A new 98-acre nature park in northwest Detroit is giving residents a place to connect with nature, spend time with family and gather as a community. The opening of Rogell Park marks a major milestone for Grandmont Rosedale and the broader Grand River Northwest neighborhood and is another example of long-term investment and commitment coming to life in Detroit communities.
Residents and community leaders gathered to celebrate the reopening of Rogell Park on June 26. The park’s opening is the latest success for the Strategic Neighborhood Fund (SNF), an Invest Detroit-led initiative that brings together the City of Detroit, neighborhood organizations, community leaders and private-sector partners to support neighborhood revitalization.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony included remarks from Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield, Detroit City Council President James Tate, Detroit General Services Department Director Crystal Perkins, Invest Detroit Vice President Jermaine Ruffin, Huntington Bank Southeast Michigan & Northwest Ohio Regional President Mike Land, Flagstar Bank’s Steven Hernandez and Greater Sandhill Neighborhood Organization President Darryl Edwards.
“Events like this are special because they bring together so many people who care deeply about a neighborhood and its future,” said Mike Land, Huntington’s Regional President for Southeast Michigan and Northwest Ohio, when speaking at the ribbon cutting. “Spaces like Rogell Park create opportunities for people to connect, for families to spend time together and for neighborhoods to build a sense of pride and belonging.”
For Greater Sandhill Neighborhood Organization President Darryl Edwards, the park’s opening represents the culmination of years of work by residents who care about the space and the community’s future.
Edwards has lived in the neighborhood since 1970 and remembers the site’s history firsthand. As a teenager, he worked at the former golf course, and after it closed, he joined other residents in advocating for a new future for the property. Throughout the planning process, Edwards encouraged neighbors to come together, share ideas and stay engaged with city leaders. The result is a park shaped not only by investment, but by years of community input and persistence.
Edwards closed his remarks with a promise to future generations and by encouraging attendees to continue building and doing something better for the park each year. His vision is for Rogell Park to be a place where generations of families will make memories for decades to come.
The park’s $4 million transformation represents the type of neighborhood investment SNF was designed to support. Since launching in 2016, the initiative has expanded to 10 neighborhoods and helped leverage more than $262 million in investment through parks, streetscapes, housing and commercial corridor improvements. Rogell Park joins projects such as Ella Fitzgerald Park, Jayne Field Park, Clark Park, Butzel Park, Zussman Park and Stein Park as part of the fund’s ongoing effort to enhance Detroit neighborhoods.
| (Left to right) Mayor Mary Sheffield, City Council President James Tate and Invest Detroit’s Jermaine Ruffin | ||
As a founding partner, Huntington has committed $10 million to the Strategic Neighborhood Fund, including $5 million directed toward the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood. Land said projects like Rogell Park demonstrate what’s possible when residents, community organizations and partners work together toward a common goal.
“At the end of the day, this is about the future,” Land said. “It’s about leaving things better than we found them, so the next generation has even more opportunity than the one before.”