Hart Plaza, named after the late U.S. Sen. Philip A. Hart, is the epicenter of Detroit's finest cultural and music celebrations. Home to the Ford International Detroit Jazz Festival, the Downtown Hoedown and Fuse-In, Detroit's electronic music festival. When you include the Freedom Festival fireworks and the many splendid cultural festivals held each weekend throughout the summer, you realize that this is more than just a city park, it's the definition of a Motown summer. The plaza is centered by the Horace E. Dodge and Son Fountain. Designed by Isamu Noguchi in 1976 and completed in 1978, the fountain generates a cool mist that has become a favorite way to cool down along the riverfront during the hot summer months, when the sweet aroma of ethnic cuisine and the sounds of music drift among Detroit's skyscrapers. In the winter, the floor of the amphitheater is frozen to allow public ice skating. -- Brian C. Louwers