Downtown basketball court project

[LafayettePark]

Looking to hit the ground running on this:

The People's Court of Detroit

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=...51302044915744

Would love any suggestions.

[Zozo]

Have you considered posting your project on Kickstarter?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/search?term=detroit

I think you would get some support.

[Hypestyles]

isn't there a long-abandoned YMCA somewhere on East Jefferson? that would make a good site..

[adamjab19]

there is a long abandoned everything everywhere in Detroit.

[Hamtragedy]

that's funny

[tetsua]

there is a long abandoned everything everywhere in Detroit.

Quote of the day

[Magnatomicflux]

What about along the riverwalk? Sorry if it's a suggestion in the facebook page, but I'm at work and can't access it.

[DetroitDad]

Looking to hit the ground running on this:

The People's Court of Detroit

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=...51302044915744

Would love any suggestions.

On the other side of Midtown, there is a unkept, essentially abandoned playground called Wigle Memorial Playground [[click here for map). The playground actually has an althletic center, play equipment, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and basketball courts that are in similar shape as your abandoned Brewster Project courts.

I am going to suggest this playground over Brewster for three reasons.

1. The area surrounding this playground is in bad shape, but also holds some promising projects, and more importantly, is near occupied housing, apartments, church groups, and schools [[neighborhoods with families and groups who would be willing to help you, as you would have shared interests).
2. There was interest in 2008 in a thread on DetroitYES.com [[before the new forum software, click here for a link) about renovating the baseball diamonds, which drew considerable interest. I am one of the posters in that topic under a different name [[Sean_of_Detroit), and I know some others on their and here that would be interested in restoring the fields. This could possibly be a collaborative effort.
3. The area around the Brewster projects courts may seem cool, but activating them could possibly draw crime and vandalism.

PS: I requested to join your Facebook group, and look forward to helping.

[DetroitDad]

WAKE UP!

Please!?

WAKE UP DETROIT, WAKE UP!

[LafayettePark]

That sounds cool! Forest Park is another place of interest. MSG me. I wanna get the ball rollin' on this.

[marcwigle]

On the other side of Midtown, there is a unkept, essentially abandoned playground called Wigle Memorial Playground [[click here for map). The playground actually has an althletic center, play equipment, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and basketball courts that are in similar shape as your abandoned Brewster Project courts.

I am going to suggest this playground over Brewster for three reasons.

1. The area surrounding this playground is in bad shape, but also holds some promising projects, and more importantly, is near occupied housing, apartments, church groups, and schools [[neighborhoods with families and groups who would be willing to help you, as you would have shared interests).
2. There was interest in 2008 in a thread on DetroitYES.com [[before the new forum software, click here for a link) about renovating the baseball diamonds, which drew considerable interest. I am one of the posters in that topic under a different name [[Sean_of_Detroit), and I know some others on their and here that would be interested in restoring the fields. This could possibly be a collaborative effort.
3. The area around the Brewster projects courts may seem cool, but activating them could possibly draw crime and vandalism.

PS: I requested to join your Facebook group, and look forward to helping.

Thomas Wigle is an ancestor of mine as his parents were Canadian. His dad was an artist of some reknown... Archie Palmer Wigle. His paintings can be found on eBay and elsewhere. He did a fair amount of Detroit-themed paintings. Thomas was an WWII hero and won the Medal of Honor is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Here is more on him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_W._Wigle

I contacted a member of city government a few years ago about fundraising to keep the playground open but... wait for it... never heard back from the councillor. Shortly after, the park was shut down. I was hoping to get some family members interested in putting some money into the playground. I visited the playground in 2009 and was met by a homeless couple who wanted to know if I owned the place. ;-) I told them I was related to the guy that it was named after which they thought was pretty neat. Except for the garbage and piles of human poop littering the playground, it looked to be in good shape. I would still be interested in doing something with the park if there was some sort of way to organize people, assuming that people would be interested. It's a shame that a memorial, like so many others in Detroit, have been left to decay. If anyone wants to contact me, feel free to email me at marcwigle@hotmail.com