Revitalizing Detroit’s Hart Plaza with New Accessibility Features and Renovated Spaces

Renovations to provide ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) access to the Gateway to Freedom monument at Detroit's Hart Plaza have begun. The renovation project will improve public accessibility to the RiverWalk via new stairs and ramps and is expected to wrap up just in time for the city's busy events season later this year.

When completed, the project will also include an overlook and seating area, new landscaping with trees, and an area at the base of the stairs for better viewing of the Gateway to Freedom monument.

Crystal Perkins, Detroit's general services department director, told the Detroit Free Press that much of the construction costs are being financed through the American Rescue Plan Act, with approximately $2.4 million going toward the new staircase construction. The previous stairs were demolished in late 2024. 

Another $6.7 million was spent restoring the plaza's Dodge Fountain last summer. The fountain turns on at specific time intervals during the warmer months of the year.

According to Perkins, several residents and community stakeholders participated in a feedback process highlighting the need for the fountain's restoration and improved accessibility to the Gateway to Freedom monument. The monument, dedicated in 2001, commemorates the role of Detroit and the Detroit River in the Underground Railroad. 

Crews plan to work on the project through the winter, aiming for its projected completion in advance of the plaza's busy event season, which begins around Memorial Day weekend.