DETROIT (WWJ) - A new park set to transform Detroit's riverfront is getting a major boost.
Delta Dental announced Wednesday from the Mackinac Policy Conference that it is investing $5 million to build a five-acre playground on the West Riverfront in what will be the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park. This is the largest investment in the company's 62-year history.
Designers met with elementary school students from Detroit in workshops to imagine animals they would like to see as play equipment in the Play Garden. The playground will feature a large 20-foot bear structure that children can climb up and slide down as well as otters, beavers and even a dragon dreamed up by one of the children.
"It's a really cool space. There's different spots in the play garden for kids of all ages. There will be big, giant 20-foot bears that they'll be able to climb up through and go down slides, there will be water areas and there will be places to provide some activation as far as programs," said Delta Dental CEO Goran Jurkovic.
Delta Dental’s $5 million investment marks a significant contribution to the overall project, which is estimated to cost $60 million. Construction on the park begins in 2020, with the grand opening in 2022.
"I think it's going to be one of the cool spots in the country. You see these types of areas in other locations and I think Detroit's is going to be one of the best," said Jurkovic.
The park is a 22-acre site location along the Detroit Riverfront that sits at the intersection of Detroit’s Mexicantown, Corktown and Southwest Detroit neighborhoods. For nearly 100 years, the site was privately owned and closed to the public until the Conservancy opened the park in 2014.
Completion of this park will contribute toward the Conservancy’s ultimate vision to develop 5.5 miles of riverfront from the Ambassador Bridge on the west to Gabriel Richard Park, which is just east of the MacArthur (Belle Isle) Bridge. More than 85 percent of the 3.5-mile East Riverfront is complete, with Atwater Beach opening this summer and construction starting on the Uniroyal parcel this fall.
