From the Dig.. Clark Park is thriving

One Good Park

Clark Park is thriving thanks to residents

Clark Park is a 31-acre city park off West Vernor Highway that has been a beloved community staple with lots of programming and an active coalition of residents who keep it maintained. 

Clark Park is one of the city’s oldest, though there isn’t much publicly available information about its history. An 1888 Detroit Free Press obituary of John P. Clark, the park’s eventual namesake, describes him as “one of Detroit’s oldest and best-known citizens,” who accumulated a fortune in the fishing business. He left money and land in his will to establish a park. The site was idyllic and originally had a beaver dam. By 1891, the Free Press already talked about Mayor Hazen Pingree’s efforts to improve the park by adding benches. 

A Free Press writer in 1898 gave a warm review: “Clark Park is to the western part of the city what Belle Isle is to the central and eastern portions. If one should ask proof of this statement, he might have found ample demonstration in the crowd that roamed the shady glades.” 

The park has had a lot of ups and downs in the past few decades, including two near-closures and a recent renovation. 

Residents have helped ensure its survival twice. In 1991, the city’s finances were in such dire shape that it closed Clark Park. Locals created the Clark Park Coalition just over 100 years after the park was created, and managed to revive it. 

A similar situation played out in 2008 when the city couldn’t even pay for utilities or to cut the grass. The coalition got the rest of the community to rally for its preservation, bringing their own lawn mowers and petitioning the city not to close the park. 

Clark Park is in great shape today. The city completed a $4 million renovation last year that includes a splash pad, courts for basketball and tennis, a playground, new trees and more. On a recent spring day, several people were using the exercise equipment, teens played soccer, and kids ran around the playground. 

The Dig is written by Aaron Mondry, who enjoyed picking fruit with his family at The Congregation this weekend. So many strawberries and raspberries!