Editor’s note: This story has been updated to make clear that Alfred Brush Ford Park was going to be closed for construction anyway and that soil decontamination was newly added to the plan. This version also corrects the spelling of Frank Bach’s name.
Residents in Detroit’s Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood are expressing concern this week after the city added soil decontamination and tree removal to an existing plan to upgrade Alfred Brush Ford Park.
The 34-acre park to the east of Belle Isle was already set to be closed for several months while the grounds are upgraded with playgrounds, better riverwalk access and more. The project is funded by the Strategic Neighborhood Fund (SNF) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
According to documents from the Detroit Building Authority, environmental testing required for the demolition of the former Lenox Community Center uncovered soil contamination at the park, such as lead and arsenic. The Lenox Center at the park sat vacant for nearly 10 years because it was unusable and located within the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood plain.
While analyzing the park site ahead of the renovation, the city’s Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department (BSEED) determined remediation for the entire park is needed, which includes putting down two feet of clean soil and removing 251 trees, many of which are more than 100 years old. Only 10 trees are in good condition, while the rest are in fair or poor condition, according to the city documents.
AB Ford Park officially closed to the public Wednesday for the project, which is expected to last from March to September, the city said. After the trees are removed, a mix of 597 native shade, flowering and specimen tree replacements will be planted. However, the removal will also bring heavy trucking to the area. An average of 20 to 30 trucks per day will be at the park five days a week over the seven-month duration of the project.
“Testing showed that there were higher than acceptable amounts of metals commonly found in soil across the region, including cadmium, arsenic and lead,” Ray Scott, Deputy Director of BSEED, said in an emailed statement. “It also found elevated levels of semi-volatile organic compounds typically associated with oil-based products from previous industrial or automotive activities. It is believed that the contaminants are a result of the activities from the previous use.”
During the 1950s, the area was used as a Nike missile control site.
The park upgrades are part of a $9.5 million AB Ford Park Improvement Project, which includes the recently opened community center, as well as walkways, playgrounds and picnic areas. Last October, a new community centered opened at the park, and that will remain open during construction, the city said on its website.
A spokesman for the city said residents were informed of the plans for construction more than a month ago, but the contamination was a recent discovery.
Crystal Perkins, director of the city’s General Services Department, said she’s unsure of the date when the city discovered the contaminated soil because continuous testing is conducted before the final decision is revealed.
“The first couple of times we sent the testing off, the results were inconclusive, so we had to continue testing until we had some concrete results,” she said. “And then we broadened the area that we were testing in.”
The Jefferson Chalmers community found out about the contamination Tuesday during a virtual District 4 meeting, said planning consultant and resident Jay Juergensen. He’s concerned about the environmental consequences of having so many trucks on the site, which will total to nearly 4,000 by the time the project is over. He’s also worried about the contaminants in the soil.
“What is their containment approach?” Juergensen said via email. “AB Ford is upland from the surrounding homes. What happens if we get a heavy rain and the soil they disturb runs into a neighbor’s property?”
Juergensen, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years, would rather see the city plant some new trees now and remove the damaged trees when they die.
“If the trees are going to die due to the installation of a membrane and soil, let’s plant new trees now and let nature take its course and remove the trees when they die, allowing for the other trees to take hold and create a new canopy,” he said.
Frank Bach has lived a block-and-a-half from the park for 45 years and has attended many planning meetings regarding the park in the last several years, including Tuesday’s meeting.
Bach said residents need more clarity on why the situation would necessitate the removal of the trees.
“It’s a shame that they can’t be saved even with remediating soil – that needs to be explained,” he said, noting the grandeur of the trees with their age and height.
‘The best option’
Perkins said AB Ford Park’s closure shouldn’t have come as a surprise for residents. She said the community was notified last month about the park being closed for renovations. However, city officials recently decided to remediate the park and communicated that during the monthly District 4 meeting on Feb. 20.
Perkins said she understands the community’s concern about the removal of the trees but said there was no way to save them. A couple residents asked her if two feet of contaminated soil could be removed and replaced with clean soil, but she said that would destroy the roots of the tree.
“We don’t always go first with trying to remove trees but in this case, it’s our option because we have to make sure the public is safe. People frequent this park, so we need to make sure that they’re safe from any contaminants that were found in this area,” Perkins said. Perkins also doesn’t want to take the risk of the older trees falling over on visitors at the park or on someone’s home. She said the yards of about six houses are adjacent to the park.
“In the future, we might not have the funding to remediate all trees like that,” she said. “The funding is here now. We want to make sure that we’re putting safety first.”
Perkins also addressed why a meeting that was supposed to be held Friday was canceled. She said that meeting was not for the public, but for a resident, the city’s chief landscape officer and an arborist to see if some of the trees in the park could be saved.
Perkins said an official meeting is scheduled for Thursday online. An email has been sent out to the community, she said.
John Myers has lived in Jefferson Chalmers since 1988 and taken care of the neighborhood’s parks for more than 25 years. Myers said he was shocked to hear the news since he talks to city officials on a regular basis and was surprised that they did not notify him about the tree removal.
Like Juergensen, he’s concerned about the environmental effects, such as the oil and gas that will be used to run the chainsaws. He wants the city to let residents know when the soil was tested and when the results were revealed.
Myers is also thinking about the migration patterns for animals and insects.
“We have eagles and hawks and other predator birds that utilize these trees constantly,” Myers said. “And we’re in a monarch butterfly migration here. This clear cutting of a 32-acre peninsula park would just change things beyond comprehension.”
Reporter Jena Brooker contributed.
From the information presented here it seems like the reason the trees would die is because of soil being removed. They should make an effort to save every tree possible by testing near all of the oldest trees. If there are some trees whose soil is not contaminated then they should be preserved. You can’t just replace a hundred year old tree with three small trees and call it good.