The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy broke ground Wednesday morning on the last remaining piece of the east riverwalk.
The city of Detroit, Michigan Department of Transportation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are collaborating on the project.
When complete, the extension along the former Uniroyal Tire Co. site, just west of the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle, will complete the 3.5-mile east riverfront span of riverwalk, while connecting the nearby Mt. Elliott Park and Gabriel Richard Park to Belle Isle.
The conservancy plans to invest $11 million in the project, which is set to be completed by a year from this fall, 20 years after the conservancy's work on the riverwalk began.
General Motors Co. announced a new $2.5 million donation in support of the project, bringing its total contribution to the Detroit Riverwalk to $35 million.
The groundbreaking follows a $2.9 million public-private cleanup of the site launched in April 2020.
"When we started transforming the riverfront 20 years ago, we had an ambitious vision and our promise was to connect the entire East Riverfront," said Matt Cullen, chairman of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, chairman of Jack Entertainment and CEO of M-1 Rail, in a news release.
"Today, we are proud to break ground and deliver on that promise."
The founding partners on the project, including the city, Kresge Foundation (which committed $50 million) and GM, are still supporting the project today, Cullen said.
"This final piece along the East Riverfront is a lasting gift to the generations who live, work and visit Detroit and critical to our long-term vision of revitalization from bridge to bridge."
The Uniroyal site has been synonymous with industrial contamination and inaccessibility to the Detroit's waterfront for decades, said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in the release.
"Thanks to the cleanup efforts that have taken place and the great work of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, future generations will know this stretch as one of the most beautiful sections of Detroit's international waterfront, which continues to be cited as one of the best in the world."
In 2003, General Motors built the first section of the Detroit Riverwalk during the renovation of the company's headquarters, the Renaissance Center. It donated the first half-mile of the riverwalk to the conservancy, ensuring it would remain dedicated to public use.
The riverwalk is a "once-in-a-lifetime project," Terry Rhadigan, executive director, communications and citizenship at GM, said in the release.
"General Motors is proud to have played a prominent role in this revitalization effort, and we will continue to be a strategic partner to help sustain the great work that the conservancy does for our community."
The conservancy said it has invested more than $200 million in revitalization of Detroit Riverfront, which has generated $2 billion in public and private investment.
About $180 million of riverwalk investment is tied to the eastern leg, including the last span now under construction.
Work on the last piece of the east riverwalk and up through completion of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park on the west riverfront are expected to bring total costs into the neighborhood of $325 million-$375 million, the conservancy's president and CEO Mark Wallace said in October.
Last summer, the conservancy completed completed the first two pieces of the two-mile west riverwalk, projects leading up to development of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park (formerly known as West Riverfront Park.)
Funded as part of a $100 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation in 2018, the park is expected to wrap up in 2023
"The Detroit Riverfront has changed the way that we come together as a city. Detroiters have fallen in love with the Riverwalk," said Mark Wallace, president and CEO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, in the release.
"Once this final piece of the East Riverfront is completed, it will bring even more Detroiters together."
The Detroit Riverfront attracts 3.5 million visitors annually and has remained open every day during the coronavirus pandemic. Since March 2020, use of the Detroit Riverwalk has increased 20 percent and Dequindre Cut use has increased by 40 percent, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy said.
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Detroit Riverfront Conservancy breaks ground on last piece of east riverwalk - Crain's Detroit Business
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