Detroit: bankrupt city readies for divisive $450m Red Wings arena
Billionaire Mike Illitch to build new hockey stadium
• Critics question use of $284.5m of public money
Police have started handing out parking tickets outside The Comet Bar, a cozy if incongruous spot smack in the middle of the blighted deadzone between downtown and midtown Detroit. Not so long ago it was hard enough to get the cops to come for a shooting, says the Comet’s pink-haired barmaid, who goes by the name of Nine.
The ticketing appears to be part of a drive to prepare the area for one of the biggest urban renewal projects Detroit has ever seen. And one that is dividing the community. Soon the contractors will move in to start work on a sports and entertainment district at the centre of which will be a $450m arena for the Detroit Red Wings ice hockey team – funded in large part by this bankrupt city.
The Comet faces an uncertain future, but for now it sits in an area mainly visited by locals and the occasional adventurous tourist taking “ruin porn” photos of Detroit’s burnt out buildings. From the back of the bar, across empty rubble strewn lots, you can see two abandoned tower blocks. On the top floor of one someone has graffitied “ZOMBIELAND” in giant black letters.
There are few people on the street – most appear homeless. The city recently pulled up the remaining benches in the area, in an attempt to discourage people from sleeping here. Now they sleep on the ground.
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/29/detroit-bankrupt-red-wings-arena-divides-community
