Detroit Cultural District V4

DETROIT CULTURAL DISTRICT

Parking

DETROIT CULTURAL DISTRICT

PARKING

The Detroit Cultural District

Creating spaces that combine culture, civic infrastructure, and sustainable systems is essential for equitable urban regeneration.

The Cultural Center Planning Initiative (CCPI) will introduce civic infrastructure that’s smart, efficient, and serves collective needs. Beyond the physical rejuvenation of public spaces, this initiative will facilitate a sense of ownership and engagement between citizens and the cultural institutions that hold the keys to their history—and their future. The

CCPI proposes a comprehensive 80-acre campus that integrates green infrastructure, cultural engagement and inclusion, and urban biodiversity into an accessible space that is equally welcoming to all Detroiters and all visitors.

THE CHARLES H. WRIGHT MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

Above: While providing pedestrians the right of way, a shared street option on East Kirby Street safely combines cycling, social activities, parking for universal access, and local car traffic to create a shared public space. Eliminating the traditional segregation of motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists using bollards, varied textures in the hardscape and signage create a shared and more vibrant streetscape.

Smart, Sustainable Parking Design

An efficient parking strategy is the foundation of the District plan. To restore valuable open space within the District and to ensure equitable ease of access for residents and visitors, CCPI has focused on the functions, locations, and purposes of parking. Cars, after all, spend 95% of their time doing nothing. So why not reimagine the urban space currently devoted to them?

CCPI consolidates private and onstreet above ground parking by bringing cars below ground. The plan proposes two underground structures: the full renovation of the existing Woodward Avenue car park at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the introduction of a new car park adjacent to Brush Street. The strategy, designed to create a pedestriancentric public landscape, helps mitigate the negative impacts parking has on the environment, while opening up precious space for community benefit.

Working with Rich and Associates Parking Consultants, the CCPI Parking Plan analyzed the 10-block area to assess parking requirements and projected feasibility. Informed by annual patron volumes, hours of operation, staffing levels, and other relevant statistics, Rich and Associates

established the optimal number of spaces for the Brush Street car park. They demonstrated that the parking supply within the District would continue to meet the demands of the institutions over the next decade.

Once realized, the CCPI’s Parking Plan will transform 16 acres of paved surface currently dedicated to car storage into an adaptable public landscape that improves the quality of life for Detroit residents.

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Cities do not need to accept parking as a necessary evil. Instead, design has a responsibility to promote solutions that mitigate the negative impacts parking has on the environment, mobility, and land use. Parking is where environmental impact, urban planning, architectural design, enterprise, and public space can come together to make significant urban change.

Jean Louis Farges Principal, Akoaki

The District will be composed of four landscape elements and their interactions: The Square, The Band, The Ecotone, and The Necklace. Each of these are designed to be adjusted through stakeholder and public engagement. The elements will define the district in distinct ways by offering varied perspectives, engaging experiential sequences, and providing legible points of entry. The elements will also unify by bringing together a site that was formerly residential but

divided by streets and small plots.

Focusing on what will be shared, CCPI merges the distinct parts into a generous whole.

A pedestrian framework defines the boundaries of the district by transforming a network of auto-centric streets into a people-focused pedestrian experience. It welcomes the possibility of shared infrastructure while offering institutions generous spaces for outdoor programming and public amenities. CCPI’s adaptation offers a democratic foundation for an urban plan where each institution, big or small, connects equitably to public space and the District’s amenities.

A series of open green spaces highlights the historic axis of the Cultural District and creates adaptable eventscapes for daily and exceptional activation. The surface parking lot on Brush is transformed into a Great Lawn by consolidating cars below grade. On Woodard Avenue, an ephemeral plaza emphasizes the well proportioned relationship between the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Public Library, opening possibilities for seasonal happenings. Connecting College for Creative Studies and Wayne State University, the Band integrates open spaces that unites the venerable campuses on both the east and west sides of the plan.

The Ecotone

The Ecotone incorporates nature into the city by merging infrastructure with the beauty of an inhabitable landscape, reimagining engineering and ecological requirements as a public attractor. In the form of two green zones bracing the districts open plazas, the Ecotone addresses climate adaptation, provides valuable solutions to urban overheating, augments biodiversity and mitigates noise/air pollution and introduces stormwater management at a district scale.

A meandering pathway that links the District with unique programming opportunities. If the Square is the destination, then the Necklace is the journey. The walking path connects smaller sites and experiences: sculptures, places for play, climate gardens, and other discrete activities, while offering moments for quiet reflection. A tool for navigating the District in an open-ended or theme-driven way, the Necklace creates distinct atmospheric experiences by facilitating intimate encounters with art, culture, and landscape.

The Square at the intersection of Farnsworth Street and John R Street looking west highlights a shared street that privileges pedestrian activity and creates space for commercial programs to activate the public life of the District.

THE DETROIT CULTURAL DISTRICT

The Future of Parking

Parking is a common sight in cities; particularly in auto-centric metropolitan areas like Detroit. But with rapid changes in mobility, the future of parking holds the key to reimagining the ways cities are organized, how they operate, and the public amenities they provide.

Car-sharing, electric vehicles, and a growing conscientiousness around the ecological impacts of private transportation are transforming parking in profound ways. Most will agree that single-

use and underused parking areas need rethinking. Whether parking spaces double as charging stations or connect to rental bikes, dynamic public space design increasingly demands more sustainable, adaptable solutions to make parking spaces both easy to access and eco-friendly.

CCPI recognizes that parking is at the core of effective planning, and that the metropolitan underground is a key urban resource. In the District the

consolidation of parking below

grade offers answers to many contemporary urban challenges and opens up precious space for public occupation on the surface.

