DETROIT (WWJ) -- A special attraction for sports-lovers is coming to the Detroit Riverfront.
The William Davidson Foundation and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy announced on Monday that a new Sport House will be part of the future 22-acre Centennial Park on Detroit’s West Riverfront.
Dubbed the William Davidson Sport House after the Detroit businessman and former pro sports team owner, William “Bill” Davidson, the center will feature a raised canopy and skylight that provides two public open-air basketball courts.
The courts will also serve as a flexible space that can host a range of programs and events for a variety of visitors.
With this project, the William Davidson Foundation has now granted more than $11 million to the Conservancy’s ongoing efforts to transform Detroit’s international riverfront.
Designed by award-winning Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye, who also designed the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the William Davidson Sport House is slated for completion in 2023.
"We are honored that the William Davidson Foundation chose the Detroit Riverfront to be the recipient of its generosity, which will create a living memorial in honor of Bill Davidson and all that he made possible for youth and sports,” said Matthew Cullen, chairman of the board for the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. “Their investment in the Sport House adds yet another chapter in the nearly 20 year transformational story of the riverfront, which is a community-wide story of partnerships."
“No project truly connects the region and plays a more central role in Detroit’s resurgence than the revitalization of more than five miles of the Detroit Riverfront from the Ambassador Bridge to Belle Isle,” said Darin McKeever, president and CEO of the William Davidson Foundation.
William “Bill” Davidson, who died in 2009, once owned the Detroit Pistons, Detroit Shock and Tampa Bay Lightning pro sports franchises.
The naming of the Sport House will be celebrated this weekend, at the Conservancy’s “Shimmer on the River” fundraising event on Friday night and the West Riverfront Block Party on Saturday.
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