Automobile National Heritage Area's Second Round Of Public Meetings on Proposed Alternatives to Take Place May 14-17

    DETROIT, May 11 The Second Round of Public Meetings
regarding the development of the Automobile National Heritage Area's five-ten
year implementation strategy -- formally referred to as the General Management
Plan -- are being presented in four meetings around Southeastern and Central
Michigan during the week of May 14-17, 2001.  The Automobile National Heritage
Area (ANHA) will be presenting several different Alternative options on how to
best move the ANHA project from planning to implementation.
    The ANHA consultant team, an interdisciplinary group of national and local
firms, has been actively working on preparing the General Management Plan
since December 2000.  ANHA will submit this draft plan to the National Park
Service in November 2001 for review and approval.  The lead firm, ICON
architecture, inc. of Boston, has completed over 20 National, State and Local
Heritage Area plans across the United States, and the team's work for ANHA
thus far has been both dynamic and exciting.
    In 1998, the US Congress designated the Automobile National Heritage Area
(ANHA) in recognition of the importance of Michigan's industrial, cultural,
and natural heritage to the nation.  The ANHA is now one of 23 National
Heritage Areas affiliated with the National Park Service, and the National
Heritage Area program is a relatively new initiative of the NPS.  Its primary
goal is to preserve historically and culturally significant resources through
the use of public-private partnerships.  The Michigan region has the largest
concentration of automobile-related resources compared to anywhere else in the
world, and the ANHA is dedicated to preserving, interpreting and promoting the
region's rich automotive and labor heritage.  ANHA has three primary goals:
furthering education regarding the auto industry and its impacts, increasing
tourism, and encouraging preservation linked economic development.
    There will be four Alternatives Meetings open to the public during the
week of May 14-17 located in and around Southeastern and Central Michigan.
These meetings are intended to gather public comments regarding the proposed
Alternatives which recommend different strategies of projects and programs to
be developed and implemented along with a phasing strategy.
    The four public meetings are as follows:

    1) The Detroit Area East Meeting - May 14, 2001
    Held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds J.L. Hudson Auditorium from 5:30-
7:30 p.m.  Enter the Fairgrounds from Woodward Ave. 1/4 mile south of Eight
Mile Rd. and follow the directions from the guard as to where to park for the
meeting.
    2) The Detroit Area West Meeting - May 15, 2001
    Held at the Hawthorne Valley Country Club in Westland from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The clubhouse is located at 7300 Merriman Rd. which is approximately three
miles south of the I-96 Merriman Rd. exit.
    3) The Lansing Area Meeting - May 16, 2001
    Held at the Michigan Historical Center - Library of Michigan's Lake
Ontario Room from 4-6 p.m.  The Michigan Historical Center is located three
blocks west of the State Capital Building.  Enter the museum parking lot from
Washtenaw St.  I-496 in Downtown Lansing is closed, so please follow detour
signs.
    4) The Flint Area Meeting - May 17, 2001
    Held at the University of Michigan - Flint's North Bank Center from
4-6 p.m.  The Center is located at 432 N. Saginaw St. just north of downtown
Flint.

    The public is invited to attend whichever meeting is the most convenient.
For additional information regarding either the four public meetings or the
ANHA, please feel free to contact the organization at 313-259-3425 or visit
their website at http://www.autoheritage.org .

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