Soon after Detroit filed for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy, rumors began to surface about the Detroit Institute of Arts selling off its artwork to raise much needed funds. Then there came reports that developers are “pushing for the city to sell” Belle Isle, a 982-acre island in the Detroit River for $1 billion. Supporters forecast that a privately owned Belle Isle would rival Singapore ‘as an economic miracle’, and that the island could generate ‘billions of dollars in desperately needed economic growth’, and become ‘a social laboratory for the western world’ — “an experiment in small government.” Meanwhile plans are in motion for a new Red Wings hockey arena despite the bankruptcy.  Continue