Detroit’s Belle Isle Park Is About to Become a Racetrack Again

 Opponents maintain that the race, as well as the park fee that the DNR implemented when it took over, contravene the values embedded in an Olmsted-inspired park—that it should be “free and open,” in the words of Charles Birnbaum of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit.

“This is a privatized use,” Birnbaum said of the race. “A decision is being made to sacrifice irreplaceable parkland that has been held in trust. To me, this is no different than the Detroit Institute of Art entertaining selling off artwork.”