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“The goal of this
administration is to save as many buildings as we can,
especially ones with historic significance. Just as we are
doing with our home auctions, we are going to see which
larger buildings people are willing to invest in and which
ones they are not,” said Mayor Mike Duggan." (Photo by Harry
Meeks/Tell Us Detroit) |
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City
Seeks
Redevelopment
Plans
for
Historic
Brewster
Wheeler
Recreation
Center
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
With the
clock
running
out, the
storied
Brewster
Wheeler
Recreation
Center
in
Detroit’s
Brush
Park
neighborhood
has been
spared
from
demolition.
Mike
Duggan
announced
plans
Thursday
morning
to
redevelop
the
Center
which
has
remained
vacant
since in
its
closing
in 2006
due to
budget
cuts.
The city
is
seeking
proposals
to
restore
the
facility
where
Joe
Louis
once
trained
and made
his
boxing
debut in
1932. In
that
same
year the
Harlem
Globetrotters
basketball
team
played
their
first
tour
game at
the
Center
against
the
“Detroit
AA”.
With
rapid
redevelopment
spreading
through
downtown
and
Midtown,
Duggan
says the
city is
facing a
decision
of
whether
to
rebuild
the city
in ways
that
erase
history
and
culture,
or
“Rebuild
this
city in
a way
that
embraces
our
culture
and
history”.
The
Mayor
said the
city is
looking
for
realistic
business
plans
that
“Will
take
this
building
and turn
it into
something
that
embraces
its
history
but is
also an
active
use of
the
building
for the
next
generation.”
Unlike
the
Brewster-Douglass
Housing
project,
whose
structures
were
longer
no
longer
viable
and
could
not be
saved,
Duggan
said the
recreation
center
is the
last
“visible
reminder”
of the
significant
history
of the
Brush
Park
neighborhood
.
The
Mayor
spoke of
the
Center’s
historical
significance
beyond
recreation.
The
first
African
American
hired by
the
Recreation
Department
was Leon
Wheeler
who
managed
the
Center
from
1929 to
1945.
Duggan
said
Wheeler
“Had to
fight
for the
right to
be
supervisor
and
asked to
be
judge3d
regardless
of his
skill
color.”
Wheeler
established
programs
at the
Center
including
swimming,
boxing,
billiards,
woodcraft,
glee
club,
tap
dancing,
ukulele,
track,
tennis,
drama
and
dancing.
In honor
of his
service
the
Center
was
renamed
the
Brewster-Wheeler
Center
in 1969.
The
Mayor
said
since
word of
Brewster
Wheeler
Recreation
Center
being on
the
demolition
list got
out,
District
5
Council
member
Mary
Sheffield
began
calling
every
day.
“She has
been an
extremely
powerful
advocate
saying
this is
too
important
for our
city, we
can’t
let the
rec
center
be
demolished
without
out
doing
everything
possible
for its
reuse”
said
Duggan.
As an
important
partner
in the
process,
Sheffield
who is
was out
of town,
appeared
via
Skype to
lend her
support.
“I am
very
happy to
work
with the
community
and the
Mayor to
see if
we can
bring
this
historic
community
center
back to
life.”
Mona
Ross,
long
time
president
of Brush
Park
Community
Development
Council
and an
ardent
supporter
of
preservation
will be
part of
team
reviewing
redevelopment
proposals.
A site
walk-through
will
take
place pm
September
22nd and
Requests
for
Proposals
must be
submitted
to the
City of
Detroit,
Planning
and
Development
Department
by
September
22nd.
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