Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of Jason Lorenz, City of Flint
On September 9, Mayor Sheldon Neeley and other community leaders gathered to celebrate the ongoing reconstruction of the St. John Street Neighborhood Memorial Park, a $1.2 million project. The historic community of St. John Street Neighborhood was disrupted by the I-475 highway project in the 1970s.
The St. John Street Neighborhood was once a thriving economic hub for the Black community, featuring pharmacies, movie theaters and recreational centers, before urban renewal and highway construction displaced many residents.
The reconstruction project began five years ago through collaboration between the St. John Street Neighborhood Memorial Neighborhood Association and city leadership.
Neeley stated: “Now we’re back and we’re rebuilding the St. John neighborhood, talking about the vision and moving forward so people can come here and recreate to remember all the great things that this community brought forth for those families like mine that came to this great community to live.”
James Wardlow, president of the St. John Street Neighborhood Memorial Neighborhood Association, expressed gratitude for the perseverance that brought the vision to reality.
Wardlow stated: “We’re just happy to be able to work on a project that’s important in our own hometown here- and to see us cross the finish line and get lots of kids and families out here enjoying a wonderful park in the city. “
The plan for the park started being developed in 2021, based on community-led vision.
About $1 million in Michigan Department of Natural Resources funding is helping to enable construction of the project.
The work started this summer and expected to be completed by October.
Doug Schultz of ROWE Professional Services Company updated the community of recent progress.
A historically themed playground, as well as a walking path have already been constructed. The current phase includes historical signs and an expanding the Flint River trail path. Future phases may include oral history signs featuring interviews with former residents already captured through documentary work by Rodney Brown and iMichigan Productions, airing on PBS.
Neeley also said the 50-by-70-foot pavilion currently being constructed will be a place area residents of all ages can gather for educational programming and community events.
He emphasized that the project symbolizes pushing back against segregation and represents community harmony and commitment to engaging the north side of Flint positively for future families.
