'Get excited': Detroit kicks off construction for NFL Draft

Detroit — One month out, the city of Detroit and a team of partners kicked off construction Tuesday of a stage near Campus Martius where athletes will have their dreams of being selected for the National Football League come true.

The NFL Draft, sponsored by Bud Light, will be held downtown April 25-27. Over the three days, hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to visit Detroit, 60 million viewers are anticipated to tune in as 257 young men cross the stage as professional players.

The stage will be at the Monroe Street Midway closest to Greektown at Farmers and Monroe. A green room will be built behind the stage to house those being picked following the first round and celebrities.

The event stretches through Campus Martius toward Hart Plaza, where there will be family-friendly festivities and photo opportunities with the Lombardi Trophy. There are plans for a red carpet event at the Fox Theater, retailers stationed outside Ford Field and children's athletic events in Corktown at Corner Ballpark.

Starting Friday, there will be road closures at Randolph, Farmer and Monroe. Construction will move into Cadillac Square and Campus Martius park on April 8. By April 15, Jefferson Avenue will be closed as construction begins in Hart Plaza. Red carpet rollouts will be April 20. Woodward will be fenced off with a security perimeter that stretches to Hart Plaza.

The free event requires attendees to download the NFL One Pass to get in. Those without a smartphone can register on-site with an "ambassador" who will assist.

"The people who work down here are just going to have to be patient but I know everyone's excited for this," Mayor Mike Duggan said during a press conference held at the stage construction site. "If you are at the draft in Las Vegas or Kansas City, everyone just swiped in once and were inside. Whereas here, it's not going to be as big. One in four people here will be inside the NFL-fenced zone. For those first two days, Thursday and Friday, you're going to have to be here pretty early to get inside the fenced zone."

There will also be watch parties outside of the footprint at Paradise Park, Beacon Park, Harmonie Park and Grand Circus Park. Greektown will host a block party and Eastern Market will host tailgating parties.

"We are trying something that hasn't been done in a few years by integrating the draft into downtown," Duggan said. "We could not be more excited. Flags are being placed on light poles representing the 32 NFL teams, our electrical boxes that have attracted graffiti have now been remade into the many Detroit sports legends, and you'll continue to see those touches be added."

The City of Detroit, the Detroit Sports Commission, and Visit Detroit, in partnership with a local coalition of 20 other partners including the State of Michigan, Wayne County, Bedrock/Rocket Companies and the Downtown Detroit Partnership, are expected to host more press announcements closer to the event.

The city started a countdown clock 712 days ago when announcing the NFL Draft would be held in the city. But the road to get here started well over six years ago. Officials said it's surreal to see the clock time tick down.

"In just 30 days, hundreds of thousands of football fans will get to see firsthand what makes Detroit such an incredible city," said Visit Detroit President and CEO Claude Molinari. "It will be the largest, most inclusive sporting event in the history of the state of Michigan. We will welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors, which will help generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact. Additionally, tens of millions of TV viewers will see the beauty of Detroit. We'll have great music, great food and an exciting NFL experience. We can't wait to see you in Detroit."

Construction crews have started digging into the ground to install a sign reading "DETROIT" in 12-foot-tall letters on Interstate 94 eastbound between Central and Cecil avenues.

City Walls has also commissioned 20 local artists who have partnered with local charities on an art installation dubbed DCLEATED. Twenty fabricated colossal football cleats have been painted by Detroit artists and are linked to Detroit-based causes, nonprofits or charities of the artist's choice. The cleats, each 5 foot, 7 inches tall and 3 feet wide, will be displayed during April in downtown hotels, at City Hall, and at Detroit Metro Airport and City Airport.

New signage will also be installed ahead of the draft, including "way finders" to help visitors get around from the east to west sides of the city. Visit Detroit will install more than 770 banners around Ford Field on Woodward Avenue, Jefferson Avenue, Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue by Visit Detroit.

Bedrock is also planning to host private watch parties in the ground floor of the Hudson Tower while there will be parties stemming through the Shinola Hotel and Parkers Alley.

"It is a privilege and an honor to bring something so prestigious and coveted to Detroit and make no mistake, this is no small feat," said Casey Hurbis, Rocket Mortgage Chief Marketing Officer. "It requires years of meticulous planning, countless hours of hard work and seamless collaboration between the public and private sector."