In this model, parking is no longer a site of inert storage, but integrates changes in mobility by servicing people and vehicles in equal measure.

The current surface lot behind the Detroit Institute of Arts boasts over 400 spaces.

What’s the Matter with Parking?

Detroit’s urban core is one of the most hallowed out of any major city, with about 40% of the parcels downtown devoted to parking cars. While in Midtown, that percentage is slightly lower, 32% of the public space in the Cultural District is currently occupied by parking, a swath of area with real and significant environmental, social, and spatial ramifications.

We know above ground city parking lots pose many challenges. They are expensive to maintain, break up the pedestrian experience, and diminish architectural continuity. They are detrimental to the urban environment: contributing to polluted street runoff, contaminating watersheds, and exacerbating the heat island effect. And, of course, they take up valuable space.

In the Cultural District, the current above ground lot, located between five institutions, clogs over 3 acres of the most essential landscape in the center of the District. Cars and the parking lot infrastructure are significant obstacles to an open and continuous experience of the District. Paying aesthetic and environmental design attention to the reorganization of entrenched parking strategies creates space for a variety of public uses and catalyzes the District’s evolution.

Street parking captures another 2 acres of the District’s public space, physically and visually blocking access to institutions while impacting the environmental quality of the public experience for all. CCPI carefully incorporates public concerns and visitor desires for convenience to elevate experiences, environmental quality, and public interconnectivity. The result is a plan that reclaims parking space as public space to create a more flexible, multifunctional, environmental, social, and economically productive solution.

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CCPI’s parking strategy invites us to put Joni Mitchel’s famous lament on its head, suggesting it’s time to “un-pave the parking lot and put up a paradise” in its stead. The modern parking lot is ready for transformation. The District Plan offers bold solutions that will change pervasive strategies and reverse the impacts of our automobile-centered society.

Anya Sirota Principal, Akoaki

CCPI’s Parking Solutions

1. Lowering Demand

Some planners suggest that the best way to address the problem of parking is to lower demand. Certainly, densification can help. More people living in Midtown will lead to a more connected, environmentally friendly urban ecosystem, with more people walking or using public transportation to engage with the Cultural District.

Transformations in mobility options and access to new modes of public transit will also make a difference. As bike and car sharing becomes increasingly more available and supported by CCPI’s public infrastructure, projections point to a decrease in individual automobile ridership.

2. Sharing

A visionary way to consolidate space occupied by cars can be achieved by optimizing shared parking infrastructure. In the District, a robust hour-by-hour analysis of parking demand, that takes into account daily trends in visitorship in conjunction with staff and volunteer shift operation, serves to model a strategy where full utilization of all parking space is guaranteed. This nimble approach offers new efficiencies that are as functional as they are economical.

3. Smart Parking

30 to 60 percent of the cars driving around an urban destination are typically circling for an open space, increasing levels of harmful emissions. CCPI introduces a smarter, faster solution to help drivers and residents park. Smart technology in the District will optimize parking by introducing a system of sensors that alerts drivers where garage spaces are available. Coupled with a parking app, like ParkDetroit, will allow visitors to quickly find available public and private garages as well as street parking in close proximity to the District.

4. Parking Plus

The District Plan reimagines space devoted solely to inactive car storage as a multi-use asset. By opening parking garages to various cultural and public activities, the plan will transform parking decks into public spaces that broadcast the arts, change with cultural programming, and evolve with the community. In this way, parking is conceived as an active public space that features exhibitions, performances, new media, information technology, and a space of welcome.

Embracing the projection that automobile ownership is on the decline, Agence Ter and Akoaki have

combines cycling, social activities, parking for universal access, and local car traffic to create a shared public space. Eliminating the traditional segregation of motor vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists using bollards, varied textures in the hardscape and signage create a shared and more vibrant streetscape.

designed parking structures that are adaptable and capable of holding multiple activities that accommodate visitors, new mobility networks, and programming, in addition to the required storage of cars.

5. Green Infrastructure

The parking infrastructure is designed to generate rather than drain resources in the District. Both underground car parks incorporate green roofs, EV charging stations, energy-efficient powering, and environmentally responsive landscapes. Liberated from the burden of parking, the District’s streets are transformed into a space that simultaneously helps control

6. Multimobility Hub

CCPI’s parking decks will house more than just parking and utilities. They will be central hubs for a variety of vehicles ranging from privately owned cars to shared fleets of scooters and everything in between. In this plan, the car parks will connect both vertically as an extension of the street level, and horizontally by plugging into the city’s public transportation networks and cultural venues. The parking decks will also accommodate charging stations that provide energy necessary to power electric vehicles.

polluted water run-off and offers an inspiring multi-purpose landscape.

Above: While providing pedestrians the right of way, a shared street option on East Kirby Street safely

The Untapped Underground

CCPI’s underground urban strategies respond to the District’s fundamental organizational challenges. The construction of consolidated underground parking liberates public space by removing automobiles and their necessary infrastructure from the surface. The expansion of the District through the thickening of the ground is a sensible and human centered planning approach that coordinates mobility-related services and impacts the quality of urban experience in fundamental ways.

There are clear advantages to building underground in the District. For one, the building practice is

naturally more ecological and environmentally friendly. The soil’s inherent thermal capacity allows for common-sense, low-tech heating and cooling of interior spaces within the two underground structures. Soil is a massive, essential heatsink that will help cool the District while reducing energy consumption. The layer of topsoil sheltering below grade construction introduces porous material to mitigate stormwater runoff, while creating new spatial possibilities along the Band that are resilient, responsible, aesthetic and sustainable.

