DETROIT (WWJ) -- A neighborhood park on Detroit’s west side that was once overgrown and neglected is now reopened after an $850,000 upgrade, thanks to the city’s Neighborhood Strategic Fund.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was on-hand Wednesday in the Russell Woods neighborhood as he and other city officials cut the ribbon on the newly renovated Zussman Park, located at the corner of Davison and Dexter, just east of Livernois Avenue.
The project’s completion marks another milestone for the city’s Neighborhood Strategic Fund, which focuses on “improving the quality of life for residents” through better parks, commercial corridors and neighborhood stabilization.
Upgrades to the park include plenty of open space to encourage active play, a walking loop, a new playground, a state-of-the-art fitness zone, a basketball court with six hoops, a picnic area with shelters and outdoor grills and newly planted trees.
Rayshaun Landrum, who worked as a landscape designer on the park, says it will be a place for the neighborhood to come together and interact.
“It’s bringing, moreso, people out to kind of interact with each other and meet new people, and come out here just to jog, bring their dog, or have a picnic,” Landrum told WWJ’s Jon Hewett.
To put the finishing touches on the spruced up park, there’s a mural featuring some the historic neighborhood’s most famous past residents -- poet Dudley Randall, jazz artist Dinah Washington, and of course, Diana Ross of The Supremes. The mural was created by renowned artist Mario Moore, whose family still lives in the neighborhood.
“It was really important for me as an artist from Detroit to listen to the community about what they wanted for the mural in their neighborhood,” Moore said. “I took that information and shaped it into a composition that focused on the past, which featured famous residents who lived in the area, like singers Diana Ross and Dinah Washington and important figures in the community like poet Dudley Randall. The interior window represents the future of the neighborhood with connections to the past. I hope that this mural will be cherished by the community and Detroit as a whole.”
Funding for the renovation of Zussman Park was supported in part by $600,000 from the SNF and $250,000 from city bond funds.
Duggan called the park’s transformation “incredible,” making it once again a “place of pride” for the neighborhood.
“Zussman Park was nothing but an overgrown patch of grass eight years ago,” Duggan said. “Today, it’s one of the most beautiful parks in the city, and that’s what this neighborhood deserves. The Russell Woods neighborhood has great history in the city of Detroit, and now they’ve got a park to match it.”
The redevelopment of the park is part of a larger vision for Russell Woods and the nearby neighborhood of Nardin Park through the Strategic Neighborhood Fund. The park is only part of the SNF plan for the two neighborhoods, as the Russell Woods-Nardin Park plan was introduced in 2018 with a whole new vision focused on bringing economic opportunity and beauty back to the area.
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Future plans include a streetscape overhaul along Dexter between Fullerton and Davison, slated to begin next spring, that will reduce the number of traffic lanes, add protected bike lanes and improve bus shelters in hopes of spurring economic development along Dexter, according to the city.
Another focal point of the plan includes transforming a vacant plot of land at the corner of Dexter and Tyler into a spot for a retail pop-up center constructed from shipping containers. Officials say small businesses will be able to set up shop on the corner, in an effort to promote neighborhood entrepreneurs. Construction is expected to begin in September.
More information on the Russell Woods-Nardin Park plan, as well as other Strategic Neighborhood Fund plans can be found on the city’s website.