11/16/2023
UPDATE
Brennan Rec Center Meeting Postponed to November 30
The Public Comment Meeting for the Rouge Park Recreation Center has been rescheduled for November 30 at 5:30pm. Please attend if you can and spread the word.
THANK YOU to all of you who wrote letters to the City of Detroit on this important issue. If you haven't written yet please do so, and urge others as well. (email: Crystal Perkins, GSD Director at [email protected] and please cc: [email protected]).
Bridge Detroit published an article on the Brennan Oak Grove yesterday.
We need everyone who values the beautiful and historic Brennan Oak Grove to email the City and express their opposition to the loss of this priceless natural and historic landmark. (Email: Crystal Perkins, GSD Director [email protected] and please cc: [email protected]). We also need you to attend the November 30 public meeting at the Brennan Pools Building to support an alternative location for the new recreation center. The meeting starts at 5:30pm (map).
BACKGROUND:
This centennial oak grove was planted as part of the original park landscaping in the 1920s when the park first opened. The pools were the first amenity built in the park, and the Oak Grove was the very first trees planted. It is a precious and irreplaceable part of Rouge Park history and indisputably the oldest and most beautifully landscaped area in the entire park, enhancing the beautiful architecture of the Brennan Pools Building. The City's proposed location for the center requires the removal of 25 of these historic trees.
A new recreation center is much needed on the west side of the city and will be a great asset for Rouge Park. The Friends of Rouge Park are extremely grateful to the Pistons Foundation for making this center possible and strongly support the new recreation center.
At the first public meeting, we raised concern about impacts to the Oak Grove. At the second public meeting, the presented design addressed this concern and showed the center parallel with the pools, avoiding the Oak Grove (see the design on page 7 of the City's report here). It was not until the third, most recent meeting on Sept. 25 that the new design was presented for the first time showing the removal of 25 of the 100 year old oak trees in the grove.
We would support any alternative location that does not destroy precious park assets such as the Brennan Oak Grove, and sent a letter to the City explaining our concerns and suggesting alternative locations. After nearly three weeks we have still not received a response (see the letter here).
REASONS TO SUPPORT AN ALTERNATIVE DESIGN OR LOCATION:
1. Preserving the Brennan Oak Grove
As Rouge Park approaches its 100th Anniversary, this is a time to be celebrating the park's dynamic history and its most precious assets, not destroying them! These trees were planted as part of the original landscaping just a couple of years after the release of the original Rouge Park Plan which read "The purpose of the design has been to preserve a beautiful natural environment free from the rush and the sight of man's dominating influence. Here is to be preserved a natural landscape". Let's honor the park founders and preserve this centennial oak grove!
2. Preserve the Value that these Trees Provide
Mature trees like these with their extensive root and leaf systems clean our air, filter our water, reduce flooding, provide shade and protection from wind and rain, provide food and homes for wildlife and increase our quality of life with their services and beauty. In this age of climate change, we have lost thousands of trees to Dutch Elm disease, Emerald Ash Borers, ice storms and wind. In Rouge Park, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has removed over one hundred trees, many of them over one hundred year old oak trees. The City recognizes the value of trees and the GSD Department that makes decisions about Rouge Park set a goal of planting 10,000 trees to “improve health equity.” They cite that “studies have shown mature trees can reduce temperatures by 10-20 degrees. 14% of Detroiters suffer from Asthma, and trees can help by reducing air pollutants that can cause or trigger asthma. Trees have also been found to reduce stress, blood pressure, and even tension.” Removing these trees is contrary to the City's own goals. Since many suitable alternative locations exist for the recreation center, why would we diminish our quality of life by taking out these trees in a city that suffers from so much inequity?
3. Lower Construction Cost
The current proposed plan is a complicated split-level structure connected by a ramp and requires excavation of the hill east of the pools. An alternative location on open, flat ground would remove the increased cost of (1) a split-level building, (2) excavating the hill, (3) removing the 25 trees and, (4) planting and maintenance of many hundreds of new trees to compensate for the loss of the grove. A single level facility would also provide better access for disabled persons.
4. Better Access and More Adjacent Land for Recreation and Parking
The Rouge Park Master Plan released in 2016 calls for the recreation center to be located adjacent to Dixon School at Joy Rd & Trinity St. However, we would support any location or redesign that does not destroy valuable existing park amenities.
