New park to include miniature soccer field and an ADA-compliant play structure
DEARBORN – Local children will soon have more spots to play outdoors with the opening of Graham Street Park, on Graham between Wyoming and Lonyo streets in east Dearborn.
Residents are invited to attend the park’s dedication ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 16. The ceremony is expected to include remarks from Mayor John O’Reilly Jr., city officials and a representative from Beaumont Health/Healthy Dearborn. U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell and state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud also will be in attendance.
The park will be a mixed-use area consisting of a miniature soccer field and an ADA-compliant play area with swings, a slide, a seesaw and more. There also will be walking paths, benches and picnic tables that are ADA-accessible. In addition, new shrubbery and small trees will be planted later this year to provide shade and an environmental mitigation of air pollution.
The installation of the park was made possible by the Dearborn Planning Division working in conjunction with Beaumont Health/Healthy Dearborn, Wayne County and the Dearborn Recreation and Parks Department. Six adjacent vacant lots on Graham Street were redeveloped to create a park that is both accessible and enjoyable to neighborhood residents.
To ensure the park met the needs and wants of the community, the Planning Division had several meetings with neighborhood residents throughout the planning and development period, during which play equipment and park designs were selected so the space would reflect the visions, aspirations and history of those using the park.
“I’m just ecstatic that we were able to reach and engage residents in this area and have them be a part of something that’s positive and builds community,” said Sara Gleicher, project manager of Healthy Dearborn.
The park redevelopment project was funded in part by a $63,000 grant provided jointly by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and the nonprofit organization KaBOOM! to redevelop the 19,800-square-foot area.
The grant was given through KaBOOM! and the Wilson Foundation’s Play Everywhere Challenge, which strives to provide children across southeast Michigan and western New York with more opportunities for kid-driven play through the creation of unique play areas focused on the customized needs of the community.