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Martha Reeves has them 'Dancing in the Street' at Motown Museum block party

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Motown’s big stars have their own glittery stages this year to mark the label’s 60th anniversary — a prime-time tribute show back in March,…
Motown’s big stars have their own glittery stages this year to mark the label’s 60th anniversary — a prime-time tribute show back in March, a starry Motown Weekend coming this September.
But Sunday afternoon belonged to Detroit’s grassroots, as thousands headed to Hitsville, U. S. A., to salute the homegrown music legacy and late Motown Museum founder Esther Gordy Edwards.
The festive Founder’s Day event, staged on the grounds of the West Grand Boulevard complex, had folks queuing up hours early for free museum tours. Nearby, others formed a steady line all afternoon to take snapshots in front of the iconic house with the blue “Hitsville, U. S. A.” sign.
And the day brought a new feature to the familiar old Motown grounds: Dancing in the Street Park, officially inaugurated with a spirited “Dancing in the Street” by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was among those on hand for the opening of the cozy plaza next to the Hitsville building. The lot had sat vacant since 1971, when the office-house there was destroyed in a fire.
Designed pro bono by the Detroit firm Hamilton Anderson and spearheaded by the New York outfit Project for Public Spaces, the park was funded by the William Davidson Foundation and the Detroit Regional Chamber.
“It’s very important that we reclaim our neighborhoods and build these kinds of places to gather and celebrate,” Hamilton Anderson chief Rainy Hamilton told the gathered crowd.

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