The Detroit City Council has approved a plan to move the Grand Prix races back to downtown. The council unanimously approved a resolution this week that calls for the city to enter into a contract with the organizers of the Grand Prix and issue permits for the events which would take place starting in 2023. The city’s executive policy manager Irvin Corley told council members moving the races from Belle Isle to downtown near the Ren Cen should bring more money into the city.
“When you look at the economic benefits that were generated in 2017, that was about a $64 million impact, so with a 20% bump, they’re project a $77 million impact to the city of Detroit,” Corley said.
Corley says $10 million could be spent at downtown businesses as a result of the move. The last Grand Prix race in downtown was in 1991. The Grand Prix announced in late September it was considering moving the races to an area near the Renaissance Center with a course mainly running on a part of Jefferson Avenue and Atwater.
