Detroit breaks ground on $6 million redesign of Roosevelt Park

Detroit — Mayor Mike Duggan and city officials broke ground Tuesday on a $6 million transformation of Roosevelt Park in front of the Michigan Central redevelopment.

The underutilized park will no longer be bisected by vehicle traffic as drivers travel from Corktown to Mexicantown. The renovation includes new walkways, landscaping, an event space, seating areas and a pedestrian gateway entrance, officials said.

When completed in spring 2023, the 9.5-acre park will expand to 13 acres. It will remove the existing roadway that has split the park in half and include a section connecting Michigan Avenue to The Station with a pedestrian gateway entrance at Michigan Avenue.

"There was something inherently beautiful about this place. Can you imagine what this is going to be like as the train station gets redone and the park is rebuilt?" Duggan said, adding it will transform the neighborhood. 

"This is going to be the image of the city and it's the image our city deserves," he said.

Ray Lozano, executive director of the Mexicantown Community Development Corp., said that in 2007, four blocks west of the park, the city partnered with the MCDC to invest $17.5 million in the cultural destination.

"Roosevelt Park has been a beautiful shared resource for Corktown and Mexicantown neighbohoods throughout the decades.... We're thankful to see the very next phase of beautification where the work has began to make this park a natural beauty," he said.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_