Springwells Village in Southwest Detroit sees investment in 5 parks

The Springwells Village area of Southwest Detroit is seeing quite a bit of green these days -- in the form of greenspace investment. Neighborhood Centers Inc. has invested into five community parks.

The first park NCI sank its teeth into was All Saints Neighborhood Park, which, in 2005, transformed seven vacant lots with a walking trail, playing field, playscape and gardens.

Next up was Lafayette-NYCRR Playlot, a city-owned park that had lost its luster. With partners that included the Skillman Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, KaBOOM! and Oscar Mayer’s Lunchables Division, the park has been transformed. Final touches are being completed and it will be dedicated on June 21.

NCI now has its sights set on Weiss Park, a park with a prime location near Woodmere Cemetery that has outdated and unsafe equipment. Plans for its transformation have been devised, and fundraising is underway. Weiss will be developed as a play area that is fully inclusive to handicapped children. Dennis Nordmoe, NCI's executive director, hopes to begin construction this fall.

Nordmoe hopes to begin construction this summer on the play area that is adjacent to Phoenix Middle School. In collaboration with Detroit Public Schools, soccer fields, a trail, playscapes and greenery are planned for the park.

Calahan Park is being developed just blocks from ASN Park and will complement it with a playscape for smaller children. Its location is very close to Springwells Townhomes, which Bridging Communities is developing in the area.

"There is the opportunity to regrow the neighborhood, to repopulate the neighborhood around a newly created asset, which this park would be," Nordmoe says. "This helps the process of the positive development of children."

In the long term, Nordmoe hopes that the parents of these children will choose to remain in Springwells Village even if their income level increases, affording them the opportunity to move elsewhere. This progression will help to create a "stable community."

Source: Dennis Nordmoe, NCI
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh