Detroit- Against a lush background of dense trees and atop a new outdoor overlook, city officials and a group of happy northwest Detroiters officially opened a new 98-acre nature park Friday.
The new Rogell Park is on the site of the former Rogell Golf Course, which has been closed since 2013. The park at 18600 Berg Road has a .83-mile paved walking/biking path, four overlooks and multiple boardwalks.
The redevelopment project also included environmental remediation to address fertilizers and chemicals used by the former golf course.
For at least six years, residents like Darry Edwards and city officials have been working on a plan and seeking funds to revive the former golf course.
“My, my, my, we have finally arrived,” said Edwards, president of the Greater Sandhill Neighborhood Organization block club.
“This is a great moment. I’ve seen the good and bad here,” Edwards said, who once worked at the former golf course as a teenager with his brother.
The $4 million renovation marks another major upgrade of a Detroit public space made possible by the historic infusion of federal funds the city received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), designed to help cities recover from the pandemic. Detroit received $826.7 million in ARPA funds from President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021.
The city has until Dec. 31 to spend the entirety of the funds. According to the city’s website that tracks ARPA spending, about $38 million of the funds remains to be spent. The city has already committed the funds to various programs. City officials are focused on spending the funds by the end of the year.
The significance of ARPA funds has been “tremendous,” said Detroit City Council President James Tate, whose district includes Rogell Park. “There are some things that you can see, and others that you would not necessarily assume would be ARPA-related,” Tate said, who attended Friday’s opening of Rogell Park.
“We’ve gone through a number of job readiness and skills improvements, park improvements. We’ve also assisted residents with home and home repair,” Tate said. “We’ve touched so many different areas of quality of life for residents in the city.”
City Council and Mayor Mary Sheffield’s administration are now examining the various ARPA-funded programs to see if there is any leftover money that can be applied to other city programs, Tate said.
The city may be able to transfer some funds to some home repair programs, such as “basement backup protection” and roof repair, Tate said.
According to city data, Detroit spent the largest share of its ARPA funding on housing issues, totaling $151.8 million. That includes programs and services aimed at increasing homeownership, making homes safer and more accessible, addressing homelessness, and providing legal support to renters.
The second-largest category was $120.7 million, which went to various job-related programs, including education and training for unemployed and underemployed residents.
The new Rogell Park is among the $107 million the city has used to improve existing parks and to build new spaces, such as the Chandler Park Athletic Fieldhouse, Roosevelt Park, and the Helen Moore Recreation Center. The city used $3.5 million on the Rogell Park project, according to city officials.
laguilar@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit’s new Rogell Park another public space revived by ARPA funds
Reporting by Louis Aguilar, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Louis Aguilar, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
