ILITCH PLANS FOR ENTERTAINMENT AVENUE AND PLAY STATION

     A $6M entertainment avenue will be developed in Detroit's
theater district by the Ilitch family, according to R.J. King of
the DETROIT NEWS.  The avenue, which "Likely" would offer a
mixture of sports bars, themed restaurants, microbreweries and
music cafes, will open in '98 -- one year before the proposed
opening of a $240M new ballpark for the Tigers, which is also a
planned site for a new Lions facility.  Denise Ilitch Lites,
President of Olympia Development Corp., a division of Olympia
Entertainment which operates the Tigers and Red Wings: "We would
like to make Columbia Street [site of the project] a destination
spot."  Ilitch Lites is working on "several other" development
concepts near the stadium, "possibly" including a family section
with a children's museum; a sports village offering a mix of
retail and sporting activities; and a public arts program to
maintain common areas around the stadium, possibly featuring
landscaping, benches, boardwalks or sculptures (DETROIT NEWS,
10/10).