The Detroit Grand Prix is making good on a promise to provide funding for improvements on Belle Isle with a $400,000 pledge to fix the James Scott Memorial Fountain.
The money was raised at this year's Grand Prixmiere gala back in June. The event raised a total of $1-million through private donations for the Belle Isle Conservancy.
Earlier this summer, the Grand Prix reached a deal with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to keep the race on the island in the Detroit River until at least 2021.
Part of the deal included increases in funding for park improvements.
Grand Prix officials were joined Tuesday by representatives from the department, General Motors, DTE Energy and the Belle Isle Conservancy.
"The James Scott Memorial Fountain celebrates the history of Detroit and the beauty of Belle Isle," said Bud Denker, chairman of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
Since the Grand Prix returned to Detroit in 2012, the event along with DTE Energy has helped restore the fountain to working order each summer. Several key initiatives have been identified to keep it working including repairing the fountain's marble stairs, fixing leaks and broken pipes, painting the bowl, replacing lighting, mitigating humidity in the control room, and reinforcing tanks. Some of the work will begin this fall and should keep it operating for years to come.
The fountain is named after Detroit socialite, James Scott and was completed in 1925 at an estimated cost of $500,000.
