Following the conclusion of the Detroit Grand Prix, organizers have clarified that they expect the event to remain downtown even amid a potential renovation of the area.
For the past three years, IndyCar and IMSA have run their early June race on the streets of downtown Detroit.
The 1.645-mile course encircles the iconic GM Renaissance Center, which until recently served as GM’s headquarters, and is directly in the heart of the city.
Plans are being discussed to renovate the Renaissance Center building, however, which could potentially include removing two of the five towers and renovating the area where the track currently runs.
Detroit GP Chairman Bud Denker confirmed that the Detroit GP event has been approved for a new three year extension, and also related that he expects the event to remain in its current location for the near future.
“Yeah, it’s a bit TBD,” explained Denker. “You may have seen since last year’s press conference that Bedrock and GM announced that they want to take down two of the towers here and make more of a park layout.
“That’s still a little ways off because a couple things have to happen. In 2027 the NCAA championship is here in Detroit, and those 1,500 rooms in the Marriott are part of the requirement to have that tournament here. So nothing is going to be going away here from what we understand until post-2027.
“It requires also, if you saw between state and city funding, over $300 million of support to do that, which hasn’t been approved yet.
“Is it going to happen? Is it possible? Sure. But when is it going to happen? Don’t know. Don’t have any idea. But we do know that their desire is to change it. We don’t know when it’s going to happen, though.”
Downtown Motor City
Prior to 2023, the Detroit race was held at nearby Belle Isle. Nearly half of the island was converted into an event space for the weekend.
The location posed logistical challenges, however, and required fans to park off site and ride busses into the venue.
The new location downtown looked more cramped at first glance, but numerous parking garages and other infrastructure helped the race exist among the skyscrapers with relative ease.
The long-term future is unclear, but organizers are confident they will be included in whatever plans are made for the area.
“The good thing about this city is because it’s our hometown, we’ve involved in a lot of these discussions relative to process,” continued Denker.
“One of the big questions is going to be what happens to all the paddock space. You can’t lose your paddock space. You can’t lose your pit lane. It’s one thing to lost Atwater Street, but you can’t lose your paddock space and your pit lane.
“We just don’t know, and we know we’re a couple years off before we do know what that’s going to be.”
