Clark Park is named for John P. Clark, who deeded roughly 23 acres to the City at the end of the 19th Century for a community space. It sits between Clark Avenue and Scotten Street, Vernor Highway and the Fisher Freeway. The past two weeks have introduced me to much more than a name or a set of dimensions, however.
The Clark Park Coalition formed as a group of neighbors responding to the City’s call to shut down parks in the ’90s, and their passion for creating a place for unity and growth in the community continues to shine. CPC hosts a number of events and programs for youth and families in the neighborhood, as well as serves as a green space with recreational activities in the formerly-industrialized Southwest Detroit.
Over the next couple months, my task is to put together a history of Clark Park — to be posted on the website and be a resource for future researchers — to assist with summer programming, and to support CPC with social media.
This week I’ve felt myself gaining confidence and comfort around various elements of the DCERP program. I’m looking forward to stretching my thinking about both Detroit and the program now that I have some stability. Specifically, a goal of mine for this next week is to learn more about the physical space around me by exploring and to learn more about the ups and downs of other fellows’ projects through conversation.
4 thoughts on “Week 2: Placement, Project, and People”
Comments are closed.
Hey Reggie! It’s been really cool to hear about all the different activities and events Clark Park puts together – I especially enjoyed yoga in the park last week! I’m looking forward to seeing the results of your project in a month or two 🙂
Hey Reggie! The events that Clark Park does seems so fun and important in helping to bring members of the community together. I’m looking forward to Yoga in the Parks and other events coming up. Good luck with your project!
Hi Reggie, thank you for sharing some of Clark Park’s history. I can’t wait to come to one of their yoga in the park events! I’m excited to see what you choose to do your project on!
Hi Reggie! I think it is so interesting how you get to learn more about the park history while you work with events that occur within the parks as well. Our projects seem super similar too being able to work within Detroit green spaces like this!