Preservation Wayne: Preservation You Can Live With

Thursday, May 22, 7 - 10 p.m.
Belle Isle Boat Club

$35 Members, $45 Non-Members. Purchase Tickets

Come to Detroit's historic Belle Isle Boat Club for a very exciting event. We're kicking off a new wave of programming and community involvement starting with the unveiling of a new name. Our name change will reflect an even greater level of activity focused on the core of our region. This new energy will benefit all; a strong Detroit is required for a strong Metro-Detroit. To reach this goal Preservation Wayne will provide an enhanced level of tools to an empowered group of volunteers that will make preservation relevant and vital in today's economy, promoting walkable vibrant urban neighborhoods that all can enjoy.

The evening will feature an introduction to all the ways you can become a part of the solution. Meet our new board members, learn about our new staff and the rolls they will play in the community, see for yourself the many volunteer opportunities that exist and maybe come up with a new idea for what you can do to help preserve and build up Detroit's urban experience.

Located at the entrance to Belle Isle, the current Detroit Boat Club was opened in 1902 and is home to the country's oldest rowing club. The social club left the building in 1996, but the Friends of Detroit Rowing have kept the building dry and secure, using it daily for training, practice and competition. The Detroit Boat Club is one of many buildings that stand in Detroit as a challenge from which we can not shrink. These buildings call for our most innovative and creative strategies to determine how best to preserve history while creating an economically viable future and a city that reflects the full spectrum of its heritage, culture and prospects.

Previous Years-

2007- Rebuilding a City: A Preservation Celebration

Hors D'oeuvres | Cash Bar | Silent Auction
Thursday, May 17, 7 - 10 p.m.
Odd Fellows Hall, 8701 West Vernor Highway

Come to the beautifully restored Odd Fellows Hall in Southwest Detroit. Thanks to the Michigan Council for the Humanities, this year we will have a very special guest as our keynote speaker, Patricia Gay, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center in New Orleans, who will be presenting attendees with an update on preservation activity in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.

Rebuilding a City will feature a "Taste of Detroit" strolling dinner buffet, as well as a selection of beers and wines from Michigan. Guests will also enjoy entertainment by the blues and jazz impresarios in the RJ Spangler Trio, and a silent auction with a variety of Detroit paraphernalia and unique experiences. Numerous preservation projects from New Orleans and Detroit will be displayed throughout the Odd Fellows Hall to add to the ambiance.

2006- Reflections: From a Sewer to the Straits

Come out to beautiful Belle Isle on Wednesday, June 14 to celebrate three decades of service to the Detroit community. Preservation Waynes 30th Anniversary Celebration will be an evening to remember as we reflect on our beginnings and look ahead to the future.

The event, entitled Reflections: From a Sewer to the Straits, is an opportunity to celebrate the spark that started the preservation movement in Detroit when a small group of Wayne State students came together to oppose the demolition of Mackenzie House--former home of the University's founder--for a sewer line. Three decades later, the spirit that saved Mackenzie House is alive and well and evolving. This is your chance to reflect on the past and help us define preservation activity in Detroit for the next thirty years. The evening will feature gourmet food stations, a cash bar, a silent auction of Detroit-related paraphernalia, and remarks at 8 p.m.

The celebration will take place on Wednesday, June 14, 2006, from 7 - 10 p.m. at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, home of the beautifully restored Gothic Room, and other maritime exhibits, including City on the Straits: a History of Industry and Ecology on the Detroit River. The Dossin Museum is located at 100 Strand, on the south side of Belle Isle near the Belle Isle Aquarium and Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory. Please check out http://www.detroithistorical.org/ for directions.

Tickets for the event are $30 for Members and $40 for Non-Members before May 30th. Tickets after May 30th are $40 for Members and $50 for Non-Members. Preservation Wayne is offering a special promotional membership rate of $30 for individual memberships through May 30th.

Preservation Wayne is also gratefully accepting Detroit-related items for the silent auction. For more information and to RSVP, contact Preservation Wayne at 313-577-7674, or email info@preservationwayne.org.

30th Anniversary Invitation (PDF)

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