Above: The Children and Family center proposed for the ground floor of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will connect new programs to the outdoors.

Open, green public space like the Band positively impacts the quality of life for residents in Detroit. With improved livability, comes compact growth and densification – a transformation that makes good economic sense for the District, the city, and its residents. Developing Detroit’s existing communities in Midtown, New Center, and the North End by improving the livability of these diverse neighborhoods is both cost and resource efficient. The Plan’s parking strategy will directly affect livability by activating subterranean space for logistics, while tapping into land reserves that improve people’s health and the ecology of the city.

Finally, building underground creates connectivity between buildings, systems and people. In the District, the underground proves to be the obvious zone to embed new mobility technology that reinvents the idea of the city in its broadest sense. The resulting parking plan counters the common perception of underground space as dark and hostile, and embraces it as a resource that extends and completes our world, a nourishing root system without which the ground level cannot operate.

Above: The proposed Art Walk along the current John R Street connects the College for Creative Studies Campus to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Exisiting District Conditions

Currently 40% of the District is occupied by cars. What if consolidating parking below ground could liberate significant and underestimated surface, volume, and land reserves? To make this possible, the Plan must consider the amount of parking currently available, its ownership, proximity to institutional thresholds, and costs in order to map a way to accommodate the volume as efficiently and economically as possible.

CassAve.

WarrenAve.

CassAve.

Taking Stock

Rich and Associates evaluated the parking demands for each institution in the District. The purpose of this surplus and deficit analysis was to assess parking needs, to understand how the District operates today, and to project the impact of the District Plan on parking in the future. Rich and Associates administered surveys to all institutions requesting statistics on annual patron volumes, hours of operation, and staffing/volunteer levels. Seven institutions provided data points, five of which guided the analysis of parking needs due to their scale and impact on parking demands. These institutions include:

• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

• Michigan Science Center

• Detroit Institute of Arts

• Detroit Historical Museum

• Detroit Public Library

The analysis showed that all five institutions generally receive patrons Tuesdays through Sundays with Mondays either closed or accommodating in-house staff activities. Using this data, Rich and Associates developed models to demonstrate the parking needs by

time of day, institution, visitor arrival patterns, and average lengths of stay. The study showed that the average length of stay was two hours for most institutions in the District. Detailed data was analyzed by time of day and day of week in order to accurately represent precise, timed conditions occurring within the District. Unsurprisingly, the District generates more activity on weekends.

Jeff Anderson COO, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

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We envision redevelopment that increases parking to better accommodate school buses, commercial coaches and private vehicles. We believe parking must have affordability and accessibility as a top consideration, as we should seek to reduce or eliminate any barriers that would prevent guests or vulnerable populations from accessing our institutions.

The current surface lot behind the Detroit Institute of Arts with additional parking on the adjacent streets, and in this instance the hardscaping of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

ZONE A

ZONE B

ZONE C

GROUPING INFORMATION

ZONE A - The Detroit Historical Museum

ZONE B - The Detroit Public Library

ZONE C - The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, The Detroit Institute of Arts, The Michigan Science Center, The Scarab Club.

Parking Zones, Breaking ItUp

Convenient parking is the utmost priority for all institutions and their visitors, which is unsurprising given Michigan’s infamous winters. Through institutional and community engagement, CCPI determined that five minutes is the maximum time a visitor is willing to walk between a parked vehicle and an institutional threshold. We took that number and cut it in half. The resulting strategy meets the demands of all institutions within 700 feet of their front doors - a two and half minute walk for an average person.

With a 700-foot walking radius established, the parking strategy takes parking needs for individual institutions and groups them into zones according to geographic proximity. Three zones define the District: Zone A, the Detroit Historical Museum; Zone B, the Detroit Public Library; and Zone C, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Michigan Science Center, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The combined surplus and deficit analysis for Zone C informed the scale of the proposed underground garage at Brush Street. Zones A and B did not contribute to the estimation of underground car parking needs and have been considered independently.

Zone A

• Parking supply consists of 125 onstreet parking spaces, and 84 offstreet parking spaces

• The Detroit Historical Museums current off-street parking lot has the capacity to address staff, volunteer and patron demands during the week.

Zone B

• Parking supply consists of 142 onstreet parking spaces, and 152 off-street parking spaces

• The Detroit Public Library’s current lot has 152 off-street parking dedicated to staff, volunteer and patron demands during the week.

Zone C

• Parking supply consists of 200 on-street parking spaces, and 665 off-street parking spaces

• The University of Michigan’s Rackham Building and the College for Creative Studies private garages contain 915 parking spaces and could help accommodate student and patron demands in a shared parking model.

Every Institution Has Demands

A key part of the analysis is a determination of the individual parking needs from each of the five institutions. Data was collected and parking industry standard analytics applied to derive the number of visitors to each institution.

The table at right charts the number of patrons by day of week with the corresponding number of vehicles. This data set assumes that 75 percent of patrons arrive by private automobile with an average of 2.5 people per car.

The District’s largest institutions are generally open to visitors Tuesday through Sunday. Meaning, there are approximately 313 days of operation per year. If the number of daily patrons and vehicles are multiplied by the respective number of weekdays, there is an annual volume of 1.2 million visitors and 360,000 vehicles. This means there are an average of 1,153 cars arrive at the District daily.

