Photo provided by pistons.com
Tom Gores and the Detroit Pistons, in partnership with the City of Detroit Parks and Recreation Department, announced today the impending completion of phase III and the beginning of phase IV of the basketball court renovation and refurbishment project in parks throughout the city. Twenty-three newly refurbished courts are expected to be completed in 15 city parks by end of 2021.
The courts are part of a $2.5 million dollar investment by the Pistons to revitalize 60 basketball courts over a six-year period. The project is one component of the community benefits plan created with the City of Detroit as part of the Pistons’ move back downtown in 2017.
“Our parks initiative continues to expand at a time when it’s more important than ever to give kids and Detroiters of all ages healthy environments to stay active in a safe and responsible way,” said Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores. “We are excited to continue bringing more partners together, adding programming that unites the community and maximizes the impact the parks have on the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Court refurbishments in Phase III include single basketball courts located at Lasher-Clarita Park, MaryAnn Mahaffey Park, 4th and Charlotte Park and Perrien Park. A double court was refurbished at Maheras-Gentry Park. Three basketball court refurbishments were made at Romanowski Park and four courts were refurbished at Lasky Park.
Phase IV refurbishments will include single basketball courts at Riordan Park, Lafayette-NYCRR Park, Knudsen Park, Bradby Park, Wish-Egan Park and AB Ford Park and two courts each at Peterson Park and Stopel No. 2 Park.
By the end of 2021, 42 courts will have been refurbished at 28 parks throughout the city. The remaining 18 courts will be completed over the final two years according to the Parks Department’s master plan.
Basketball court refurbishments at each location include needed repairs to court surfaces and up-to-date rims, stanchions and basketball infrastructure. Additionally, each court will be repainted with proper basketball court markings and beautified to increase the aesthetic value of each park. As part of the Pistons’ agreement, the City of Detroit oversees maintenance for the completed courts.
Support for the court refurbishment program builds on significant philanthropic investments Mr. Gores and the Detroit Pistons Foundation continue to make with organizations like the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, the S.A.Y. Detroit Play Center at Lipke Park, City Year, Grow Detroit’s Young Talent, the Detroit Police Athletic League, Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Michigan, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Sphinx Program, Dave Bing’s BINGO Mentoring Program and Forgotten Harvest.
Providing Community Benefits
Mayor Duggan views project completion of 42 court refurbishments by the end of 2021 as an important milestone in continued fulfillment of the community benefits agreement between the Detroit Pistons and the City of Detroit and an opportunity to increase basketball participation and promote further utilization of city parks.
“When the Pistons moved back to Detroit, we knew it was going to have a great positive impact on our City, but we also wanted to make sure the benefits were felt by the entire city, not just downtown,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “By the end of the year, kids can go out to their neighborhood park and play a pick-up basketball game on 42 renovated new courts, families can take advantage of the team’s ‘Neighbors Program’ this summer and it’s all made possible by the Pistons. With two years remaining, we’ll be renovating 18 additional courts in more parks throughout the city. This is the kind of investment that the youth of Detroit deserve.”
The courts project is part of a community benefits agreement that included a 10-point plan to create job growth and brings millions of dollars of investment into Detroit neighborhoods.
Under the plan approved by the project’s Neighborhood Advisory Council, the Pistons organization agreed to:
- Invest $2,500,000 over six years in the construction, renovation and refurbishment of more than 60 basketball courts in parks throughout the City of Detroit in partnership with the City of Detroit’s Recreation department.
- Comply with Detroit’s Executive Order 2016-1 on hiring residents and funding workforce training.
- Use commercially reasonable efforts to maximize post-construction employment opportunities with PS&E for City Residents.
- Support workforce development initiatives for City Residents by donating $100,000 to Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation.
- Partner with the Mayor’s Office to provide mentorship opportunities for young City Residents.
- Participate in the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent summer jobs program.
- Host free youth basketball camps, clinics, and other events for City Residents to promote youth basketball and youth enrichment programs in the City.
- Provide 20,000 free tickets per regular season to Detroit youth and residents to attend NBA basketball games, in support of and in connection with community educational programs and initiatives.