East Side : Detroit Development News

The newest redevelopment project from Power House Productions, Squash House, is turning the corner from conception to a new Crowdrise fundraiser.

Sculptor Graem Whyte hopes to raise $15,000 for the first round of renovations to the house at 13133 Klinger, which will be transformed into a neighborhood meeting place devoted to the pleasures of friendly racquet competition. Whyte says he hopes to build a "rec center that encourages the community to interact a little more through friendly competition and a community garden dedicated to squash varieties." Solar panels and rainwater collection systems will make the structure green-friendly, as well. Whyte says the Squash House hopes to open its doors by September 2012.

Substantial renovations are needed to re-imagine the Squash House from abandoned to activated. Holes in the roof will need to be patched, and the home's rafters need some work. He also plans to rebuild the back walls and replace the roof in the back section of the structure.

Given Whyte's art background, Squash House will incorporate fine art into function.

"We want to treat the house as art, as a sculpture, and we want to emphasize the space of the house. It's not going to be a literal squash court," he says. "It will be playable, but a little warped. There will be some sculptural add-on components and we'll warp some surfaces as well."

And in the spirit of other Power House renovations, the basic plans will be open to input from members of the neighboring community.

"We want it to happen organically," Whyte says. "It's going to be a process, as with the other Power House projects. We want it to develop at the right pace."

Check out the Squash House's fundraising drive on Crowdrise; become a fan of Squash House on Facebook; or learn more about Power House Productions.

Source; Graem Whyte, founder, The Squash House
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

From ice, cometh the fire.

Gregory Holm, the creator behind 2010's Ice House Detroit, will launch a new visual and aural spectacle in an old firehouse from the 1800's located at 1480 Gratiot Ave.

Fire House Detroit is more of a continuation of the Ice House idea than the artistic polar opposite, Holm says.

"The Ice House was an attention getter for a neighborhood," he says. "It made a lot of sense to have this beacon of dialogue where people could talk around this space, come out of their homes in a very neglected neighborhood. It had a lot of roots to very sad situations that were going on."

Fire House, which will open to the public in July, is a project aimed to inspire and activate a new generation of Detroit children, whom Holm will help incorporate into the experience. Young poets, musicians and singers from the city will all take part in crafting a score and compositions for the opening, which will also feature a pyrophone, which uses flames to create sound.

"We're creating the memories where they can look back in five or 10 years and say, "Hey, I was part of this  huge production where I was writing poetry that was sung by another children's group and we collaborated with contemporary thinkers," Holm says. 

While Holm and his crew work to build the Fire House spectacle, he's turned a portion of the Fire House into a new venue, 2:1 Gallery.

"It spun out really organically," says Holm. "It's such a beautiful space, and we decided to create a space in Detroit that isn't really here, dedicated just to sound art."

If the Ice House propelled the idea of the Fire House, this new project has spawned not only a gallery, but a new creative aggregate, 2:1 LLC, "where we can provide ideas and act more as a think tank to create interesting concepts, as liasons between brands or foundations and neighborhoods," Holm says.

Look for more sound experiences from 2:1 Gallery this summer, as well as a Neighborhoods Day event, which will take place in late July. "We'll be transforming the neighborhood into a huge day event for children, all based around sound," Holm says.

Source: Gregory Holm, Fire House Detroit
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

The greenhouse and garden at the corner of MLK and Trumbull in North Corktown known as the Spirit Farm will soon become ground zero for a series of intensive workshops dedicated to increasing knowledge and awareness about urban sustainability, food justice, community art and grassroots community building.

"The DUST workshops have grown out of what I've been doing the past few years with teenagers," says organizer Kate Devlin. "And I thought, wouldn't it be cool if adults came and camped out and learn about sustainability?"

The DUST: Detroit Urban Sustainability Training bills itself as "10 Days in Detroit learning urban sustainability from Detroiters living it." The activity list is an urbanist's dream. Spend a week and a half visiting Brother Nature Produce and the Heidelberg Project, checking out urban farms keeping everything from baby ducks and chickens to bees. Community art and the Green Garage. The curriculum will dip into deeper processes, depending on community wants, on subjects as broad and diverse as bioremediation, grey water systems and natural building techniques.