INSTITUTION

Charles H. Wright Museum

Average Daily Volume (Patrons) Average Daily Volume (Cars)*

Michigan Science Center

Average Daily Volume (Patrons) Average Daily Volume (Cars)* Detroit Institute of the Arts

Average Daily Volume (Patrons) Average Daily Volume (Cars)* Detroit Historical Museum

Average Daily Volume (Patrons) Average Daily Volume (Cars)* Detroit Public Library

Average Daily Volume (Patrons) Average Daily Volume (Cars)*

Total Daily Volume (Patrons) Total Daily Volume (Cars)*

TuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday 103 31 207 62 1,067 320 450 135 900 270

Annual Total Volume (Patrons) Annual Total Volume (Cars)*

2,7272,350 818 141,804124,280176,384229,372338,988192,504 42,53637,28452,93668,796101,70757,772

Average Daily Volume of Visitors by Institution

TOTALS (Patrons) (Cars)* (Patrons) (Cars)* (Patrons) (Cars)* (Patrons) (Cars)* (Patrons) (Cars)* (Patrons) (Cars)* (Patrons) (Cars)*

TuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday 103 107 123 137 217 123 31 32 37 41 65 37 207 127 243 360 1,360 270 62 38 73 108 408 81 1,067 833 1,300 2,557 2,7832,443 320 250 390 767 835 733 450 450 853 377 703 343 135 135 256 113 211 103 900 873 873 980 1,333 523 270 262 262 294 400 157 2,7272,350 3,392 4,411 6,3963,702 818 717 1,018 1323 1,919 1,111 23,018 6,906 141,804124,280176,384229,372338,988192,504 42,53637,28452,93668,796101,70757,772 1,203,332 361,031 313 1,153 Days of Operation Daily Average

Parking Demand, At Its Peak

Smart parking strategies do not plan for the exceptional, they plan for the daily. Understanding the ebbs and flows of parking demand on a weekly basis is an optimization based approach that arrives at an efficient and responsible solution for our growing District.

The fundamental challenge with parking is that while the supply is constant, demand fluctuates greatly. The key is to address peak demand on a daily basis, while finding flexible solutions for stand out events. In the District, all five institutions generally receive patrons Tuesdays through Sundays with Mondays either closed or accommodating in-house staff activities. Using this data, Rich and Associates developed models to demonstrate the parking needs by time of day, institution, visitor arrival patterns, and average lengths of stay. The study showed that the average length of stay was two hours for most institutions in the District. Detailed data was analyzed by time of day and day of week in order to accurately represent precise, timed conditions occurring within the District. Unsurprisingly, the District generates more activity on weekends.

Four of the five institutions considered exhibited peak activity coinciding with weekends, while the fifth exhibited relatively consistent levels of parking need across the five days analyzed. Levels of parking ranging from 10-20% above an average day have been calculated to formulate resulting spaces needed in the proposed parking garage.

Right: This series of diagrams illustrates the exisiting surplus and deficit calculations for all three District zones. The parking supply is represented with a horizontal pink line. Demand that surpases the parking supply line needs to be accomodated in the parking plan.

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The motivation behind the parking strategy is to ensure rapid, efficient turnover of parking spaces, while reducing the need for gargantuan parking structures. This benefits visitors by enabling them to park in easy to access and relatively low-cost spaces.If space is designed and used more intelligently, you can actually build less.

Olivier Philippe Principal, Agence Ter

CARS/ DAY ARRIVAL: 211 PEAK PARKING DEMAND (CARS): 83

ZONE A (SATURDAY)

CARS/ DAY ARRIVAL: 400 PEAK PARKING DEMAND (CARS): 178

ZONE B (SATURDAY) ZONE C (SATURDAY)

(SPACES)

CARS/ DAY ARRIVAL: 1,308 PEAK PARKING DEMAND (CARS): 559

Zooming Into Zone C

When it comes to District parking, Zone C is the epicenter. The current large surface parking lot between John R and Brush Streets boasts over 400 spaces. This area offers abundant parking supply, but also poses significant spatial challenges by creating a disconnect between the institutions. As a solution, CCPI proposes a new underground car park. This is an opportunity to reassess current modes of operation and to implement an optimization-based approach

that plans for the future of parking. The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Michigan Science Center are all within 700’ of the new underground car park. Through the analysis of combined institutional parking demands and the incorporation of their projected growth, CCPI established the scale, location, and spatial organization of the proposed structure.

Zone C, Supplyand Demand

Supply is how many spaces are available at any given time. Demand is the amount of space necessary to accommodate visitor and staff needs. An analysis of supply and demand is the first step of CCPI’s parking study. By analyzing the combined parking demand for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Michigan Science Center, and comparing the figures against the existing supply within a 700’ radius to each institution’s front door, the parking study yielded an hourly surplus/deficit calculation that informed the required scale of the new underground car park.

Supply

To map Zone C, a point was dropped at the main entrance of each institution. Next, a 700’ radius is drawn from each point to establish the maximum walking distance from a parked car. Zone C encompasses three anchor institutions, and their respective radii. Only parking supply within the District was considered in this analysis. On-street, and private institutional facilities within and just outside the 10-block area will further supplement the District’s needs. While some of the parking

is currently restricted, it represents a valuable opportunity for a future shared parking model.

Considering on-street and off-street parking, as well as private off-street parking, Zone C has an existing parking supply of over 800 spaces. This value includes lots associated with the Michigan Science Center, the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Hellenic Museum, and the Scarab Club that are generally intended for staff and volunteers. Not included in the existing supply count is the 350± space underground car park at Woodward and Farnsworth that will be reconstructed to accommodate staff and visitors.

Combined Demands

To understand the demands of Zone C, the parking study combined hourly needs of three anchor institutions for visitors, staff, and volunteers. The resulting analysis quantifies average conditions on a daily basis. Planning for possible changes, the parking analysis provides levels of activity that range from 10 to 20 percent higher than any average day.

