Globe Trading renovation/Milliken playland?!

[Rocko]

An epitome of vagueness article from the Detroit News. Am I reading this right? Are they really going to put a play land inside the old Globe Trading Co. building along Atwater across from Milliken Marina?



August 25. 2010 1:52PM
Milliken State Park gets $25K for planned playground

Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News

Detroit -- The state's first urban state park has received a $25,000 grant to build an adventure play area.

Mayor Dave Bing being accepted the grant this morning for the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor from Coca-Cola, the American Parks Foundation and the National Park Foundation as a part of the "America is Your Park" campaign. The Detroit Pistons were also represented at the event.

The plan includes redeveloping the Globe Building, a former automotive manufacturing facility across the street from the park, to construct 17,000-square-foot play area. It will include a rock climbing wall, playscape, obstacle course and a state-of-the-art archery range.

"One of the most important pieces of real estate we have in Detroit is our waterfront," Bing said. "This riverfront is going to be a great attraction for a long time, not only for those who visit us, but for those of us who live in the city and around the city to come downtown. I feel real good about where we're going downtown, but our communities are just as important."

Cecilia Sheppard, 16, said she's excited.

"This is a wonderful park because there is so much to see and do. The adventure play area will only add to that," she said. "Kids need more places to play and enjoy outdoors. Milliken park gives us that opportunity."

dnichols@detnews.com [[313) 222-2359

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz0xgIr94TA

[Gsgeorge]

Wow, AWESOME. Sounds very cool if I read that correctly. A lot of cities have done remarkable things with the 'shells' of their vacant industrial buildings. This could be a great addition to the riverfront, and it sounds to me like a good use for the building, as the market definitely does NOT support its redevelopment into condos/lofts.

[royce]

This would be fine if it was outside on the Milliken Park site. Actually, why not put this on the site of the park just west of that big old hill just south of the Globe Building? That area doesn't appear to have any usefulness at this point. Inside the Globe just seems like a waste of space and a waste of money. How many kids want to play in an inside playscape? I assume it will have to be air conditioned? And truly, $25,000 is not enough to remodel the building. Between this idea and the sewage retention basin on three blocks of prime riverfront property, the City of Detroit is doing a fantastic job of rejuvenating the east riverfront. Keep up the good work.

[DetroitPlanner]

"This is a wonderful park because there is so much to see and do. The adventure play area will only add to that," she said. "Kids need more places to play and enjoy outdoors. Milliken park gives us that opportunity."

How can kids enjoy the outdoors if they build this inside the building? $25k won't get them very far. The building needs substantial work to get a COO.

[ExcuseMySarcasm]

I caught something about this on NPR this morning.

[Goose]

$25,000 won't even buy the engineering/architechtural plans needed to restore that building......

[wolverine]

But architecture and engineering plans don't always cost money. Firms donate work. Happens all the time.

[DetroitPlanner]

But architecture and engineering plans don't always cost money. Firms donate work. Happens all the time.

Can you give an actual example? I am curious. I have never heard of this before and have worked in developing public infrastructure for 20 years. The best I've seen is renderings in hope of getting a contract.

[Todd_Scott]

More information on this Milliken State Park project, including a couple conceptual drawings.

[Gsgeorge]

That's awesome! I am hyped for this if it happens...

[Magnatomicflux]

Cool! I agree 25K isn't going very far towards the Globe building BUT at least something is happening with it that doesn't involve building eaters.

I suppose this would also confirm that the retention pond project won't be bringing that beauty to the ground!

[DetroitDad]

AWESOME!

Although several office and apparent buildings have their own play areas and playgrounds, this is something that Downtown has been lacking.

An adventure park is great, but some small pocket playgrounds would be nice. This goes double in areas of Corktown, in Brush Park/Midtown, Rivertown, and the Central Business District. Any playgrounds that do exist need much TLC.

Midtown could use more public parks similar to Harmonie Park and Campus Martius Park as well. There are a lot of employees, residents, and students in Midtown, giving them an incentive to be out and about would change the face of Midtown. I think the demand is proven in how many people are willing to walk and spend time outside despite the lack rewarding public places [[walking in front of parking garages, and sitting eating lunch on the curbs outside of the VA Hospital), as well as the amount of people who congregate at Starbucks, McDonalds, and Biggby Coffee.

I do some work in the DMC area, and right now I'm taking "home" work to Campus Martius instead of a place near the DMC. My teams are meeting in windowless office buildings across Midtown and Downtown. My business meetings and lunches are often out in the suburbs, because there are not enough tables and chairs at our Midtown and Downtown coffee shops [[if there are "dead" places, it's because they are not making enough of us aware of their existence).

