City leaders preview Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
(CBS DETROIT) The streets of the Motor City will become a motor speedway with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix coming to Downtown Detroit in just over a week.
City leaders came together for a news conference Thursday to share the excitement around the event.
"I am pleased for the first time in 32 years, the Grand Prix is returning to Downtown Detroit," said Mayor Mike Duggan.
"Imagine what they are going to look like going 155 miles per hour down our riverfront with helicopters chasing them, with boats anchored," said Bud Denker, the Grand Prix's chairman.
Denker was not describing a scene from the new Fast and Furious movie, but what to expect from next weekend's event.
Duggan says the real winner of the event will be Detroit.
"Detroit is going to be the winner and all of our residents and businesses. It's going to be a special weekend," he said.
Besides seeing some of the best Indy Car drivers in the world, the weekend will be full of fun and entertainment.
There will be live performances from award-winning artists, including Big Boi from Outkast.
Additionally, 27 small businesses from Detroit will be showcased all weekend long at Cadillac Square for what's called Small Business Straightaway.
The event won't just have drivers on display, but the city of Detroit will also take center stage.
"Belle Isle in my mind was great. It was exclusive coming back down to Detroit it's inclusive," said Denker.
Nearly 100,000 people attended the event each year when it was held in Belle Isle, and similar crowds are expected for this year.
Safety is one of the top priorities for Police Chief James White.
He says the Detroit Police Department sought advice from other cities and will be using experienced of their own to make sure the event goes smoothly.
"Monitoring traffic patterns, traffic flow, monitoring activity, and making sure we got cops on dots in areas that give us concern," he said. "We got some experience of large crowds so we are going to take some lessons from movement, lessons learned from fireworks, what happened on Belle Isle [and] merge it together to run our plan, our strategy that we have."
