Athletic Complex:
The 36-acre island athletic field has facilities for softball, baseball, football, soccer, rugby and track. Across the road are handball/racquetball courts.

Aquarium:
The Belle Isle Aquarium was closed by the City of Detroit on April 3, 2005, due to budgetary cuts. It was the oldest continuously operating public aquarium in North America.

This beautiful structure opened in 1904 at the intersection of Inselrue Avenue and Loiter Way across from the Greenhouse and next to the Conservatory.

The Friends of the Belle Isle Aquarium are continuing an effort to reopen this facility. For additional information on the FOBIA efforts go to their website: http://belleisleaquarium.com/

Beach:
The one-half-mile-long swimming area is the only public beach in Detroit or along the Detroit River. To the west of the beach is a large water slide. This is a wonderful spot to view the Gold Cup hydroplane races in the summer.

Belle Isle Nature Zoo:
The new Belle Isle Nature Zoo opened in April of 2005. It is located across from the Belle Isle (Golf) Driving Range in the former Belle Isle Nature Center building. A variety of programs are offered during their regular hours Monday thru Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For additional information see their website: http://www.detroitzoo.org/Visitors/Nature_Center/Belle_Isle NatureZoo/

Carillon Tower:
The 85-foot high Nancy Brown Peace Carillon Tower was dedicated at the 7th annual sunrise service held June 17, 1940. Nancy Brown was one of the first advice columnists in the United States. Her advice column, “Experience”, launched in April of 1919. She worked as a columnist and journalist for “The Detroit News” until her retirement in 1942.

Column readers raised most of the building fund for this monument. Originally, bronze bells would serenade island visitors with performances. Now, a computer automated 49-bell carillon recreates the sounds of cast bronze bells ring out on the hour and half-hour.

Casino:
This grand, two-story Spanish-style building with its ornate towers and encircling verandas is not a gambling establishment but a key meeting point for individuals and groups on the island. It is located near the entrance of the island just east of the Scott Fountain.

The Belle Isle Casino was once said to be the finest casino in the United States. The original Casino was built in 1887, and the current structure was redesigned by Albert Kahn in 1907.

The Casino provides space for meetings and various special events. Contact Belle Isle Special Events at 313-852-4075 to schedule your event at this facility.

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Coast Guard Station:
The U. S. Coast Guard operates this facility and rescue station at the southeastern tip of the island near the source of the river at Lake St. Clair. From here they patrol the Detroit River from the western edge of Lake St. Clair to Point Mouilee in Lake Erie. Station Belle Isle bears primary responsibility for support during the Gold Cup, a Detroit summertime tradition where hydroplanes race on the Detroit River.

Conservatory:
The Conservatory, designed by Albert Kahn in 1902 and patterned after Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, opened in 1904. In 1953, it was dedicated to Mrs. Anna Scripps Whitcomb who left her 600 plant orchid collection to the City of Detroit.

Now known as the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, it is the permanent home of hundreds of cacti, succulents, ferns, palms, tropical plants and one of the largest orchid displays in the country. Outside exhibits include formal perennial gardens, a rose garden and a lily pond.

The 85-foot tall dome of the palm room has become a symbol of the island. The Conservatory is available for weddings and other special events. It is home to the Belle Isle Botanical Society, a non-profit organization created to advance gardening efforts and educational programs.

Detroit Boat Club:
The Detroit Boat Club was founded in 1839 and is the oldest continuous rowing club in the world, the oldest boat club in the United States and the oldest social club in Michigan. The Club had five clubhouses at several locations in the Detroit area before it built the one on Belle Isle in 1902. The Club remained there until February 23, 1996, at which time they abandoned the building.

The club still operates it rowing ventures from the docks. However, the abandoned building, on the north side of the island just east of the MacArthur Bridge, has fallen into severe disrepair.

Detroit Yacht Club:
The Detroit Yacht Club is located on the north side of the island facing the city mainland. It is one of the oldest and largest yacht clubs in the world, founded in 1868. The current clubhouse on Belle Isle was completed in 1923 and provides social and recreational boating activities to its members and their guests. The nearby lagoons are favorite winter resting areas for ducks and geese.

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Dossin Museum:
The Dossin Great Lakes Museum is located on Strand Drive across from the Aquarium and is part of the Detroit Historical Museum & Society. Exhibits focus on Great Lakes shipping and maritime history. Explore the working pilothouse from the freighter William Clay Ford overlooking the Detroit River, a hands-on exhibit. See the world’s largest collection of scale-model Great Lakes ships and the Miss Pepsi hydroplane.

Fishing Piers:
There are four fishing piers on the island. The one just west of the U. S. Coast Guard Station is 750-feet.

Flynn Pavilion:
This building once was a concession for ice skaters who used the lagoon in the winter when it was frozen over. Later, it was the location of Burt’s Jazz. The building is just to the east of the Casino.

