The idea of putting a hotel on Belle Isle didn't sit well with some people when it was reported Sunday in the Detroit Free Press.
On Wednesday, leaders of the Belle Isle Conservancy made it clear that there would be no hotel or any type of residence on the island — except for possibly some limited overnight camping, the Freep's Matt Helms reports.
The Freep reports:
Conservancy President Michele Hodges told the Free Press in an article Sunday that the conservancy, in partnership with the state Department of Natural Resources, had given a consultant carte blanche to imagine new ideas for the 982-acre jewel.
After the report, comment pages at freep.com and elsewhere lit up with people opposed to commercial development of any kind on the island. The Free Press reported that those ideas could include restaurants, camping and maybe even a hotel.
Hodges said Wednesday that she wanted to correct any misunderstandings about what the strategic plan will produce. She said any ideas about hotels, lodges or widespread camping are not the kinds of concepts that will ultimately come to fruition.
Also read:
Mleczko: A New Vision for Belle Isle Could Be A Nightmare (Deadline Detroit)
