New sports-community complex aims to lift up Detroit neighborhood

A new multi-purpose recreation facility and park being built by a nonprofit in a west-side Detroit neighborhood intends to redefine community space and spread hope.


The Merit Park project broke ground Friday at 10123 Grand River Ave. near I-96 and Livernois. The project is being led by David Merritt, co-founder and board chair of Give Merit, the nonprofit arm of Merit Goodness. Merritt is also a former University of Michigan basketball player from 2006-09. The facility will be home to an NBA regulation basketball court, a turf field with indoor bleacher seating for up to 300 people and a rock climbing wall. Other physical activity features include a slash pad, 31.3-yard dash and outdoor obstacle course.


Opportunities for professional advancement include a podcast room and a training kitchen. Additionally, Merit Park will offer retail space, restaurants and coffee shops.


Construction of the park is estimated to take a year and it is expected to open in summer 2025. Once completed, the 57,500-square-foot facility is planned to be a “holistic life skills and fitness training center” open to the community and focusing on advancing the lives of Detroit youth. Merit Park will include a variety of resources that support health and expand educational opportunities to youth and families in Detroit, Merritt said. The nonprofit will own the park and manage all programming there. Merritt said the $15 million Merit Park project has been more than seven years in the making. More than $10 million for the project has been raised from organizations including the Kresge Foundation, Ally Bank, the Mullick Foundation and the state, according to a news release.


The project fulfills multiple needs for the community, Merritt said, noting the area currently doesn’t have any city or neighborhood parks.


“We have about 7,000 young people under the age of 19 within the 48204 ZIP code without much to do. Very few spaces for young people to safely play, but also just very few places for the community as a whole to come together and to build community to build relationships,” Merritt told Crain’s.
Two dilapidated buildings on the property that sat vacant for about 40 years were demolished for the project. The land, now solely owned by Give Merit, was owned by a variety of private owners. The first piece of the land for the project was donated by Merritt’s parents who started Straight Gate International Church, across from the planned park.


Merritt would not disclose financial details of the land purchases.


“We're hoping to create a model for other Black communities throughout the city and throughout the country. How we can take spaces that are underutilized, dilapidated, and to transform those spaces, again, into beacons of hope for the community,” Merritt said. “Merit Park is another platform that we are creating for young people in the city of Detroit to create their own future.”


However, the Merit Park project is not limited to youth and intends to be a space that cultivates community.


“I’ve lived in this neighborhood since I was a teenager — over 50 years. I was raised here, I raised my daughter here, and now she is raising my grandson here. There is currently absolutely nothing in the neighborhood for any type of activity for people, young or old,” neighborhood resident Vanessa Bennett said in the release.
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