Campus Martius Park

Campus Martius Park is a public park located in downtown Detroit, where Woodward Avenue and Michigan Avenue intersect.  It was first built in 1850, but then in the 1900's it was lost as the city's downtown was reconfigured due to the heavy traffic.  It was rebuilt in 2004 with a Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, two stages, an ice skating rink, sculptors, and public spaces.  This park is 1.2 acres and is open all year round.  The ice skating rink is operated by Magic Ice USA and designed to resemble the one at the Rockefeller Center in New York City, but it is actually larger than that one. I have never walked through Campus Martius or have gone ice skating at the rink there but I plan to in the future.  Campus Martius is a beautiful, well known place to go for Detroiters or anybody visiting the Detroit area.

Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is a Civil War Monument created to honor those that were killed in the war.  It was sculpted by Randolph Rogers in 1867 and is of a Classical Revival style.  The design consists of octagonal sections that rise up from the base of the monument.  The lowest sections have eagles on them with raised wings that guide your eye upward to the next section which has four males symbolizing the Navy, Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery branches of the U.S. Army.  Above the male statues are four women on pedestals that represent Victory, History, Emancipation, and Union. Victory stands at the top of the monument with a sword and a shield prepared to attack. This monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.  I love the different levels of this monument and how it builds up.  The design of it makes you look at every aspect of it not just the top of it.  This statue has great history and meaning to it.