Golf Course and Driving Range:
The Belle Isle Golf Facilities are composed of two units: (1) The Belle Isle Golf Course at Riverbank and Oakview built in 1922, and (2) The Belle Isle Practice Facility and Driving Range on Riverbank across from the Nature Center.

The course is an executive 9-hole course with 7 holes at par three – distances ranging from 130 to 160 yards. Two holes par at 4 with longer distances – 290 yards and 300 yards.

Since 1998, the Belle Isle Golf Course has hosted the “King of Swing Tournament.” The tournament is a way to celebrate the golfers and to reward staff for their hard work. Dinner, 9-holes of golf and chances to win prizes are included. Call (313) 852-4106 for additional details.

Harbor Master Offices:
Detroit Harbor Master Unit Office and the Detroit Police Department eastside radio tower are located on the right as you enter the island from the MacArthur Bridge. Next to the Harbor Master Office are the old Canoe Shelters.

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Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse:
A resolution to erect this light was unanimously adopted in 1927. The location was determined to be on the eastern tip of Belle Isle marking the head of the Detroit River on a strip of man-made land extending the upper or easterly end of the island out into the river about a quarter mile and facing Lake St. Clair.

The 58-foot shaft of Georgia marble was designed by Albert Kahn and is surmounted by a gilt, bronze lantern room reaching to the height to 80 feet. The light is 11,500 candlepower and is visible for 15 miles.

Construction was completed in time to permit the commissioning of the light at the opening of the navigation season for 1930. However, the formal dedication did not occur until October 17, the fifth anniversary of Mr. Livingstone’s death. William Livingstone was a prominent and popular Detroit resident and was president of the Lake Carriers Association from 1902–1925.

The light was erected as a gift from the Lake Carriers Association and the citizens of Detroit at a cost of $100,000. It is one of two memorial lights in the State of Michigan and is the only light in the nation constructed entirely of marble.

There is a bronze bas relief portrait of Mr. Livingstone on the lakeside of the structure and a bronze table inscribed with its dedication.

This light made the old Belle Isle Lighthouse, which was near the current U. S. Coast Guard Station, obsolete.

MacArthur Bridge:
The Bridge is the gateway to Belle Isle. This one-half-mile-long concrete structure first opened in 1923. In 1915, a fire started by a coal ember that fell from a wagon destroyed the island’s original wooden bridge, built in 1889. It was replaced by a steel structure in 1917.

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Maintenance Complex:
The Tudor-style buildings next to the White House are used for island maintenance and storage. This building is said to have been designed by Albert Kahn and early in the 1900’s was the location of the Detroit Zoo, which was located on Belle Isle until 1928.

Old Riding Stable:
The Victorian riding stable was located across from the Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse.

The building was the scene of an accident several years ago where a car crashed into it and the ensuing fire left it heavily damaged at the site. The City of Detroit slated the building for demolition on May 1st, 2003, but with the intervention of the Friends of Belle Isle and several other people, Greenfield Village came to the rescue and the structure was carefully taken apart piece-by-piece in efforts to save it.

The building was originally constructed in 1863 as an open-air vegetable market, part of the Cadillac Square Market, and was located at Bates and Randolph Streets in downtown Detroit. It was later moved to the Eastern Market as part of the Gratiot Market.

Later, it was moved to Belle Isle, the sides were bricked up, and it was converted into a horse stable. Greenfield Village will restore the original market building on their site in Dearborn.

Rock Sculptures:
A local artist has been expressing his talent along our southern coast. To the east of the U.S. Coast Guard Station is a vast collection of sculptures made from pieces of rock, cement, wood and other scrap pieces of materials found along the shoreline. With a little imagination many of these take on the image of various things from a Canada goose to a man fishing. Come see what you can see in these interesting forms.

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Playscape:
Built with the aid of the Junior League of Detroit, this acre-wide playground has swings, tunnels, unusual slides and other play equipment. Beginning at the playscape is a Fitness Jogging Trial for all age groups.

Remick Music Shell:
Many concerts were performed here on summer evenings under the stars in past days. The air was then filled with the sounds of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Concert Band and many other musical groups. In days long past, people would often sit in their canoes and enjoy the beautiful music.

Scott Fountain:
The James Scott Memorial Fountain is at the head of Belle Isle facing the Detroit cityscape. James Scott was an eccentric gambler and controversial socialite. He bequeathed a $500,000 grant to build a fountain on Belle Isle along with a life-sized statue of himself. The fountain is constructed of Vermont White Marble and has 109 water outlets in the shape of human heads, dolphins, turtles, lionesses and animal horns. Construction was completed in 1925, 15 years after his death in 1910. Water shows are presented from Memorial Day through October 1st.

White House and Greenhouse:
Across the street from the Belle Isle Aquarium and next to the Maintenance is the White House and Greenhouse. The White House is used for offices and the Greenhouse is used by the City of Detroit and the Belle Isle Botanical Society. On the last Saturday in May each year, the Belle Isle Botanical Society hosts a plant sale here.

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