Detroit Officials call New Park Test Case for Citywide Development
Detroit officials call new Ella Fitzgerald Park a sign of investment spreading from downtown to poorer neighborhoods.
Detroit officials are breaking ground on a new park in the city’s Fitzgerald neighborhood.
The city says the Ella Fitzgerald Park is a test case for future development in Detroit.
City officials call the groundbreaking a part of redeveloping the area near Livernois and McNichols.
“This’ll be a neighborhood that people from around the country come and say, ‘You…can bring people back. You can bring a neighborhood back. We did it here in Fitzgerald.’ ” – Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan
It’s a project they say will include building the new park, a new community center and refurbishing existing housing stock.
The city is partnering with The Kresge Foundation and the University of Detroit Mercy to create the new developments in consultation with residents who live in the neighborhood.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says officials are modeling the project on successful efforts to build-up the city’s Midtown area, including leveraging existing assets and incorporating help from neighborhood stakeholders and a strong university.
“Over the next year or two, if we execute this the way we’re planning, this’ll be a neighborhood that people from around the country come and say, ‘You don’t have to give up on your neighborhoods. You can bring people back. You can bring a neighborhood back. We did it here in Fitzgerald,’ ” Duggan says.
Officials hope to use the development to lure new residents to about 115 vacant homes in the neighborhood.
