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Kresge President Rip Rapson and Rich Homberg, president of Detroit Public TV, co-hosted a preview of the PBS documentary “Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City,” together with an hour-long panel discussion about the city’s future at the Detroit Public Library Main Branch on January 27.

The PBS special will be aired on Detroit Public TV, Channel 56, on Monday, Feb. 8 at 10 p.m.

>> View a videotape of introductory remarks delivered at the screening.

“The possibilities of re-imagination in this city have never been quite so profound,” Rapson told his audience. “In every civic culture, there are inflection and decision points that fundamentally redirect the way a community works, thinks, and positions itself for the long-term.”

Looking ahead to the much-anticipated groundbreaking for Detroit’s M-1 light-rail transit system along Woodward Avenue, he said, “This is an extraordinary opportunity for us to think very differently about issues of transit, regional mobility, and regional growth, and an invitation to think much more broadly about infrastructure in the city of Detroit.”

Aaron Woolf, the producer of Beyond the Motor City, discussed the importance of making the documentary and the challenges he faced in identifying the human dimension and consequences of “very arcane and dry policy decisions” about infrastructure. “This city really is America’s canvas,” he said. “Detroit could be the hope for this country … and the hope for how we begin to rethink cities … and begin to draw the community back together.”

Following a 24-minute showing of film highlights from the PBS documentary, program host Miles O’Brien moderated a panel discussion on transportation and infrastructure.

>> View a videotape of the panel discussion.

The panelists included: Richard Baron, CEO of McCormack, Baron and Salazar; Matthew Cullen, president and CEO of the M-1 light-rail project; and Toni Griffin, an architect and adjunct associate professor of urban planning at Harvard University.

Questions from the moderator and audience revolved around regional trends, Washington’s willingness to help the nation’s cities, and Detroit’s need to redefine its overall mission and image.

Griffin noted that the regional loss of population and economic base has had an important impact on the city of Detroit.  She stressed the importance of incorporating regional land-use planning with infrastructure development.

“If there were ever a time for the 10 major municipalities to come together to look at land-use planning and infrastructure and to get behind major private investment, it is now,” she stated. “Detroit matters to the region, and the region matters to Detroit.”

Cullen characterized the M-1 light-rail project, along with the Detroit Riverfront redevelopment, as the foundation for other revitalization activities within the city. Cullen stressed the need to “come together around a contextual plan” that would provide a common focus and coordination for revitalization efforts.

In closing remarks, Rapson told his listeners that other people really are paying attention to Detroit. “Our foundation over the last couple of months has been in pretty much constant contact with the federal government, national foundations, and national folks from all walks of life. To a person, those folks want to figure out a way to be helpful.

“What’s most important,” he continued, “is that the folks of Detroit themselves want to move on, and I think our challenge is to figure out how we can all do that together.”

For more information, contact Cynthia Shaw, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 248-643-9630.