Friday, April 20, 2007

Detroit - Downtown Jazzfest with special guest: Uniroyal Tire!

In Detroit, Labor Day Weekend means the Jazz Fest, one of the largest free jazz festivals in the country. This year the festival stretched from Hart Plaza at the Detroit river north along Woodward to the new Campus Martius Park in the heart of downtown. I went this morning (Sunday) and took these shots. The weather was great, but I was surprised that it was as busy as it was on a Sunday morning. Anyway, enjoy.

I took Fort Street into town


There's no turning back now!


I can't get enough shots of Downtown's only street-level starbucks!


The City-County Building, 1955, was the first major skyscraper built after the golden age of the 1920's


Comerica Tower with its massive parking structures


Looking down Cadillac Square towards Campus Martius


The Campus Martius Stage


I wasn't sure which one I liked better the landscape...


...or the portrait.


One can't get enough of the Compuware Building


The Soldier's and Sailor's Monument with special guest: Guardian Building


One Kennedy Square is finally getting its skin


The only Grand Piano in a 10 mile radius...


As DallasTexan likes to call it, The Person Mover


The Spirit of Detroit Stage


I was trying to get the crazy dancing lady in the blue dress...


Car Tunes


The entrance to Hart Plaza


Detroit Public School jazz bands were playing here


The view from Hart Plaza


A common sight on the Detroit riverfront


Windsor's Cruiseship Terminal. Detroit's is still a pile of dirt...



The heart of Hart Plaza


Looking East...


...and West


It's not that bad!


It's ugly, but it keeps the kids occupied


The main stage in Hart Plaza


Booths along the path


It takes about five minutes to cross Jefferson the way the lights are timed


Seriously, somebody drives that!


Washington in front of Mariners Church


The Millender Center in all its glory


The safest way to get across Jefferson


The Ren Cen's front lobby


The Ren Cen's rear lobby


The Wintergarden


There are a few shops, though GM is still trying to get tenents to fill the rest


The GM Riverfront Promenade


The back entrance from the outside


The front entrance from the outside



Fittingly for Detroit, the first building constructed in GM's River East development is a parking garage


PriceWaterHouseCoopers' new building next door to Ford Field


Sure this isn't anywhere near downtown, but I took I-94 today for the first time in a while and I snapped a quick shot of the Uniroyal Tire, Detroit's version of the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, or Statue of Liberty!
>

No comments: