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Photo: Heidelberg Project Facebook page
When it all began, Tyree Guyton got opposition from the city when he created the Heidelberg Project, a two-block area on Detroit's east side that turned into an exhibit of creative and funky art. Some saw the art as blight.
Now, it's city hall that is once again trying to block the Heidelberg project's vision, writes Steve Neavling for Metro Times:
Mayor Mike Duggan’s Detroit Land Bank, which owns more than 45,000 abandoned houses and empty lots, has twice rejected the Heidelberg Project’s proposal to buy nearly 40 pieces of vacant land to create a new artists’ community at its current location between Mt. Elliot, Elba, Ellery, and Heidelberg.
Heidelberg Project CEO Jenenne Whitfield says the Land Bank has offered no explanation for rejecting her two proposals, which are supported by City Councilwoman Mary Sheffield.
“With each new administration there is a new of hurdle to go through,” Whitfield told the Metro Times on Monday. “We’ve been taking care of that land for 31 years, and it has become a really interesting, dynamic place. We have people moving into the area. We have a vision for an art-infused community.”
The project would include building new apartments and a cafe.
The city won't say why it rejected the plan.
“We reserve the right to approve and disapprove of any applications, and we will do our due our diligence on every application that comes in,” Land Bank spokesman Craig Fahle tells Neavling.
The Duggan administration isn't the only one that has failed to embrace the Heidelberg Project.
In 1991, then-Mayor Coleman Young sent in bulldozers and police, demolishing installations and four art-festooned Heidelberg Project homes, including the “Babydoll House,” which was adorned with dismembered, naked, and sometimes burned dolls, Neavling writes.
