Regular visitors to Romanowski Park may barely recognize it next week, after a coalition of community groups give this Southwest Detroit park a complete makeover.
The 313 Project, a Detroit-focused nonprofit started by Wayne State University Law School students, is leading the effort to transform the 26-acre park.
313 Project Co-founder Aisa Villarosa Berg says they're looking for volunteers to come together today and July 12 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to assist in the green space transformation. July 12's outing will be catered by Señor Lopez Taqueria, Nuestra Familia Taqueria and El Nacimiento Taqueria.
Park visitors will get to enjoy new picnic tables, bike racks, bleachers, swing sets, and trash bins. Volunteers will also remove graffiti, board up neighboring abandoned houses, improve paths , the soccer field and basketball court, plant flowers and shrubs, and repaint structures. Organizers will also restore a flagpole honoring the park's namesake, Sgt. Stanley Romanowski, a Southwest Detroit native who was killed during combat in World War II.
The Motor City Blight Busters, The Greening of Detroit, the literacy group Educating U-4 Life, ACCESS, the youth gardening nonprofit All-in-Vision, Home Depot Store #2789 and local residents are all coming together on July 12 to lend a hand with the project. It's being made possible through a $16,500 grant from the Home Depot Foundation, along with the support of the Detroit Recreation Department.
The park was selected because of the area's multi-ethnic neighborhood and its proximity to local churches and schools. The organizers see the project as the beginning of a renewed effort to maintain the recreation area and provide local kids and their families with a safe place to play.
The makeover of Romanowski Park will take place over two days, a prep day on July 5th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a "big" work day on July 12 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information visit the313project.org.