"It's really geared to bringing people from the outside of Detroit in to see what we're doing. As it grows, we pick what subjects we want to tackle, and pick a project we want to work on together," Devlin says.

The workshops begin June 1, June 20, July 10, Aug. 1 and Aug. 20. The cost is $1,000, and includes lodging at the Spirit Farm, food and the workshop series. There's a sliding scale for low-income people and a few scholarships are available, with preference to Detroiters and Michiganders.

"I don't think there's any city in America doing the stuff we're doing on this scale. And we're also learning at a really incredibly fast rate," Devlin says. "And Detroit's a cool place to be. We've got some of the coolest things and I think we're an under-appreciated city. We've got great music, we've got great art, and we've got the green thing going on."

Sign up for DUST or find out more here.

Source: Kate Devlin, Spirit Farm
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

From the boiler rooms to labs to the front doors, Denby High School on the city's northeast side is getting a much-needed face-lift.

The Kraemer Design Group reports construction on Denby High, which began earlier this year, will be completed in time for the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. The school, named for Secretary of the Navy Edwin C. Denby, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's quite a school, designed with a nautical theme throughout, decorated with interior wall murals and exterior terra cotta and limestone bas relief structures.

"I don't think anything major has been done to this school in a long time," says Kraemer Design Group's Bill Smith, who is managing the project. "It was really kind of worn out when we started working on it."

The $16 million renovation includes brand-new mechanical and electrical systems, plus all the labs, classrooms and public areas will receive upgrades.

The design team is also restoring what it calls the "historic heart of the school," Denby's 2,000-seat Art Deco auditorium. Its gold leaf decoration around the curtains, maple wood chairs, and wall paneling are all being restored to its previous splendor. A new sound system is also going in.

"The auditorium they have there is beautiful," Smith says. "It was really rundown. I don't think they've even used the balcony in years, it just had tables and chairs stacked up in there.

A modernized front entrance will better handle security issues and the morning traffic flow, while students will eat in the brand-new cafeteria. The project is financed by the Proposal S bond issue, which authorized $500 million to renovate 10 Detroit Public Schools and build eight new centers of learning.

Source: Bill Smith, Studio Director, Kraemer Design Group
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

The Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative (DECC) will celebrate the opening of more than two miles of pedestrian and bike trails opened to the public via the Conner Creek Greenway Initiative with an Arbor Day tree planting and parade on April 29 in Maheras Gentry Park on the Detroit River.

The event kicks off with a Greening of Detroit-directed tree planting sponsored by DTE Energy and planted by company volunteers at 9 a.m. The parade begins at 11 a.m., led by a procession of 120 students from the Detroit Merit Academy -- and their wildlife puppets -- made along with the Mosaic Youth Theatre as part of the company's preparations for its upcoming performance of new production "Marshland Security." U.S. Congressman Hansen Clarke and Mayor Bing are among the rumored guests.

The Conner Creek Greenway is part of more than 23 miles of connected paths in Detroit created by the City of Detroit with the support of the The Conner Creek Greenway provides residents of Detroit's eastside with a way to connect neighborhoods and create walkable, bikeable access to the Detroit River.

"It's kind of the neighborhood version of the Detroit River Walk or the Dequindre Cut," says project manager Elizabeth Pachota of the Conner Creek Greenway. "The plan for the Conner Creek Gateway is to create a nine-mile pathway extend all the way from Eight Mile Road to the Detroit River, generally along Conner Avenue. It's built on a creekbed, what used to be an open creekbed."

So far, four and a half miles of the project have been built since 2006, and Pachota says pedestrian use has increased since the grassroots paths have been installed.

Ultimately, the goal of the Conner Creek Greenway is for a student from a school like Osborn High School to be able to meet his or her friends at the Lipke Recreation Center, stop at the Warren Conner Shopping District and then continue on to a family picnic at the river -- all by greenway. Although, Pachota, recommends, they'd better bring a bike for that trip.

Source: Elizabeth Pachota, Project Manager, DECC
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

In the neighborhood that surrounds Georgia Street, on the East Side near Harper and Gratiot, Mark Covington successfully transformed what is now five empty lots near his grandmother's house into a community garden and meeting space, a place where neighborhood kids come after school to hang out.

"The garden was needed. People were choosing to buy food, or not to buy food, because they had to pay for prescription drugs or utilities," he says.