PUBLIC ON-STREET PARKING - 182 SPACES

PUBLIC OFF-STREET PARKING - 482 SPACES

PRIVATE OFF-STREET PARKING - 137 SPACES

Above: Visitor volumes are based on data provided to Rich and Associates from each institution. The Detroit Historical Museum and the Detroit Public Library are outside of the 700’ radius to the new underground car park. Therefore, parking demand west of Woodward is not incorporated into the scale of the new underground car park. As was done for the three anchor institutions east of Woodward, the visitor, staff, and volunteer parking needs have been calculated separately.

TUESDAY

1,377 VISITORS

WEDNESDAY 1,067 VISITORS

THURSDAY 1,676 VISITORS FRIDAY 3,054 VISITORS

WEEKLY AVERAGE 14,360 VISITORS

Above: Combined visitor volumes for Zone C institutions broken down by day of the week. Visitor volumes are based on data provided to Rich and Associates from each institution.

Next Page: Combined visitor volumes from Tuesday through Sunday broken down on an hourly basis

Visitor Demands

To understand visitor parking needs, the parking study examines the surplus or deficit of spaces for the three anchor institutions daily. Throughout the week (Tuesday through Friday), the daily space needs range from 126 spaces to 269 spaces, while the demand on the weekend increases to 559 spaces.

Staff/ Volunteer Demands

In addition to accounting for the visitor parking needs of the three anchor institutions, each facility must also accommodate full- and parttime staff, and volunteers. These additional parking demands were based on survey data provided by the individual institutions. This information did not break down

arrival, duration, and turnover rates. Therefore, the following assumptions were made:

• At peak time, 100 percent of fulltime staff are on-site.

• At peak time, 40 percent of parttime employees are on-site.

• At peak time, 20 percent of volunteers are on-site.

• 97 percent of full and part time staff will arrive to the District in private vehicles.

• 95 percent of volunteers will arrive to the District in private vehicles.

When combined, the calculated need for staff and volunteer parking in Zone C is 195 spaces. With the completion of the Farnsworth underground car park, 370 spaces will be available

SATURDAY 4,360 VISITORS

SUNDAY 2,836 VISITORS

east of Woodward to accommodate all the anticipated staff and volunteer parking needs, as well as a significant number of visitor parking spaces.

Playing It Safe

The parking demand model takes the unpredictability of human parking behaviors into account. Applying conservative industry standard percentages to supply, CCPI is able to make accurate projections for the availability of a parking space at any given time. To estimate the adjusted supply in the District, the study makes the following assumptions;

• 25% of the total public on-street supply is available. Parking standards assume that 75% of the spaces are already occupied

when a visitor arrives in the District.

• 75% of the total public off-street supply is available. Parking standards assume that only 25% of the spaces are already occupied when a visitor arrives in the District.

• None of the private off-street spaces are available

TUESDAY

DAILY VOLUME: 1,377 VISITORS

PEAK ARRIVAL VOLUME: 304 VISITORS

HOURS OF OPERATION

WEDNESDAY

DAILY VOLUME: 1,067 VISITORS PEAK ARRIVAL VOLUME: 228 VISITORS

HOURS OF OPERATION

THURSDAY

DAILY VOLUME: 1,676 VISITORS

ARRIVAL VOLUME:

HOURS OF OPERATION

FRIDAY

DAILY VOLUME: 3,054 VISITORS

PEAK ARRIVAL VOLUME: 440 VISITORS

SATURDAY

DAILY VOLUME: 4,360 VISITORS PEAK ARRIVAL VOLUME: 857 VISITORS

SUNDAY

DAILY VOLUME: 2,836 VISITORS PEAK ARRIVAL VOLUME: 626 VISITORS

When Zone C Demand Peaks

The adjusted parking supply in Zone C accommodates daily visitor, staff, and volunteer needs. Utilizing an optimization based approach that carefully considers occupancy, duration, and turnover on a weekly basis has allowed CCPI to develop efficient and responsible solutions for the current and future demands of the District.

In Zone C, all three anchor institutions generally receive visitors Tuesdays through Sundays with Mondays either closed or accommodating in-house staff activities. Using this data, Rich and Associates developed models to demonstrate the parking needs by time of day, institution, visitor arrival patterns, and average lengths of stay. The study showed that the average length of stay was two hours for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Institute of Arts, while the Michigan Science Center visitors stayed an average of three hours. Detailed data was analyzed by time of day and day of week in order to accurately represent precise, timed conditions occurring within Zone C. Unsurprisingly, the demand on weekends was higher.

In Zone C, the peak parking demand does not fill all of the current available spaces. In the proposed parking plan, there will be minimal strain as demand accumulates on Saturdays.

Based on current parking supply and parking assumptions there is an availability of 380 spaces within a 700’ radius to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Michigan Science Center.

Right: Peak parking demands for Zone C on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in exisiting conditions. This analysis shows there is only a deficit on Saturday.

CARS/ DAY ARRIVAL: 413 PEAK PARKING DEMAND (CARS): 145

ZONE C (THURSDAY)

PARKING SUPPLY (SPACES)

HOURS OF OPERATION

CARS/ DAY ARRIVAL: 916 PEAK PARKING DEMAND (CARS): 269

ZONE C (FRIDAY) ZONE C (SATURDAY)

SUPPLY (SPACES) PARKING SUPPLY (SPACES)

HOURS OF OPERATION

CARS/ DAY ARRIVAL: 1,308

PARKING DEMAND (CARS): 559

HOURS OF OPERATION

Designing Parking Plus

Parking infrastructure is evolving beyond inert vehicle storage. The car park of the future will be a site of connections, an extension of the street, and a welcoming portal. Horizontally, car parks will connect to transport lines, retail, cultural venues and public space. Vertically, they will create infrastructural efficiencies that will outlast our current default solutions.

