msg/mos of Park Alerts.
Reply HELP for help, STOP to OptOut. 8883483778

Thank you for joining PFPP's PalmerPark keyword group! Please reply with your First Name. Txt STOP to OptOut


Reply with your first name only.
You will receive next msg like this:

Thank you for providing us with your First Name. Please provide your Email for further correspondence.

If you choose to provide your email, you will receive next msg like this:

Thank you! Your email provides us another way to keep you informed about Palmer Park.


Then you're all set!
ALL text alerts will be People for Palmer Park related (weather updates for recreation programs, event reminders), Not spam. Charges may apply, check your individual cellular/data plan.