The garden features 37 different varieties of fruits and vegetables, and even a goat and chickens. It's also become a way for Covington to mentor as many as a dozen kids who live around Georgia Street.

"Hearing their stories, the stuff that they were going through at home and at school, I just wanted to be a mentor and to help any way I could. We started doing movie nights in the garden, backpack giveaways, and other activities. It was just a way to show them that we cared about them," he says.

His next idea? Rehabbing a building purchased through probate into a community center and offices for the Georgia Street Community Collective, which will also house a multi-purpose room, library and computer lab for residents. They're currently raising $4,000 online to buy a new furnace and fix ductwork in the building (click here to donate).

"It went from wanting to do stuff in the garden, to wanting to do it all year round, and getting the building rehabbed, so we can do it year round," Covington says.

Mark's been named a semi-finalist in the national Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame contest. Click here to vote him in.

Source: Mark Covington, founder and president, Georgia Street Community Collective
Writer: Ashley C. Woods

Over the last 20 years, the Greening of Detroit has planted 62,000 trees. This spring, the organization plans to add another 4,000, and needs 7,000 volunteers to make it happen. Two plantings are scheduled for every Saturday from March 26 through June 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with 350 people needed at each site. "We'll have all the tools needed, and the trees placed out -- all we're looking for is the manpower to put them in," says Monica Tabares, Greening's development manager.

The planting locations are confirmed through April as follows:

• March 26: Deacon/Ethel Street
• March 26: 7 Mile
• April 2: Stoepel
• April 2: Stahelin
• April 9: San Juan-Pennington
• April 16: Springwells
• April 16: E. State Fair
• April 30: US-23/Plymouth Rd.
• April 30: I-94/Rawsonville Rd.

Plantings are designed to address storm water run-off, soil contamination, air quality issues and deforestation due to the Emerald Ash Borer. DTE Energy Foundation, the Erb Family Foundation, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the U.S. Forest Service contributed funds to Greening's spring planting season.

To volunteer for any of the plantings, call 313-273-8733 or send an email here.

Source: Monica Tabares, Greening of Detroit
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Construction is wrapping up at St. Aubin Square, an $8.47 million renovation of a vacant housing project that will now be leased to women and families that have been victims of domestic violence and/or previously homeless. The development consists of seven buildings that comprise a total of 28 townhouse units and one that holds 21 apartment units. Work completed includes the replacement of mechanical, electrical, safety and security systems, windows and roofs.

St. Aubin Square is located in Poletown at the southeast corner of St. Aubin and Canfield. Bert Famularo, of developer Shelborne Development, characterizes the area as a "neighborhood in transition." He explains, "Along St. Aubin, there are some blocks (where buildings have been) torn down and cleared and you can find a lot of run down, vacated homes. But we are directly across the street from St. Albertus, which is just gorgeous, and just a couple of blocks away from I-75. This is a real nice starting point for this area to be redeveloped."

St. Aubin Square was funded by Michigan Housing and Development Authority Section 1602 and Detroit HOME funds and brownfield tax credits. The Coalition of Temporary Shelters (COTS) and Detroit Central City will provide on-site services to residents.

Famularo says the community has been welcoming to the development. "We had over 125 (potential tenants) on our application list before we were even done with construction," he says. "It's being very well received in the area."
 
Source: Bart Famularo, Shelborne Development
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

ShoreBank Enterprise Detroit remains busy and productive from its Mack Avenue offices despite the fact that its namesake company in Chicago was shut down by state and federal regulators in August. The biggest change is that the nonprofit development fund is now operating under a new name, Enterprise Detroit. "But our programs, nothing has changed," assures president Ray Waters.

Enterprise Detroit leverages funds raised from foundations to invest in Detroit properties and businesses. Since 2002, $11.8 million has been loaned to 115 Detroit small businesses -- 102 of which have been minority owned. Since 2008, $7 million has been loaned into the market and Waters says there is $13.5 million currently on the books. The small business loans are intended to grow businesses that might not be eligible for traditional bank financing.

One of Enterprise's busiest programs works with rehabbers to focus on repairing vacant homes to livable and energy efficient standards -- ideally, in targeted neighborhoods such as East English Village. In past years, investors would improve homes then flip them to willing homebuyers. Now, the market dictates that homes be rented at affordable rates; Waters estimates most homes that have gone through their rehabbers program are rented for $400 to $800 a month.

