The Detroit Riverwalk is much-loved but non-contiguous. Currently, it stretches for about a mile from Joe Louis Arena to Rivard St. and then picks up again at Joseph Campau for another three-quarters of a mile to Mt. Elliott. Soon, those stretches could be joined with a recent funding announcement from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF).
$34.4 million dollars has been pledged to the Riverwalk for land acquisition that will connect the two segments to each other, expand Milliken State Park and construct a path along the Uniroyal site that currently divides the walkway from the
Detroit Riverfront Conservancy's Gabriel Richard Park at the foot of the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle.
A portion of the money is pegged for
redevelopment of the Globe Building ($9 million) and a 0.7-mile extension of the Dequindre Cut north to Mack Ave. ($375,000 for land acquisition).
The MNRTF Board of Trustees recommended a total of 117 recreation projects and land acquisitions totaling $102,098,400 be funded in 2011, the largest grant award since the fund was created in 1976, and Detroit's riverfront came away with a not-insignificant slice of the pie. "The Riverwalk has enough accomplishments on the ground to show that it is working and that the project is ready to receive the funding," says Nancy Krupiarz of the
Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, an organization that advocates for a statewide system of trails and greenways.
Other Detroit parks saw some love as well: Balduck on the east side and Southwest's Patton each garnered $500,000 towards improvements.
The Trust Fund recommendations require the approval of the state legislature for the funds to be disbursed; that could happen as early as spring 2011, says Krupiarz.
Source: Nancy Krupiarz, MTGA
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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