Eliza Howell Park North Closed

[royce]

The entrance off of Fenkell to Eliza Howell Park has barracades, preventing car traffic from entering. Don't know if pedestrians can go in there. Personally, I've always felt that this park is an unsafe park because there's only one entrance in and out and the park is surrounded by trees on three sides [[the fourth side is fenced off but faces the back of the businesses on the eastside of Telegraph). If something was to happen to you, very few, if any, people would be around to help you or see what's going on to call for help. Also, I've heard that prostitutes along Fenkell take their Johns there to do business. Not unsafe, but not something I would want my loved ones to see.

A few years back the city was trying to sell park land to developers, especially parcels in Rouge Park. The residents near these parks opposed this action, especially residents near Rouge Park. However, regarding Eliza Howell Park, this might be the right park to sell to a developer at the right time, given the budget deficit here in Detroit. This park would be ideal for some new houses, while maintaining some of the park area, particularly some of the baseball fields and tennis courts. A gated community might attract more folks to the development, especially given the concerns related to the Brightmoor area, which this park is in. It's an idea whose time might just be right for this moment in Detroit's history.

BTW, if anybody knows the specific reason as to why this park closed, I would appreciated it.

[Coffyhouse]

Nature Trail Coming?

[BVos]

Geez, god forbid a park have lots of trees and limited auto access. Thank would almost be like a... PARK!

That said, the park is not a very family friendly place. But that has more to do with a lack of maintenance and security/police presence than the place being like a real park. Paid and unpaid rendezvous happen there all times of the day, although since the cops and neighborhood groups pushed the hookers off Fenkell things seem to have gotten a little better.

Good luck building houses around that park. No developer in their right mind would do that with all the vacant and grossly vacant homes, apartment buildings, commercial buildings, etc. around there. Ad the current economy to the mix and no way will that happen.

[BowlDetroit]

I went to Murphy Jr. High right next store from 1969 to 1971 and it wasn't bad then...although their was drug traffic.

[Detroitej72]

I recall reading a few years back that this area is a flood plain and homes couldn't be built there because of it. I'm pretty sure that is the reason why it was made into a park in the first place.

[EastsideAl]

Howell Park was party central back around '77-'78. I would hang out there with my westside friends. That parking lot would be full every warm evening, and, yes, there was plenty of illicit teenage activity there back then, but not of the prostitution variety.

[royce]

Bvos, I'm only suggesting how to make improvements to the park. For the rest of you unfamiliar with this park, you need to see this park for yourselves before dismissing my criticisms and suggestions for improvements. The fact remains that this park is not being utilized. The question is, "Why?" Well for one thing, driving around the one-way circular drive through the park in the middle of the day can be scary - very few people. Connecting the south side of this park [[ the Schoolcraft/Jeffries freeway side) to the north side with a road that meets up with the circular one-way drive might increase pedetrian and vehicle traffic.

Also, buiding homes along the westside of the park [[the part that the back of the businesses on Telegraph face) would improve traffic flow and safety. This part shouldn't be in a flood plain, given the fact that the homes would be on the same plain as the businesses along Telegraph. In addition, given the fact that there is a school near by, might be an incentive to build these homes for young families. Access to the rest of the park would be ideal for young families too. Access to Telegraph would be a winner as well.

[Meddle]

I seem to remember this park barricaded in the late 80's. Apparently they reopened it at some point.

[gnome]

http://map1.msc.fema.gov/idms/IntraV...R.y=336&R1=VIN

here is the fema flood map... you might want to revise your plan

[crawford]

Maybe it's little-used because the surrounding neighborhood is bombed-out?

If the population is down like 60%, it stands to reason that the park will not be heavily utilized relative to past years.

It's also an open question whether these parks are even needed nowadays. Almost everyone in Detroit has a yard of their own. This stands in stark contrast to many other big cities. The purpose of such parks then shifts to sports/fitness, picnicking/bbqs and the like, and I don't know if this park has such amenities.

And, of course, there could be safety issues, or at least perceptions of safety issues.

[detroitbred]

I grew up in that area, up the hill behind the monastery in the 60's...Eliza Howell was a place that my freinds and I never went. It had then, and still seems to have a bad reputation, for drug dealings, etc. I don't ever recall seeing any families/children spending time there as you would expect to see in a park. I had friends that lived in those apartments directly to the west, off the service drive...they didn't go there either. It would be nice to see it turned into a place where one could spend the afternoon with their kids, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen.

[Bearinabox]

It's also an open question whether these parks are even needed nowadays. Almost everyone in Detroit has a yard of their own.

Eliza Howell is huge. It isn't at all comparable to someone's backyard. Besides, if you decide it isn't "needed" anymore, what does that mean? What do you do with it? At a time when people keep talking about letting parts of the city revert to nature, Eliza Howell would seem to be ahead of the curve.

[jefferson78]

I used to hang out in that park after I graduated from high school in 78.
It was a known party spot and was heavily used. There was always a steady stream of cars riding through with stereos blaring, partiers etc.
I remember the cops would ride through around 9 or 10 PM and announce that
all would have to leave and if you were still there when they came back around you would be arrested.
I do remember the baseball diamonds being used by some of the high school teams since they were not in too bad shape.
Because of it's proximity to the Rouge river and being in a flood plain I don't think building anything there would be such a great idea..
I would love to see it returned to nature but Detroit does not have the kind of cash it would take to renovate it in that manner.
It's closeness to the Brightmoor district is scary to say the least.
Rouge park and Hines drive are other examples of flood plains used as parks but they will never be anything more than they already are. It's sad but what are you gonna do?

[royce]

I saw today that the south entrance to the park is also closed.