While the automotive takeover of cities has created countless issues,

CCPI is rectifying expectations to redefine urban sustainability, one step at a time. The plan starts with a parking strategy that considers investment in single function parking not enough. To catalyze a District that makes positive urban impact, parking infrastructure needs to account for the ways our relationships with automobiles, energy, and public space are changing. Appropriately, CCPI’s parking plan puts people at the center and pushes infrastructure to do more.

Five and Ten Year Forcast

The District plan is designed for the success, growth, and maturation of each of the stakeholder institutions. From the scale of the interiors to the District’s infrastructure, the design team has worked with institutions to increase connectivity and accommodate projected growth. The parking strategy does the same.

The parking plan integrated projected growth above pre-pandemic visitor volumes by 10% for the next five years and 20% for the next ten years. By applying the same lengths of stay and arrival patterns for the existing conditions to horizon year projections, the number of parking spaces at peak hours was determined. An increase in visitorship, however, does not require a proportional increase in the number of District parking spaces. Instead, CCPI’s parking plan introduces new final mile connections, supports an increase in shared mobility strategies, and utilizes technology to make arrival and departure more efficient. This optimization based strategy ensures a high level of access and connectivity, and avoids overscaled infrastructure.

DETROIT SQUARE | Cultural Center Planning Initiative AGENCE TER - AKOAKI, LLC

FOR INTERNAL REVIEW ONLY

Above: To attract additional visitors in the years to come the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is planning to introduce a new media center as an addition to their building.

Next Page: Locations of the two underground car parks that will accomodate parking demands of the District.

282 PARKING SPACES

BrushSt.

WarrenAve.

The Detroit Institute of Arts

In Conversation With Elliott Broom

Elliott Broom is the Chief Operating Officer at the Detroit Institute of Arts. He has been tuned into the museum’s needs over a decade, and has played a critical role in managing events including

Frida Kahlo

in

Detroit. We

sat down with Elliott to learn more about how he manages the complexities of operating Michigan’s largest

fine art museums.

Anya Sirota (AS): Tell us a little about your role at the DIA. When did you join the institution? What are your key responsibilities?

Elliott Broom (EB): For more than 13 years I acted as the VP of Operations. Recently, I was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, where I am responsible for running the DIA’s facilities smoothly. This includes working together with the directors of the departments of Protection Services, Building Operations, Environmental Services, Visitor Services, Events and Food Service operations, Group Reservations, Special Projects, and Volunteer Services. This team of department leaders and their awesome staff help to ensure that the entire campus and museum building is a safe and welcoming environment for all. With my background in hotel management, I bring my skills and experience in hospitality to help me focus on delivering the services and experiences expected of a world-class art museum.

Over a decade with the DIA! That’s impressive. What kinds of evolutions or transformations have you observed or even facilitated at the DIA?

EB Since the Grand Reopening in 2007, we have continued to create an innovative, audience-friendly experience of the collections for our visitors. The building’s reorganized interior and expanded gallery spaces have allowed us to deepen our commitment to diversify the audience experience, including making the museum more accessible and interesting for the community and beyond, regardless of background. With the passage of the DIA’s millage in 2012, our mission continues to evolve to be more community-centered and focused on local audiences that have supported us with their tax dollars, while still welcoming our national and international visitors who make the DIA an important stop when they are in Detroit.

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EB EB

What opportunities do you see embodied in the CCPI guiding plan that may enable greater activation of the outdoors. Is this a direction the DIA was already moving toward?

The CCPI plan is vitally important and a transformational project not only for the DIA but also for our neighboring partner institutions. The plan will allow us to achieve a longstanding goal of the DIA’s as well as the other institutions in the District: create a comprehensive and connected campus experience for visitors. At the DIA, for the last several years, we have been offering more outdoor programming on the campus including music programming and films. But the challenges of programming are many, as are the opportunities for bringing even more exciting and educational programs for our audiences once the CCPI plan is realized.

A main element in creating a comprehensive and connected campus you mention is the transformation of the existing parking lot behind the DIA into an underground car park. Can you speak more towards the benefits of the current Brush Street proposal?

The proposed Brush Street reconstruction is an amalgamation of an underground car park and a public art vitrine.The Welcome Center, mediates between the public space at street level and the operational infrastructure below grade and provides an opportunity for contemporary installations that are as remarkable as they are interactive.

Installations in the Brush Street Welcome Center will be visible from street level and provide a great opportunity for the DIA and the other institutions to curate museum-quality content as accessible public art inviting everyone to participate. In addition, the Welcome Center provides a much needed switchboard for visitors navigating the District.

AS

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EB EB

What challenges and opportunities does the current building and parking infrastructure of the DIA pose?

The direction and needs of museums worldwide – especially in the last few years, and certainly with the pandemic – have dramatically changed based on what audiences are seeking. Since we are working in a framework that was built in a different time, it’s easy to understand that while our contemporary needs have changed, it’s not easy to accommodate them in outdated facilities.

Our current underground car park on Woodward, for example, was constructed in 1965, but was unable to keep up with the quick paced changes of mobility and needs for accessibility. Currently, the facility is closed for service. In 2017, we commissioned Walker Parking Consultants to assess existing conditions, and determine feasibility of repair. Ultimately, we are going to have to construct a new lot to ensure we are up to ADA standards and the facility can be a resource for the District for years to come. Upon completion this car park will add over 300 new spaces to the District.

