Community Engagement kicks off at Free Fishing Day in Lakewood-East Park
On Saturday, June 11, 2016, the Upper Detroit Riverfront Habitat and Parks Restoration Project was introduced to a new audience at a public event during Free Fishing Day held at Lakewood-East Park in the Jefferson-Chalmers Neighborhood of Detroit.
Lakewood-East is one of three parks that share just under a mile of shoreline on the Detroit Riverfront, and are managed by the City of Detroit Parks and Recreation Department. Lakewood-East lies between A.B. Ford and Mariner Park, and all three parks are part of a city-led initiative to fund and perform much needed facility and amenity improvements in the next few years.
Free Fishing Day is held annually at several locations throughout Michigan as part of the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Free Fishing Weekend, and events are coordinated locally by community groups and neighborhood organizations.
Sanaa Green, a member of the Creekside Community Development Corporation organized the youth event along with Jefferson-East Inc., a local development organization; and Southeast Waterfront Neighborhood Association. Kids of all ages were invited with their families to try their hand at fishing with poles that were provided by a grant, and enjoy a barbecue in the afternoon under one of the pavilions at Lakewood-East.
This was the first of several local events that members of the Project Team plan to attend in an effort to meet community members and local leaders, inform families about the Upper Detroit Riverfront Habitat and Parks Restoration Plan, and receive feedback from residents who live in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood who are stakeholders in the community, and possible future stewards of the improved habitat and park areas.
Kendall Gilbert, a Project Team member who is a Conservation Legacy Fellow working with the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program of the National Park Service attended the community engagement event and staffed an informational table at the picnic pavilion. This type of community engagement featured informational posters about the project, and offered an opportunity for attendees to view suggested and proposed improvements to the park project areas, while sharing their feedback on the map that was provided.
While the turnout of roughly 25 adults and children was less than in previous years, organizer Sanaa Green still emphasized the importance of getting people out to enjoy their community parks and the Detroit River.
During a brief presentation following the picnic, we were able to facilitate a question and answer session about the project, and inform attendees of ways that they could stay connected to the project throughout the summer via the project website and at community events throughout the summer. A community input survey was developed for the Upper Detroit Riverfront Habitat and Parks Improvement Project, and the importance of participation in either the online or printed form survey was shared at this time.
Several attendees were interested in sharing their insights and ideas for the park, and a dominant conversation centered around the safety of the railing at Lakewood-East Park, which parents in attendance noted did not provide enough a barrier for small children under 2 feet tall. Other concerns noted were a lack of parking near the waterfront, as the current parking lot is over 200 yards (600 feet) from the riverfront without flat, paved, or handicap accessible walking paths to the river. Some expressed an interest in having seating areas and park benches near the river so they wouldn’t have to bring their own, which is also difficult due to the distance of the parking lot.
While members of the community expressed interest and excitement about possible habitat improvements- such as removing the seawall to create a naturalized shoreline that would increase fish spawning habitat- and better access to the river for fishing and boating, they also shared their reservations about the process and noted that riverfront improvements had been discussed for years regarding their favorite community parks, and were long overdue.
Following the event, several community members took informational flyers and hoped to distribute them at their block club and community group meetings.
If you have any questions about this engagement event, please contact Kendall Gilbert at kendall.c.gilbert@gmail.com.
