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A walk in the park

Opening of $20 million Downs River Park is celebrated

Northville residents and officials Rescue Plan revenue from Wayne for many years and .
helped celebrate the official opening County and money from the state Darga told reporters that the long,
of the long-anticipated Downs River Environment, Great Lakes and Energy complicated process exceeded her
Park last month. (EGLE) department, along with fund- expectations. Restoring the river, she
While the new 10-acre, $19.6 million ing from Hunter Pasteur and Toll said, was helped by the support of city
park offers pedestrian bridges, walking Brothers developers of the $350 mil- residents.
and cycling trails, drinking fountains lion Northville Downs project, “They wanted it to restore it to a
and bike stations, the biggest attraction The project was not without chal- healthy watercourse, and so we just
is the restored section of the Rouge lenges noted Landscape Architect kept pushing and getting people to
River. Restoration of the waterway Nancy Darga, a founding member of start working together on it," Darga
required unearthing the river which Friends of the Rouge, and chair of the said.
had been buried under the former Northville River Restoration Task "It is a lifetime achievement. There
Northville Downs racetrack for Force. She promoted the restoration of are so many people that worked on this
decades. Funding for the massive proj- the river and the construction of a pub- in the task force. I would say it is our
ect included millions in American lic riverwalk connecting nearby parks greatest achievement for this decade,