Internally, one of our big challenges is how to manage the museum’s current layout with the needs of our curators and programmers.

How can the CCPI guiding plan support the City of Detroit?

I see the CCPI plan as an exceptionally positive and potentially catalytic project for the city of Detroit. It holds the possibility of accomplishing many things that have been desired and needed in this great city for many years, including: tying the cultural institutions together with a comprehensive and thoughtfully designed campus not unlike what you find in my other favorite midwest city, Chicago. Our campus could certainly rival the museum campus in Chicago that connects the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History and the Adler Planetarium. If the CCPI is realized, I am confident it would be a huge win for the City of Detroit and our region.

The CCPI plan also offers exciting concepts for building modifications at the DIA including its exterior campus. Of course, such a great vision requires great financial resources to make the dream come to life. If I could wave a magic wand, I would wave it for the resources to realize this design team’s impressive proposal and all it offers for improving and expanding the visitor experience at the DIA and across our partner institutions

Bottom: An aerial view of the parking lot between Brush and John R Streets illustrates the distinct opportunity the site offers in connecting many of the Districts anchor institutions around a Common Green.

Top: The current above ground parking lot between Brush and John R Streets occupies four prime acres of real estate on the central axis in the Cultural District

A New Car Park for the District

When thinking about the future and vitality of a Cultural District, how and where we park cars is the place to start. By reimagining parking, CCPI can turn acres of asphalt into vibrant public space, and the region can begin to enjoy the enormous potential of its Cultural District. Rather than viewing this structure as merely car storage, the design dramatically expands on the functions of parking, introducing a range of public amenities and intermodal transportation options.

At grade, the car park replaces the 4 acres of asphalt between John R and Brush Streets with a Common Green and a one level, 282 space underground car park. The transformation integrates environmental strategies, while creating a natural respite in the center of the District.

Below grade, the car park leverages a smart parking management system that relays information through signage and phone apps to ensure demand is met efficiently. EV charging stations and final mile hubs are included in the design to ensure connectivity with evolving modes of transportation. The structure itself is a high capacity system that

anticipates non-parking uses, adding programmatic flexibility.

At street level, the Welcome Center greets visitors emerging from the parking level and entering the District from Brush Street. The Welcome Center’s circulation cores mediate between levels and double as light wells to bring natural daylight into the car park, ensuring safety and creating a feeling of

Sue Mosey Executive Director, Midtown Detroit

“The Cultural Center Planning Initiative hinges on finding a smart, ecological and economical solution for parking in the District. The parking plan moves beyond standard concrete shelving for car storage to create a system that seamlessly plugs into its surroundings and avoids the trappings of a mono- functional structure.

FrederickSt.

18’-0” 18’-0” 250’-0”

Above: Vehicular access to the proposed Brush Street underground car park is off of Frederick and Farnsworth Streets. Pedestrians will access the structure through the attached Welcome Center parallel to Brush Street or through one of the two free-standing vitrines located along the Square between the College for Creative Studies and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

BrushSt. FarnsworthSt.

DESIGNING PARKING PLUS

Above: The Welcome Center integrated into the Brush Street car park frames the District’s newly created Common Green and provides a distinct entry into the District from Brush Street.

THE SQUARE

ENTRY/ EXIT VITRINE

destination for those arriving to the District. The ground floor, designed with transparency and overture in mind, operates as a cultural vitrine, hosting exhibitions, public programs, orientations, and other practical functions of a welcome center.

The roof of the Welcome Center is activated by a series of iconic, interlocking outdoor pavilions. These lightweight multi-functional structures offer well-ventilated classrooms and spaces for gathering. This roofscape provides a privileged view of the cultural campus, highlights the adjacent institutions, frames the edge of the newly created Common Green, and creates a new distinct entry point for the District.

Siting the Car Park

There are many spatial, ecological, and organizational challenges posed by the current surface lot between John R and Brush Streets. The surface lot divides and fragments the District by creating physical barriers to access and navigation, negatively impacting the pedestrian experience. Open space paved with asphalt is not only an eyesore, but it contributes to climate change and overburdens our systems with toxic runoff. And, of course, when that lot is filled with stationary cars no viable opportunities for public space activation remain.

The solution CCPI proposes has access, ecological, and economic

Above: A longitudinal section of the Brush Street Car park looking North toward the College for Creative Studies Campus

350 PARKING SPACES

THE COMMON GREEN

considerations in mind. The single slab underground car park democratizes connections and ensures that every anchor institution East of Woodward has equal proximity to the shared asset. The entrance and exit ramps are strategically placed to avoid sectional obstacles.

Providing greater space for green cover reverses the negative impacts of parking lot surfacing.The Common Green simultaneously mitigates the heat island effect and creates a new shared amenity for the District. The sustainable grasses and trees planted on top of the car park creates a porous, welcoming environment to host large scale events and extend daily outdoor activities.

Finally, the single slab solution is the most economical solution to achieve CCPI’s goals. Consultation with cost estimators for parking garages showed that a single level car park is more cost effective than excavating multiple levels below grade.

Brush St.

DESIGNING PARKING PLUS

Above: The Welcome Center is designed to host programs such as installations by local artists.

EXHIBITION AND WELCOME SPACE

PUBLIC TERRACE

Above: A ltransverse section of the Brush Street Car park looking West toward the Detroit Institute of Arts illustrates the relationship of the Welcome Center to the underground carpark.

