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Since
2003,
the
Conservancy
has
invested
$300
million
to
transform
the
Detroit
Riverfront.
This
investment
in the
parks
and
trails
along
the
riverfront
has
generated
more
than $2
billion
in
public
and
private
development.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us USA
News
Network) |
| |
Detroit
Riverfront
Conservancy
celebrate
the
completion
of East
Riverfront
with
Grand
Opening
of new
Uniroyal
Promenade
•
Conservancy
keeps
promise
to the
Detroit
community
to
build,
beautify
and
program
a
continuous
series
of parks
and
trails
from
Huntington
Place to
Belle
Isle
• New
Uniroyal
Promenade
connects
Mt.
Elliott
Park to
Gabriel
Richard
Park and
Belle
Isle
Bridge
•
Conservancy
has
invested
$300
million
in the
Detroit
Riverfront,
generating
$2
billion
in
public
and
private
investment
•
Conservancy
celebrates
the
naming
of
Christopher
Stroh
Plaza at
Gabriel
Richard
Park
DETROIT
– Today,
the
Detroit
Riverfront
Conservancy,
Detroit
Mayor
Mike
Duggan,
partners
and
hundreds
of
community
members
celebrated
the
completion
of the
3.5-mile
East
Riverfront
– one of
the most
transformational
projects
in
Detroit’s
history.
The
beautiful
public
space
illustrates
the
Conservancy’s
20-year
bold
vision
of a
revitalized
riverfront,
and
includes
a series
of
world-class
parks
and
trails
from
Huntington
Place to
Belle
Isle in
downtown
Detroit.
The
celebration
marked
the
opening
of the
Uniroyal
Promenade,
a newly
built
connection
and
half-mile
extension
of the
Riverwalk
which
now
completes
the East
Riverfront.
The new
promenade,
developed
on a
site
which
has
stood
vacant
since
1980,
connects
Gabriel
Richard
Park to
Mt.
Elliott
Park and
provides
access
to Belle
Isle –
the
country’s
largest
island
park
designed
by
Frederick
Olmsted,
designer
of
Central
Park in
New York
City.
Other
destinations
along
the East
Riverfront
managed
by the
Conservancy
include
Robert
C.
Valade
Park,
Cullen
Plaza,
the
Dequindre
Cut
Greenway
and
Dennis
Archer
Greenway.
“Twenty
years
ago, a
fledgling
new
Conservancy
made a
promise
to the
people
of
Detroit
that we
would
transform
the
Detroit
Riverfront
through
the
creation
of a
3.5-mile
system
of parks
and
trails
between
what is
now
Huntington
Place
and
Belle
Isle,”
said
Matt
Cullen,
founding
chairman
of the
Conservancy’s
Board of
Directors.
“Today
we
celebrate
the
fulfillment
of that
promise.
Working
together,
we have
brought
that
bold
vision
to
reality.
It’s a
special
moment
for all
of us
and one
that
will be
celebrated
for
generations
to
come.”
Since
2003,
the
Conservancy
has
invested
$300
million
to
transform
the
Detroit
Riverfront.
This
investment
in the
parks
and
trails
along
the
riverfront
has
generated
more
than $2
billion
in
public
and
private
development.
"What
the
Detroit
Riverfront
Conservancy
has
accomplished
in the
past 20
years is
just
extraordinary
and
opening
this
final
piece of
the East
Riverfront
is a
perfect
exclamation
point,”
said
Mayor
Mike
Duggan.
“For 300
years,
Detroit
had a
riverfront
that was
almost
completely
inaccessible
to the
public.
In just
two
decades
they
have
turned
it into
the best
riverwalk
in
America
three
years
running.
Thanks
to their
tremendous
leadership
and
partners,
it won't
be long
before
the
Conservancy
completes
its
vision
of a
public
Riverwalk
stretching
from the
Belle
Isle
Bridge
to the
Ambassador
Bridge."
The
Detroit
Riverfront
Conservancy
leads
the
public-private
partnership
that has
led the
revitalization
of the
riverfront
the last
20
years.
The
nonprofit
launched
in 2003
with
three
founding
partners:
the City
of
Detroit,
The
Kresge
Foundation
and
General
Motors.
• The
City of
Detroit
was
instrumental
in
providing
infrastructure
improvements
along
the
riverfront,
acquiring
land,
and
relocating
three
cement
factories
to make
room for
the
Riverwalk.
