The Ambassador Bridge, owned by Manuel "Matty" Moroun's Detroit International Bridge Company, connects Detroit and Windsor, Canada. Moroun wants to build a second span across the Detroit River to allow maintenance on the first, but the project would likely come at the expense of Southwest Detroit residents who want to see Riverside Park reopened. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive Detroit)

Update: Detroit mayor agrees to land swap in deal with Morouns for bridge, train station renovation

DETROIT, MI - They just want to see kids playing baseball along the river again.

But this time, angry neighbors can't just take wire cutters to an intrusive fence and reopen Riverside Park themselves, like they did three years ago.

This time, they're forced to wait for environmental clearance from analysts who are assessing underground contamination.

And while advocates are optimistic that will come this year, they fear the park could still be taken from them once again.

So they've alerted federal authorities of a perceived threat that the park could be sold.

"We just thought we'd be on our toes and be proactive, especially when it comes to Matty Moroun," said Joe Rashid of the group Friends of Riverside Park, which submitted a petition to several federal agencies asking for help protecting the park.

It was Moroun's Detroit International Bridge Company that occupied part of the park for nearly 10 years with wire-mesh fencing, claiming unsubstantiated homeland security concerns until it was forced down by residents in June 2011.

And it was Moroun's company that, months later, discovered contamination from decades-old gas manufacturing byproducts 8 feet beneath the park, forcing its closure.

The Ambassador Bridge owner, despite years of losing court battles and public backlash, still wants to build a second span over the Detroit River, and over Riverside Park.

Acquiring the park, or the rights to build a bridge over it, would require tremendous legal and political maneuvering, and help from the mayor's office.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has expressed support for building two new bridges to Windsor, rather than just the one set to be built by the Canadian government and opened by 2020 further downriver.

A Detroit Recreation Department image shows the layout of Riverside Park's three parcels along the Detroit River.

But Duggan's office has denied what Riverside Park advocates suspect, that he's reached a deal with Moroun on the 19-acre property, which sits south of Jefferson Avenue in three separate parcels near the end of West Grand Boulevard in Southwest Detroit.

"The mayor always has supported the construction of two bridges but there is no deal with Mr. Moroun," said Duggan spokesman John Roach in a statement.

He declined further comment on the park and did not confirm any talks with the Detroit International Bridge Company.

"I don't know if the city is considering selling it or not, but we have to be proactive," said Rashid.

"We want to be proactive and want to get the park back open and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands again."

Friends of Riverside Park, along with two other advocacy groups, Bridgewatch Detroit Coalition and Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, submitted a petition with about 200 signatures to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service and the U.S. Interior Department, asking for help preventing any potential sale.

The groups claim that because the park was created with help from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, federal law prohibits its sale or conversion for non-recreational use without an extensive approval process.

A 2011 letter from Detroit's law department to a state lawmaker who inquired about a potential sale supported that position, stating that it could only be converted with approval from the National Park Service under a long list of conditions, including a requirement that the land be replaced with property of equivalent value and "reasonable equivalent usefulness and location."

"There's probably no better venue in the city," said Rashid. "... The community rallied together and rehabbed the baseball diamond and got things up and running (before the contamination closure).

"It's been closed for about three years because of the former use of the site before it became a park... It's one of the only riverfront access points in Soutwest Detroit."

The Detroit International Bridge Company declined comment on the park.

But a court filing last week made clear its intentions to continue pursuing a second span of the Ambassador Bridge.

The company filed notice of intent to appeal the dismissal of its federal court complaint against the U.S. Coast Guard, which rejected its permit application for another international crossing because it lacked rights to build over the Detroit-owned park.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington D.C. ruled against the bridge company in 2013, rejecting its arguments that property rights were irrelevant to Coast Guard approval.

"Without an air rights easement over Riverside Park, there is 'doubt of the right of [DIBC] to construct,'" Collyer found.

While the bridge company pursues its appeal, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is working to complete assessments that could allow the city to reopen parts of Riverside Park.

MichCon, which merged with DTE Energy in 2001, manufactured gas on parts of the site before it became a park in 1979.

DTE's environmental assessments at the park have been completed, a spokesman for the utility said.

"DTE completed additional work at the site last year at the request of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality," said DTE spokesman Scott Simons. "The results of the work were consistent with previously collected data and continue to show that the baseball diamond and boat launch are safe for their intended use. The 2014 results were submitted to the MDEQ and the City of Detroit in January 2015."

An MDEQ analyst told state Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) in a March 10 email message that a planned March 25 review could provide the city options for reopening parts of the park.

Assessments at other parts of the park are expected to continue through fall of this year, according to the letter.

"It's a park that would be heavily used by the public if it were to be reopened," said Chang. "It's the only real access to the river that Southwest Detroit really would have...

"Residents fought really hard to keep that park a public park and those are efforts that shouldn't be forgotten."

Chang said she plans to meet with Duggan later this month to discuss the park and any potential negotiations taking place between the city and the Detroit International Bridge Company.

"It sounds like there have been conversations happening," she said. "A lot of people in the neighborhood are very concerned that that may be happening... We really want to make sure that if anything were to move forward, that an environmental impact study be done."

Former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Chang's predecessor as Southwest Detroit's representative in Michigan's legislature, spoke more bluntly about frustration surrounding any potential of Moroun gaining rights to build over the park.

"This is a park that we fought extremely hard to get back after Matty Moroun illegally took it," said Tlaib, who now works for the Sugar Law Center. "He wants to steal our park. He wants to basically run through our neighborhood without regard for public health or quality of life.

"... It is very clear in federal law that he cannot do that. It's very critical that the community is included in the conversation ... We're taken aback that we're not in the room for the conversation."

The city last week approved the sale of a separate, 40-acre piece of industrial land to Moroun for $2.24 million, with the promise of rehabilitation and 250 new jobs through an unnamed auto supplier.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.