Unfortunately, I used to not have the money to spend in all the places I would find in the city. Now that I have a little more money, or am in a better position to decide where money is spent, I do not have the time to find all those little unknown places that don't market themselves, and aren't along any of my daily routes.

This is all very frustrating!

[Rocko]

From Model D today:

$25,000 grant will seed redevelopment of E. Riverfront's Globe Building

By now, you've probably heard that Coca-Cola donated $25,000 to America's State Parks Foundation to build an adventure play facility at William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor. The indoor/outdoor park would be housed in the historic Globe Trading Building, and might include a rock climbing wall, zip line or a white water rafting experience.

The $25,000 will serve as a seed fund, says Maia Stephens, recreation programmer for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The project team is working to get the "redevelopment and programming vision firmly established" while "best representing Michigan's natural assets," she says.

DNRE will hold community forums to discuss the overall use of the Globe Building. "This is not an overnight plan," says Stephens, noting brownfield remediation that would need to be a part of any use of the structure.

The most recent development plan touted for the Globe, mixed use residential and commercial, was presumably halted by a soft housing market and tightened lending criteria. Stephens says that the DNRE's plans would only need a small portion of the building, so other uses can still be part of the overall development strategy.

Source: Maia Stephens, Michigan DNRE
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

[Todd_Scott]

I've just posted more information on Detroit RiverWalk improvements including some possible expansions for Milliken State Park. I'll try getting more information on the Chene Park reference this morning.

[LodgeDodger]

The park originally in that area, wasn't there some significance to the designer of that park?

[DetroitPlanner]

The park originally in that area, wasn't there some significance to the designer of that park?

St. Aubin and Chene Parks were both designed by SVM, an architectural firm that was located in Woodbridge. If I am not mistaken, SVM stood for Shervish, Vogel, and Mertz. If I am not mistaken the firm no longer exists as it used to, but the architects are still in the area.

[Blarf]

They better be including an adult playland, otherwise this is a dumb idea.

[Todd_Scott]

The Chene Park reference in the minutes is misleading. The DNRE was interested in the undeveloped land *around* Chene Park.

[Todd_Scott]

I've just posted additional information on the DNRE's current Trust Fund grants for expanding Milliken State Park and developing a portion of the Globe Building. Trust Fund board members also pushed the HCMA to be more invested in the city of Detroit.

[Trumpeteer]

"This is a wonderful park because there is so much to see and do. The adventure play area will only add to that," she said. "Kids need more places to play and enjoy outdoors. Milliken park gives us that opportunity."

How can kids enjoy the outdoors if they build this inside the building? $25k won't get them very far. The building needs substantial work to get a COO.

Hell kids don't play ANYWHERE which is why they're all so fat! You should be hopeful that this will get some of the kids from in front of their freakin gameboys and actually do something physical.

[Genesyxx]

I've just posted additional information on the DNRE's current Trust Fund grants for expanding Milliken State Park and developing a portion of the Globe Building. Trust Fund board members also pushed the HCMA to be more invested in the city of Detroit.

Great read and thanks for the info. Kinda sad to see the city holding onto land that probably won't get sold for many years.

[Todd_Scott]

Great read and thanks for the info. Kinda sad to see the city holding onto land that probably won't get sold for many years.

From what I hear, the city, or more specifcally the DEGC is realizing that given the current market -- along with the availability of funding for green space acquisition and development -- projects like Milliken State Park are much more viable. Of course, Mayor Bing is all too familiar with as well given his Watermark Development, which the DNRE is looking at possibly acquiring.

[stasu1213]

From what I hear, the city, or more specifcally the DEGC is realizing that given the current market -- along with the availability of funding for green space acquisition and development -- projects like Milliken State Park are much more viable. Of course, Mayor Bing is all too familiar with as well given his Watermark Development, which the DNRE is looking at possibly acquiring.

Classic city planning and politics. A grand idea is put on hold for a major politician[[Mayor) has or is part of other ideas that would put the original plan on hold or cancel it all together. It appears that the Riverfront Conservancy has one plans for Atwater street and the Riverfront while Bing and his group has another.

[stasu1213]

I say make the building mutlifunctional. Add a Back to the Future ride in it such as Universal Studios in Orlando has.

[mikefmich]

Wonder where this 25k will wind up being squandered at? You could'nt even clean that place for 25k, let alone making a section of it safe.

Besides a playground there? For whom? Winos? There aren't kids living anywhere near that place, unless they are homeless along with one of their parental units.