World City Guide

Key Attractions

Detroit Institute of Arts
The surprisingly little-known Detroit Institute of Arts is the fifth largest fine arts museum in the USA. Best known for Detroit Industry, a 1932 mural of the auto industry by Diego Rivera, the gallery’s collection encompasses a wide diversity of genres, including Ancient Art, American Art, Asian Art, European Art and 20th-century art. Masterpieces among these include works by Rembrandt, Matisse, Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas and Francis Bacon.

5200 Woodward Avenue
Tel: (313) 833 7900.
Website: www.dia.org
Transport: Woodward Avenue bus.
Opening hours: Wed-Thurs 1000-1600, Fri 1000-2100, Sat and Sun 1000-1700.
Admission: US$4 (recommended donation).

Charles H Wright Museum of African-American History
The Charles H Wright Museum of African-American History was the vision of a black doctor who wanted a centre to document and preserve black history, life and culture. Once a travelling museum housed in a mobile home, it has grown into the world’s largest museum dedicated to African-American history. It houses exhibits that focus on many aspects of black history, from the initial journey from Africa to the Underground Railroad, jazz, Malcolm X and Dr Martin Luther King, and the Harlem Renaissance.

315 East Warren Street
Tel: (313) 494 5800. Fax: (313) 494 5855.
Website: www.maah-detroit.org
Transport: Crosstown bus.
Opening hours: Wed-Sat 0930-1700, Sun 1300-1700.
Admission: US$5 (concessions available).

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
Founded by Henry Ford himself, the Henry Ford Museum is interesting as it chronicles American ingenuity, invention and technical achievement through its astounding collection of Americana. Cars are particularly well represented, with the only existing 1896 Duryea Motor Wagon, the first production car in America and five presidential limousines, including the one in which President John F Kennedy was shot. Articles on the more bizarre side include a bicycle for ten people, motorised roller skates, the theatre seat in which Abraham Lincoln was murdered and Thomas Edison’s last breath – preserved in a test tube. Recent additions include a model of an 1884 steam locomotive repair factory, an IMAX Theatre and Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House, which is a 1920s-designed, environmentally efficient and easily transportable aluminium structure.

Neighbouring Greenfield Village is a recreation of a 19th-century town and includes larger items that Henry Ford transported to Detroit, such as the actual home he was born in, the Wright Brother’s cycle shop and Thomas Edison’s laboratory.

20900 Oakwood Boulevard, Dearborn
Tel: (313) 271 1620. Fax: (313) 982 6230.
Website: www.hfmgv.org
Transport: SMART bus Michigan Avenue 200.
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700.
Admission: US$13.50 (Henry Ford Museum), US$16 (Greenfield Village), US$20 (combined); concessions available.

Detroit Historical Museum
The Detroit Historical Museum takes visitors on a tour of old Detroit, tracing its beginnings as an Indian settlement, through its development over the years as a Midwestern city, to its emergence as the home of car manufacturing. The main highlight is the ‘Streets of Old Detroit’ exhibit, which recreates a historically accurate 19th-century Detroit street with actual material from old shops and theatres. Other attractions include antique trains, classic cars, a fashion library and an automated device that demonstrates how car bodies were lowered onto chassis.

5401 Woodward Avenue
Tel: (313) 833 1805. Fax: (313) 833 5342.
Website: www.detroithistorical.org
Transport: Woodward Avenue bus.
Opening hours: Wed-Fri 0930-1700, Sat and Sun 1000-1700.
Admission: US$4.50 (free on Wed).

Motown Historical Museum
The Motown record label, Detroit’s greatest cultural contribution, is celebrated in this museum. It is located in the actual house that Berry Gordy, the former auto worker who founded the label, bought in 1959 and used as a recording studio until 1972. The museum contains the actual recording studio used by legendary musicians, such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, who were responsible for developing the classic ‘Motown’ sound. Equipment on display includes a control room, tape machines and a disc-mastering lathe. Also displayed are personal items of the musicians, as well as assorted instruments.

2648 West Grand Boulevard
Tel: (313) 875 2264. Fax: (313) 875 2267.
Transport: Dexter bus.
Opening hours: Tues-Sat 1000-1700, Sun and Mon 1200-1700.
Admission: US$7.

The New Detroit Science Center
The stars at this planetarium are even bigger than the ones at Motown Records. The Digital Dome Planetarium has Digistar technology and Sky-Skan automation, which allows the audience to take a virtual trip through the rings of Saturn or any other universe destination. This is the main attraction, although the centre also has a variety of hands-on exhibits, demystifying subjects like matter and energy, waves and vibrations, life sciences, ecosystems and motion. There is also an IMAX cinema.

5020 John R Street
Tel: (313) 577 8400.
Website: www.sciencedetroit.org
Transport: Crosstown bus 14.
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-1500, Sat and Sun 1030-1800.
Admission: US$7 (general exhibitions); US$2 (Digital Dome Planetarium); US$2 (IMAX).

Detroit Zoo
Located in the suburb of Royal Oak, the Detroit Zoo boasts cage-free enclosures and the largest outdoor display of wildlife in America. Known for its chimpanzee and gorilla enclosure, other highlights include animal feedings and demonstrations and a 45-minute guided tour of the zoo on-board a scenic tractor train. The latest additions to the zoo include the National Amphibian Conservation Center and the Arctic Ring of Life. Amphibiville, as it is known, shows the diversity of the world’s amphibian life, while also being dedicated to husbandry, animal reproduction and research, and the interactive Arctic Ring of Life contains a recreation of an Innuit Village, tundra, open sea and pack ice complete with foxes, polar bears and snowy owls.

8450 West Ten Mile Road, Royal Oak
Tel: (248) 398 0900.
Website: www.detroitzoo.org
Transport: Woodward Avenue bus.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1600 (until 1700 Apr-Nov).
Admission: US$8 (concessions available).

Automotive Hall of Fame
Opened in 1997, the strikingly designed Automotive Hall of Fame celebrates the achievements and innovations of the leading figures of the world’s auto industry. Interactive exhibits and displays recount the history of the automobile, especially as shaped by the individuals who brought it to the world – Ferdinand Porsche, Soichiro Honda and others. Visitors can match their own skills against the giants of the industry by attempting to answer actual problems experienced by car manufacturers.

21400 Oakwood Boulevard, Dearborn
Tel: (313) 240 4000. Fax: (313) 240 8641.
Website: www.automotivehalloffame.org
Transport: SMART bus Michigan Avenue 200.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1900 (Jun-Oct); Tues-Sun 1000-1700 (Nov-May).
Admission: US$6 (concessions available).