Belle Isle Aquarium Gets $1.7 Million Grant

Here’s some more good news for Belle Isle.

The Belle Isle Conservancy says it received a $1.7 million grant from the William Davidson Foundation to upgrade and restore the historic Belle Isle Aquarium. The foundation named for the former owner of the Detroit Pistons awarded the grant last year, so infrastructure repairs are already under way.

The news adds to a recent string of announcements about improvements to Detroit’s signature island park.

Famed landscape designer Piet Oudolf was in Detroit last week to outline his plans for a new garden near the park’s Nancy Brown Peace Carillon Tower, with fundraising well under way for that project. Oudolf is the designer behind New York’s High Line and Chicago’s Lurie Garden.

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix announced last month that it is giving $400,000 raised in a charity event to help fix and maintain the 93-year-old Scott Fountain.

The Belle Isle Conservancy is also holding its annual Polish the Jewel fundraiser luncheon tomorrow — that’s Thursday, October 11th — at the Detroit Yacht Club.