Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park Opening Set to Transform Corktown Development
A long-awaited new park opening in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood is expected to promote community revitalization in downtown Detroit. The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park is scheduled to open in…
View looking toward downtown Detroit from Corktown on Michigan Ave.
A long-awaited new park opening in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood is expected to promote community revitalization in downtown Detroit.
The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park is scheduled to open in October on the site of a neglected green space, according to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that oversees the city's riverfront public parks.
The 22-acre park, situated along the Detroit River between Rosa Parks Boulevard and Eighth Street, will feature a basin connected to the river by an inlet and an artificial hill that can serve multiple uses.
“We tried pretty hard to not just have another walking path along the water's edge,” Nate Trevethan, a principal and landscape architect at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, explained to CoStar News. “We wanted to make something that would allow you to participate in both the city and the river at the same time."
In an October statement, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan praised the city for financially backing its parks and public amenities to “attract even more private investment and continue the progress in these neighborhoods,” according to a CoStar News report.
Duggan and other commercial and residential developers hope the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park will allow Detroit to follow in the footsteps of cities such as Atlanta, Boston, and Minneapolis. New parks in these cities have fostered commercial and residential development in the neighborhoods surrounding the parks.
The opening of Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park was delayed after William Smith, former chief financial officer of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, was accused of stealing $40 million from the nonprofit. In April, Smith was sentenced to 19 years in prison after he plead guilty to the theft.
In response, the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan established a $35 million fund to support the remaining work needed to open the park. The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation also contributed an additional $10 million.
