Greektown's main Street is reopening right as the World Cup begins

A long-closed stretch of Monroe Street in Greektown is back open to pedestrians, and the timing could not be better for downtown Detroit. The corridor from St. Antoine to Beaubien reopened Friday, June 19, the same week soccer fans started filling the district's bars for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Monroe Streetscape Project broke ground on March 18, 2025, closing Monroe to vehicle traffic between Randolph Street and the I-375 service drive. The $20 million overhaul, led by the Greektown Neighborhood Partnership with state funding, is rebuilding the street with granite pavers, wider sidewalks, brighter lighting, public Wi-Fi, and new landscaping. Businesses stayed open the whole time, with pedestrian access maintained, but more than a year of construction cut into foot traffic on a strip where easy access is the whole point. The St. Antoine to Beaubien segment is the first major stretch to fully reopen, ahead of schedule according to the project's supervisor. The rest of the work is set to wrap later this year.

The reopening lands as Greektown's bars settle into a month of matches. The Old Shillelagh at 349 Monroe St. is showing every game with no cover, multiple viewing areas, and food and drink specials. Tin Roof is running free watch parties for all three USA group stage games: against Paraguay on June 12, Australia on June 19, and Turkey on June 25. Other downtown spots, including Gilly's Clubhouse and The Brakeman, are screening matches daily at no charge.

The largest free option is outdoors. Detroit City FC is hosting public watch parties at Campus Martius Park, 800 Woodward Ave., for the USA matches on June 12 and June 19. Both are free and open to all ages, with events starting 90 minutes before kickoff, though fans need to claim a spot online in advance because capacity is limited. The June 25 match moves to the club's City Clubhouse.

Detroit did not draw any group stage matches this summer, with the closest host venues elsewhere in the country. The city's soccer fans have not needed a home game to turn out, and with Monroe Street open again, Greektown is back in the mix at the right moment.