• The
Kresge
Foundation
made a
$50
million
matching
grant in
2002 for
the
transformation
of the
Detroit
Riverfront.
The
investment
was the
biggest
gift in
the
Kresge
Foundation’s
history.
This
investment
inspired
a broad
coalition
of
foundations,
individuals,
and
corporations
that
invested
an
additional
$110
million
of
philanthropic
support.
•
General
Motors
purchased
the
Renaissance
Center
for its
new
world
headquarters
in 1996
and
completed
a $500
million
renovation
in 2004.
GM
loaned
executive
leadership
to the
Conservancy,
and
built
the
first
stretch
of
Riverwalk
promenade
from the
Port
Authority
to
Cullen
Plaza.
This
promenade
was
donated
to the
Conservancy,
providing
a
precedent
that
helped
with
land-acquisition
conversations
with the
other
eight
property
owners
along
the East
Riverfront.
Additionally,
GM
donated
$2.5
million
in 2021
to
complete
the
Uniroyal
Promenade
and the
vision
for the
East
Riverfront.
“It’s
rare for
a city
to
complete
such a
bold
vision,”
said
Mark
Wallace,
president
& CEO of
the
Conservancy.
“The
transformation
of the
Detroit
Riverfront
has been
supported
for 20
years by
the love
of the
community
and the
investments
of
countless
foundations,
corporations,
and
individuals.
No one
has done
what
we’ve
done
here in
Detroit.
It is a
testament
of what
happens
when we
all work
together
for a
common
goal.”
The New
Uniroyal
Promenade
The
Uniroyal
Promenade
represents
an $11
million
investment.
Construction
began on
the
promenade
in May
2021
following
a
one-year,
$3
million
shoreline
restoration
project
that was
led by
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency.
The
Uniroyal
property
contains
42 acres
of land,
and the
Uniroyal
factory
once
employed
10,000
people.
It
closed
in 1980
and was
demolished
in 1985.
Partners
in the
Uniroyal
Promenade
project
include
the
Detroit
Riverfront
Conservancy,
the City
of
Detroit,
the
Michigan
Department
of
Transportation
(MDOT),
and the
Environmental
Protection
Agency.
The
Conservancy
has
worked
with the
Michigan
Department
of
Transportation
on
several
significant
and
high-profile
projects
over the
years,
including
Mt.
Elliott
Park,
the DDA
parcel
along
the West
Riverfront
and the
Robert
C.
Valade
Park.
MDOT has
activated
funds
secured
by
former
US
Senator
Carl
Levin,
whose
2005
earmark
to help
pay for
the
Uniroyal
Promenade.
MDOT
served
as the
project
manager
of the
new
promenade.
Naming
of
Christopher
Stroh
Plaza
The
Conservancy
announced
the
naming
of the
plaza at
Gabriel
Richard
Park in
memory
of
Christopher
Stroh,
whose
family
has
committed
a
significant
gift to
support
the
mission
of the
Conservancy.
Christopher
Stroh
Plaza is
one of
the most
beautiful,
peaceful
and
picturesque
locations
along
the East
Riverfront.
The
plaza
offers
inspiring
views of
Detroit
River
sunrises
and
commanding
views of
Belle
Isle and
the
MacArthur
Bridge.
Just
steps
away
from
Christopher
Stroh
Plaza is
the
winding
pathway
that
will
lead
users of
the new
Uniroyal
Promenade
to Belle
Isle.
Stroh’s
parents,
Vivian
Day and
Conservancy
Board
member
John W.
Stroh,
III, are
honored
to have
the
plaza
named
for
their
son.
“Christopher
was the
consummate
outdoorsman,
and from
the time
he was a
child he
loved to
spend as
much
time as
he could
on and
around
the
waters
of Lake
St Clair
and the
Detroit
River.
He lived
along
the
Detroit
Riverwalk
for
nearly a
decade
and
frequently,
he could
be found
walking
along it
with his
beloved
fiancée
Alexis
and
Labrador
retriever,
Holly.
It gives
us great
comfort
to honor
and
remember
him with
the
naming
of
Christopher
Stroh
Plaza.
We hope
that the
plaza
will be
a place
where
many
families
can make
memories
that
will
last a
lifetime,”
Stroh
and Day
said in
a
statement.
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