The lush greenery of Detroit's A.B. Ford Park is getting a drastic haircut, as the city gears up to axe 251 trees, some more than a century old, after the discovery of plastic and metal contamination in the park's soil. The Ford Park, naught but steps away from the tranquil Detroit River, will be shut down until September for the major excavation.
Officials have deemed this sweep clean of historic trees a safety precaution, as the city plans to layer a two-foot coat of clean soil across the 32-acre park, a move they say is required to shield residents from any lurking dangers beneath. "Putting 2 feet of soil on trees will kill the roots," Crystal Perkins, director of the general services department, told the Detroit Free Press.
Despite the looming silence that will accompany the historic tree removal, the plans don’t end on a bare note. Close to 600 new saplings will spring up in the cleared earth, promising a future canopy of shade, flowering, and specimen trees, native to Michigan’s soil and scenes. The new roster includes specimens like quaking Aspens, Princeton elm, and sugar maple, detailed in a Metro Times report.
The contamination surprise popped during environmental testing, necessary for the demolition of the old Lenox Center. A stark revelation, indeed, but city residents watching their cherished park cordoned off had mixed feelings. Emma Miller, speaking only two doors away from the fenced green, lamented the loss of her morning retreat: “I used to take my coffee cup and go down to sit by the water and now, I can’t do that," she expressed to WXYZ.
Detroit's ongoing facelift for its natural spaces is plowing a cool $9.5 million into A.B. Ford Park's renovations, a patchwork of playgrounds, and courts seasoned with the spanking new community center that pinned its name to the map in October. Amid the din of construction and uprooted woodlands, city reps are promising a greener, cleaner horizon. "Be patient with us and rest assured that we have the community’s best interests at heart," Perkins assured in another snippet obtained by WXYZ.
The reincarnated park will not only flaunt new foliage but also sport renovated walkways, a beach, waterfront plaza, and other recreational delights. Until then, the site is off-limits, held back by trucks hauling in fresh soil and echoes of trees once standing tall. City spokesperson John Roach has also swatted down murmurs that the Environmental Protection Agency restoration project would be canceled, an additional morsel revealed by the Metro Times.