Security

Downtown Woodward Avenue will be closed off by April 22. There will be an overnight bomb sweep with canines and a security perimeter will be in place April 23. A full perimeter lockdown will be in place April 24-27.

There will be three main entries on Jefferson East; Griswold and Jefferson; and Cadillac Square East.

In the middle of the walkway on Woodward Avenue, there will be two local business access portals to make it easy for fans to leave the event to visit corridor businesses, grab a bite to eat and return through security screening.

Detroit Police Department will have 60 Evolv weapon detectors throughout downtown and will have a robust effort at its Real Time Crime Center, said DPD Cmd. Matthew Fulgenzi. No officers were allowed to take time off during the event and "a lot of police overtime," is expected, Duggan said.

"This is what we do. I don't think I ever saw anything like the mobs of Taylor Swift," Duggan said. "That followed the move from the Grand Prix off of Belle Isle into downtown, the Ford Fireworks came off without incident... I can't tell you that there won't be somebody with bad judgment. Look at what happened in Kansas City."

Duggan pointed to the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl parade that killed a woman and injured nearly two dozen others. Three men are facing charges.

"There were 500,000 people in a beautiful day and two people got into a beef and spoiled the event for everybody," Duggan said. "But what you are going to see is the Detroit Police Department at its best."

Visit Detroit is promoting events and attractions outside of the draft footprint for visitors to check out during the day, including the Motown Museum, Belle Isle, Dequindre Cut, Detroit Institute of Arts and the Avenue of Fashion.

Know before you go

The draft will also have a clear bag policy and is a smoke-free environment. Stollers, small cameras and binoculars will be permitted. Professional-grade equipment must be credentialed. Fans are allowed to enter with an empty, reusable water bottle for free water filling inside the event.

Gates open at noon April 25 with interactive football-themed games and experiences. Round one commences at 8 p.m. at the draft theater at Campus Martius. The draft will close at 11 p.m.

Rounds two and three have a similar setup on Friday, opening at noon and selections at 7 p.m.

Rounds four through seven start earlier on Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. and selections start at noon and close at 7 p.m. Each day has a pre-draft shows that were not disclosed.

Transportation

The Detroit Air Express (DAX) is a new airport shuttle offering 16 daily round-trips from downtown Detroit to DTW. The shuttle runs every day from 3:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are $8 at the door and $6 for reservations. Pick-ups and drop-off locations are on the west side of Washington Boulvard near State St. downtown and departures at the McNamara Terminal, and ground transportation at the Evans Terminal.

The Detroit People Mover will operate 24 hours a day, beginning at 7 a.m. April 25 through midnight April with trains up to every 5 minutes. All 13 stations will be open to and from the Draft activation sites, as well as restaurants, lodging, parking and easy transfers between DDOT and the QLINE. Riding on the People Mover is free for the remainder of the year.

QLine will operate as scheduled with short service routes during the event with higher frequency service.

SMART will operate park-and-ride services downtown from various points in the Detroit Metro area, including from Great Lakes Crossing, several Meijer locations, and Oakland County Community College. SMART's FAST service will also be operating to downtown on Gratiot, Woodward, and Michigan Avenue. More details on other locations, times, and frequency will be released closer to the event.

DDOT services will continue to operate as scheduled but with modified downtown routes due to road closures. Beginning 8 p.m. on April 23 through 6 a.m. on April 29, DDOT buses coming from the east side will stop at Bricktown People Mover station, and DDOT buses coming from the west side will stop at Rosa Parks Transit Center.

MoGo, Detroit’s bike share system, has 620 bikes and 75 stations in 6 Detroit metro cities with unlimited 30-minute ride cycles after initial payment. There are several MoGo stations around Detroit including at Campus Martius, Woodward and Fort, Larned and Woodward, and the Detroit Riverwalk. Bird, Lime, and Superpedestrian LINK scooters are all around downtown Detroit.

All information to getting around the NFL Draft, schedules, attractions, where to park and entry information can be found in the NFL One Pass app or on VisitDetroit.com.

srahal@detroitnews.com