East Riverfront

The Globe Building, one of the most recognizable structures along the east riverfront, has been transformed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources into the Outdoor Adventure Center (OAC). Located at William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor, the OAC gives visitors a taste of Michigan’s great outdoors in the heart of the city.

Visitors can experience exciting outdoor adventures with hands-on activities, exhibits and simulators; walk behind and touch a waterfall; climb the roots and explore the canopy of a massive bur oak tree; hop aboard a real airplane; walk across a suspension bridge; step into a fishing boat and reel in a big fish; hit the trail on a mountain bike or snowmobile, see fish native to Michigan in a giant aquarium and much more.

A little history on the former Globe Building:  The industrial complex began life in the late 1860s as the Dry Dock Engine Works, which employed a young Henry Ford as an apprentice. It was there that Ford apparently first became familiar with combustion engines. At the turn of the 20th century, the company was absorbed by the Detroit Shipbuilding Co. When the Detroit Shipbuilding Co. dissolved in the late 1920s, the former engine building plant was used by a stove manufacturer, the Detroit Edison Co., for appliance repair and finally the Globe Trading Company - a wholesale machinery firm.  It sat vacant for decades until work began transforming the building into the OAC.

For more information about the Outdoor Adventure Center, please click here to visit the DNR's website.