Through this rehab fund, Enterprise has gotten behind Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation's effort to rehabilitate vacant homes in the neighborhood. $650,000 has been loaned to the organization for a pilot, and Waters says he can envision 200 homes benefiting over the next three to four years. "This is the kind of project that has legs and wings and really helps a lot of people," he says.

Other programs include lines of credit for contractors, a job training grant fund and a small targeted pot of money for new retail in Midtown and Corktown. "The creative corridor needs some help -- this is high-risk lending, most start-up retail doesn't tend to make it," says Waters. "But it's not big box (that will revitalize Detroit) and we want to try it." Waters says there is a possibility that Enterprise will relocate into this area itself.

Enterprise views other funders, including banks and start-up funds such as the Detroit Micro Enterprise Fund as collaborators rather than competitors. "We do similar things, but are enough different so that everyone's in demand," Waters says. "We just can't do every deal."

Contact Enterprise Detroit at 313-886-2091.

Source: Ray Waters, Enterprise Detroit
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Last week, ground was broken on a new $46.3 million Finney Crockett High School that will be complete in time for the 2012 school year. The building is situated at 17200 Southampton St. on the site of the former Finney High School, which is being demolished. Current sophomores at Crockett Technical and Finney will be the first graduating class of the new facility in 2013.

The new Finney Crockett facility will be 221,000 square feet and will accommodate up to 1,200 students. It will be LEED Gold-certified with four wings anchored by a cafeteria commons, eight science laboratories and a high-tech media center. The performing arts wing will include an 800-seat auditorium, a small black box theater with a scene shop and dressing rooms, a 2,400-square-foot band room, and a 1,900-square-foot choir room. The indoor athletic wing will have a community health center, gymnasium with 1,300 bleacher seats, an eight-lane pool and diving well with balcony seating for 230. Outside facilities include a football and track and field complex with stadium seating for 1,100, four tennis courts, varsity baseball and softball fields and event parking.

Deborah Hurst, current principal of Crockett Technical, is clearly excited about the potential for the coalition of two schools. "We are uniquely positioned to establish a new school community," she says. "Together, we can fashion a school that is greater than the sum of its individual histories and forge a partnership on the Eastside to create a center for excellence."

Tooles-Clark, a 55 percent Detroit-headquartered business, is the prime contractor.

Finney Crockett is one of three new high schools that will be built from the ground up using $550.5 million in bond funds enabled by the passage of Proposal S in November 2009. "We are delivering our promises to taxpayers to offer state-of-the-art leaning facilities that are cost-efficient and delivered in a timely manner," says DPS spokesperson Jennifer Mrozowski. "We are moving quickly, this has all happened before the one-year anniversary of the passage of Proposal S." To comply with federal guidelines, all projects must be completed by September 2012.

Source: Deborah Hurst, Crockett Technical High School and Jennifer Mrozowski, DPS
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Earlier this month, Detroit Community Initiative and The NRP Group celebrated the groundbreaking of Conner Creek Senior Living Phase II. The $8 million, 48-unit facility is located at 4661 East Outer Drive in Detroit's Osborn Community on the campus of St. John Conner Creek Village.

The three-story facility features common areas, laundry rooms on each level, a computer lab and exercise room. Funded by a combination of MSHDA 1602 funds and City of Detroit NSP funds, it will provide housing to seniors 55 and older that qualify based on income. Phase II is located directly across a parking lot from the project's first phase, which is fully occupied.

Bishop Tony Russell, CEO of Detroit Community Initiative, expects the second phase to cater to a similar population as the first. "Generally we have two types of seniors: some very young, you wouldn't even know they are 55, they are working and active. And there are some older seniors, up in years," he says. "Everyone gets around pretty well and people get along pretty well as a community."

One selling point is that restaurants, retail, the Milbank Greenway, banking and religious services are all within walking distance. "We expect the moment we begin to advertise that we are receiving residents that we will start getting applications," says Russell. "We anticipate being full at ribbon cutting."

The development will be completed in approximately nine months.

