Efforts To Revitalize Detroit Neighborhood Get $4M Boost
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Detroit's efforts to revitalize the Fitzgerald neighborhood in northwest Detroit are getting a multi-million dollar boost.
The city says it's getting at least $4 million in "Reimagining the Civic Commons" funding that's being announced Thursday. Detroit says it's raised an equal amount in local matching funds, meaning there's at least $8 million on hand to invest in the area.
"Reimagining the Civic Commons" is a national initiative that seeks to counter trends of economic and social fragmentation and disinvestment in cities.
"Our libraries, parks, community centers, and schoolyards once served rich and poor alike as neutral ground where common purpose among people was nurtured," Rip Rapson, president and CEO of The Kresge Foundation, said in a statement. "By creating more places where people share experiences with people who are different from themselves, we can begin to bridge longstanding economic divisions and create new opportunities."
The money will be used to help support neighborhood revitalization around and between the Marygrove College and University of Detroit Mercy campuses. Plans for the area include rehabbing 100 vacant homes and turning vacant lots into parks.
Detroit says the $4 million grant will contribute to the creation of a $30 million "Strategic Neighborhood Fund" to do work in three neighborhoods.
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