FABRICATION STUDIO

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM FLEXIBLE LEARNING

Rebuilding the Farnsworth Street Car Park

The Detroit Institute of Arts’ Farnsworth Avenue car park was completed in 1965, but was unable to keep up with the quick paced changes of mobility and needs for accessibility. Within a few decades of its construction, the facility was obsolete and closed for service. In 2017, the Detroit Institute of Arts recognizing the need for parking in the District commissioned Walker Parking Consultants to assess existing conditions, and determine feasibility of repair.

Walker Parking Consultants identified a myriad of challenges with the facility. Among them...

Overhead Clearance

At the time of its completion, the Farnsworth Avenue car park was designed with a clearance of 6’-3”. An engineering review determined that it is feasible to modify the concrete structure of the facility to increase the clearance to a maximum of 6’7”. However, current code suggests a 7’-0” overhead clearance in parking facilities, and 8’-2” overhead clearance where ADA van parking spaces are provided.

A 6’-7” clearance would mean that tall vehicles will have to be turned away from the underground facility, a practice that would prove as organizationally cumbersome as it is frustrating for visitors.

Parking Space Optimization

and Patron Level of Service

Walker’s review of the existing parking space layout within the facility revealed no feasible options to increase the total number of parking spaces, the width of parking stalls, the width of the drive aisles, or to create more “user-friendly” improvements without losing approximately 1/3 of the parking space capacity.

Passenger Elevator Review

Review of the passenger elevator by Michael Blades and Associates confirms that the existing elevator equipment is not salvageable, primarily due to prolonged water damage. In order to modernize the elevator, a replacement elevator will need to be installed. Yet, even this poses problems as the existing hoist is too small to allow the replacement elevator car to have width and depth dimensions that meet current ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements.

Underground Drainage Piping Review

Pipe clearing and video inspection of select portions of the underground portion of the floor drainage system was conducted, with the intent to confirm that the existing underground floor drainage system piping can be relied upon for reasonable future use, or if not, to determine conceptual

Next Page: The Great

repair options and cost opinions. The results of the pipe clearing and video inspection revealed that the existing underground piping system is generally in poor condition. There is debris build up which minimizes inside pipe diameter throughout the underground piping system, as well as several locations where underground piping is completely blocked.

Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP)

Walker and a MEP subconsultant toured the project site and reevaluated the various mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in the facility. This was done to determine if any existing systems can reasonably be salvaged, rather than completely replacing all accessible portions of MEP systems as based

on a past study of the facility. In the end, the review agreed with previous evaluations that determined the existing MEP systems are too old and outdated to be reliably salvaged in whole or in part.

VEHICULAR THRESHOLD

Outcomes

In general terms, the saying of “penny-wise, pound (dollar) foolish” applies here. While it may be physically possible to salvage select portions of existing facility systems, any salvaged elements are 50+ years old and the serviceability materials would be suspect. Future repairs and replacements shortly after the major renovation would be a given. The cost and inconvenience would outweigh any savings to the initial renovation project.

Above: The current entrance to the 350 space underground car park at the corner of Farnsworth Street and Woodward Avenue.

Lawn created behind the Detroit Institute of Arts

18’-0” 18’-0” 248’-0”

Above: Vehicular access to the renovated Farnsworth Street underground car park is at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Farnsworth Street. Pedestrians can access the structure through free-standing vitrines located along the Necklace and experience public art as an extension of parking infrastructure.

FarnsworthSt.

Parking &HighArtVitrine

The proposed Farnsworth Street reconstruction is an amalgamation of an underground car park and a public art vitrine. A glass box sits on the Detroit Institute of Arts grounds at the access ramp to the underground. The simple luminous architectural structure mediates between the public space at street level and the operational infrastructure below grade. The vitrine houses evertransforming opportunities for

contemporary installations that are as remarkable as they are interactive. In its first speculative iteration, the design team proposes a fully functional car wash. Imagined as a hybrid encounter between an ubiquitous Motor City-based service and a high art experience, the intervention invites visitors to see beauty in the mundane and humor in the refined. A rotating cast of contemporary artists are welcomed

Above: Visitors are able to experience the Auto Spa by way of an enclosed tunnel that bisects the structure at grade.

Right: A section illustrating vehicular access to the car park in relation to the high art vitrine.

to reimagine a vernacular experience invented in Detroit. Here pulleys, brushes, driers, car radios, and suds are aesthetically elevated and treated as fantastical elements that situate the audience as protagonists of a technological performance.

Blending the transcendent and the familiar through immersive technologies such as extended reality, digital projection, and

holography, the arts vitrine skirts entrenched expectations associated with a venerable art establishment while diversifying the audience. Connoisseurs will appreciate an encounter with curatorial excellence through the discovery of new work by globally recognized artists. Those new to contemporary practices will intuitively appreciate the experiential quality of a new media installation with animated atmospherics and contextual whimsy.

Unlike other large-scale immersive art experiences driving the art market however, installations in the Farnsworth arts vitrine will be visible from street level. This circumvents the problem of ticketing and commodification. In this way, museum-quality content doubles as accessible public art inviting everyone to participate.

Above: Vehicular access to the proposed Brush Street underground car park is off of Frederick and Farnsworth Streets.

Next Page: Vehicular access to the proposed Brush Street underground car park is off of Frederick and Farnsworth Streets.

B2 PARKING LEVEL

B1 PARKING LEVEL NECKLACE AND CATWALK

VEHICULAR ENTRY AND EXIT

THE CULTURAL CENTER PLANNING

HAS BEEN FUNDED BY:

INITIATIVE

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation

Hudson Webber Foundation

Ralph C.Wilson,Jr. Foundation

Rocket Community Fund

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The Kresge Foundation

University of Michigan

Walters Family Foundation

Wayne State University William Davidson Foundation