Source: Bishop Tony Russell, DCI
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Image courtesy of The NRP Group

Clark Preparatory Academy, an elementary school in the Morningside neighborhood on the East Side, received a $100,000 grant that will fund classroom upgrades. The punch list includes new computers and workstations in each of the school's 18 classrooms; stocked in-classroom libraries; and a new home economics learning center complete with a demonstration kitchen stocked with oak cabinetry and stainless steel appliances and a sewing room furnished with seven student stations with sewing machines.

The grant was funded by Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation. The city's Next Detroit Neighborhood Initiative (NDNI) applied for it because Morningside/East English Village is located in one of its targeted Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative (NSI) areas, which also include Brightmoor, Osborn, Seven Mile/Livernois, Northend and Grand River/Greenfield.

The purpose of NSI is to shore up neighborhoods that historically have been very viable, but are experiencing some economic set-backs. The Lowe's grant will be leveraged by NDNI as part of its overall NSI effort, which has also received a grant for $200,000 from the Fannie Mae Office of Community and Charitable Giving.

The renovations are expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Source: James Canning, Canning Communications
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Image courtesy of NDNI

Work continues on 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios new Southwest Detroit home, and they hope to settle into an East Side location as well.

The gallery is temporarily located at 3041 W. Vernor, the former BUOY 3 building, as construction continues on the Third Precinct building two blocks west, which will be the gallery's permanent home. Carl W. Goines, co-founder and executive director of 555, says that asbestos and lead paint are being removed from the old station, and the work should be wrapped up in another month or two, which would then allow for internal renovation work. Southwest Housing Solutions is the developer for the $2 million project, with completion scheduled June 2011.

555 also recently purchased a building on the East Side, a 1913 cigar factory near Chene and Mt. Elliott. Goines expects that both spaces will have studios and galleries, while the Southwest building will be the predominant gallery space.

The new space will be using grant money from the Erb Family Foundation to work with Southwest Solutions and Detroit Farm and Garden to install a green roof on the former garage, as well as a rain garden and cisterns. There will be a sculptural piece that utilizes the green roof but at ground level.

The old police station has been vacant since 2005, when the Detroit Police Department reorganized its precincts. The new creative arts center development will house classrooms, studio and performance spaces, and office and retail space.

Goines says the building also provided the potential for other art organizations that may not have the extra space to get involved in the community of artists there.

"We're definitely very excited about moving forward with it," he says. "We're anxious to see the building finished."

Call 888-495-ARTS.

Source: Carl W. Goines, 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios co-founder and executive director
Writer: Kristin Lukowski

Is there a Detroit block with more food and drink options than Woodward between Larned and Congress? From south to north, there's Motor City Wine, Foran's Deluxe Diner, Grand Trunk Pub, Bangkok Crossing and Vine Wine Bar.

Now, in the First National Building space that briefly was home to Small Plates To Go, Zef's has opened a second location. The restaurant seats about 30 and also offers carry-out. It's open 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 313-962-2077.

The Riverfront Terminus of the Conner Creek Greenway is currently being built. This segment follows Clairpointe from Jefferson south to Maheras Gentry Park and includes bike lanes and landscaping along Clairpointe and a new trail and landscaping on the west side of the park. Construction is slated to be complete by end of October.

This summer, another segment of the greenway, one mile of bike lanes along St. Jean between Jefferson and Mack, was completed. The next stretch will run alongside Mt. Olivet Cemetery on Conner. The entire trail system is slated to be complete in 2013.

More info on the Conner Creek Greenway can be found here.

Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Remember City Limits over at Kercheval and Alter? The East Side pub has been reborn as My Dad's Bar, a cozy, basement-inspired neighborhood joint. Proprietor Ilya Snyder describes the motif as "That 70s Show," with dinette sets and vinyl bar stools. It seats about 40 and he hopes it comes off as "a comfortable place to be."

Snyder opened Karras Bros. Tavern on Jos. Campau back in 2004. He still owns the building, which now houses Miami Nites. He describes himself as a "micro-developer" who is interested in "reviving properties in Detroit."

Currently, Snyder is operating My Dad's under a management agreement while the ownership transfer is being completed. He has plans to install a window in the front of the building to "make it friendlier."

The bat is at 14911 Kercheval, one storefront east of Alter Rd. Call 313-831-DADS (3237). My Dad's is open 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Snyder will begin opening on Sundays when football season begins.

Source: Ilya Snyder, My Father's Bar
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh