  Ramcharger Member Username: Ramcharger Post Number: 75 Registered: 05-2006 |
A Save Rouge Park Rally will be held on Oct. 7 at Joy & Spinoza at Noon. The Friends of Rouge Park are hoping for a large turn out. I urge anyone who believes, as I do, that the mayor's proposed sale of 115 acres of Rouge Park is ill conceived and short sighted to please join me and other friends of the park as we attempt to send a message to our city leaders. "SAVE ROUGE PARK!" | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 2019 Registered: 12-2004 |
I'll see everyone there. http://warrendale.blogspot.com /2006/10/fight-to-save-rouge-p ark.html | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 837 Registered: 01-2005 |
Sell that wasteland!!! | ||
Ramcharger Member Username: Ramcharger Post Number: 76 Registered: 05-2006 |
Sure, sell it and use the money to fix Kwame’s pool. Detroiters don’t need parks anyway; we can picnic in the hundreds of vacant lots all over town. | ||
Ramcharger Member Username: Ramcharger Post Number: 78 Registered: 05-2006 |
This is a more accurate map of the parcels proposed for sale. They constitute almost all of the useable land south of Joy Rd. All that will be left are the heavily wooded areas adjacent to the Rouge River and a small area west of Outer Drive which, I’m sure, is on the mayor’s to do list.  (Message edited by Ramcharger on October 06, 2006) | ||
Wilus1mj Member Username: Wilus1mj Post Number: 124 Registered: 05-2005 |
Have a rich private doner buy the land from Detrot and keep it as a park!! | ||
Ramcharger Member Username: Ramcharger Post Number: 80 Registered: 05-2006 |
Bump | ||
Ramcharger Member Username: Ramcharger Post Number: 81 Registered: 05-2006 |
I loved this sign.  Here's the text of a flyer I picked up at today's rally. They make a lot of very important points. Rouge Park is Detroit’s largest park, larger than Belle Isle, and much more accessible to its surrounding neighborhoods. It has the potential to be Detroit’s “Central Park” and attract new residents to the city if it was wisely developed and properly maintained and patrolled. Parks attract residents and increase property values. Other cities understand this and are attracting new residents and increasing their tax base by seeking out new land to develop as parks and green space and developing preservation plans for existing parks. Would New York even consider selling Central Park? Would Chicago sell its Lincoln Park? Of course not! World class cities don’t sell their grand parks, they develop them as major assets that attract residents and increase their tax base. There are currently over 800 homes for sale within a mile of Rouge Park. In the current depressed housing market there is no demand for new housing. New condominiums completed in the spring of 2006 facing Rouge Park on Warren Ave. in Dearborn Heights have sat mostly vacant for months even as the prices have dropped as low as $69,000. Why would condominiums built in Rouge Park (not facing any parkland) sell any better? The city would be wiser to improve and promote Rouge Park to help stabilize the area and attract new residents to existing homes near the park, rather than selling off such a valuable asset. The City needs to focus on giving people good reasons to move to, and remain in, Detroit. Instead, they are driving residents out by selling the one thing of great value that helps maintain the quality of life in our neighborhoods. Detroit already has less parkland than other major U.S. cities (only 6 acres per 1000 residents vs. 7-10 acres in others). Detroit needs more, not less parkland to improve the quality of life and attract new residents to our city. According to research conducted by American Lives, Inc. for the real estate industry, 77.7% of all home buyers and shoppers in the study rated natural open space as either “essential” or “very important” in communities. Walking and bicycling paths ranked third. A loss of parkland will decrease the viability of our neighborhoods not attract new residents. If these five parcels are developed, the new homes and condominiums would not be park front homes because the park would be gone! The Five Parcels that would be Lost Parcel 1 includes a native prairie restoration project planted with a $50,000 EPA grant in 1999; this beautiful 15 acre prairie is finally becoming well-established and is one of the largest examples of this type of habitat that once covered large areas of Wayne County. Grassland birds have grown very rare throughout the county and there is some evidence they are coming back to Rouge Park. Prairie plants, with their deep root systems absorb large amounts of storm water and this parcel is at the top of a drainage area. Replacing the prairie with pavement could increase the risk of flooding. Parcel 2 includes the Detroit Aero Modelers (DAM) model airplane flying field, one of the finest urban model airfields in the mid-west. Since 1974, DAM has completely maintained the field, saving the city this maintenance cost and spending $4,000 of their own money every year. They cut the grass, conduct cleanups, even hang potted flowers, and are always happy to talk with visitors and demonstrate their planes. DAM offers fun flies and programs for kids and volunteers to cook lunch for hundreds during the annual Rouge Park Appreciation Day as well as offering a very entertaining fun fly and crafts for kids. DAM was not even told by the City that their field is up for sale. Parcel 3 is centrally located in the park, accessible and directly across from new play equipment just installed by Wayne County. It is an ideal open site for large events and has been the site of the Annual Rouge Park Appreciation Day/Rouge Rescue since 2001. It would be a perfect location for a much needed Recreation Center and large picnic shelters for family reunions and community events. Parcel 4 includes the Aurelio Rodriguez ball fields, named after the famous Tigers player and regularly used by little league teams for over 40 years. They are the only currently maintained ball fields in all of Rouge Park. Adjacent to the parcel, Friends of the Rouge recently removed 6 cars with the assistance of Aristeo Construction Company who provided heavy equipment and pulled them out at a donated cost of $5,000. The church that signs up with the City every year to use the ball fields was never notified of the sale. Parcel 5 contains fitness station that would be well-used if maintained and connected by a trail. Given the current national obesity epidemic, and Kilpatrick’s focus on the importance of fitness, this area has great public use potential if maintained and promoted. This area also contains the drainage for a small creek that, once developed, could increase flooding. The park loop trail for walkers, runners, bikers, roller bladders, etc. would be broken since Spinoza between Tireman and Joy Road, would become a completely residential street. Environmental Concerns Rouge Park encompasses more than 2 miles of the Rouge River. The forested area along the river helps to protect water quality and provides some of the few remaining areas for wildlife. The open land helps absorb pollutants from the neighborhoods, especially the restored prairie with deep rooted native plants. Replacing open land with impervious surface (roads, roofs, etc.) decreases the land’s ability to absorb rainwater, creating more polluted runoff that increases the chance of flooding and leads to a decline in water quality. Rouge Park is part of a large Greenway system that includes Hines Park to the south and Eliza Howell Park to the north. Do we want to chop this up? Our leaders had the vision to create Rouge Park in the 1920’s and younger communities that did not have this vision look at this Greenway with envy. Between 1991 and 2002, Wayne County lost 33% of its remaining open space, more than any other county in SE Michigan. Can we really afford to lose it ALL!? The park is one of the few remaining large natural areas that wildlife can use. Wildlife seen in the park include fox, coyote, deer, mink, weasel, great blue herons, great horned owls, Eastern meadowlarks, woodcocks, common mergansers, American toads, salamanders and green frogs. Several rare plants are found in the park. Where else can city kids (and adults) see these things within the City limits? Loss of future possibilities Wouldn’t we love to see a Recreation Center at Joy and Spinoza? How about a Nature Center? Or Picnic Shelters to rent out for family reunions and company or community picnics? How about a large gazebo or an amphitheater for activities for seniors and community groups? Where else can large events be held, like the annual Rouge Park Appreciation Day that draws over 500 people every year for picnic, wildlife shows, horseback rides, and other activities? Rouge Park used to have ball fields from Warren up to I-96 and now only has one. There is intense competition for these fields and they could be a revenue source, as could soccer fields, as well. By selling this parkland, we lose not only the current uses, but all future possibilities for our park. Our children deserve better than this short-sighted selling off of this essential city resource. | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 2024 Registered: 12-2004 |
Coverage of rally, and a lot more photos, at the Warrendale Blog. http://warrendale.blogspot.com /2006/10/100s-rally-for-rouge- park.html |
