The city of Dearborn hopes to deindustrialize the Eugene-Porath site, which consists of 30 acres of land bounded by Wyoming Avenue, Michigan Avenue and I-94 on the eastern edge of the city.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – The city awarded a contract for the demolition and site restoration of buildings at 5021 and 5063 Wyoming Ave. as part of its blight removal and green space expansion plan.
The work is part of the city’s plan to deindustrialize the Eugene-Porath site, which consists of 30 acres of land bounded by Wyoming, Michigan Avenue and I-94 on the eastern edge of Dearborn.
The area near the neighborhood has become dominated by trucks, trains, logistic operations and other heavy industry. The city has been buying up houses in the area since the late 1990s and owns 90 percent of the land in the neighborhood.
The buildings slated for demolition are currently vacant and in disrepair. The removal will eliminate visual blight, increase area safety, and reduce maintenance costs while the city prepares future improvements for the area in keeping with its Master Land Use Plan Update and the Mayor’s strategic plan, which is being managed by the Economic Development Department.
In a March 13 memo from Mayor Abdullah Hammoud to the City Council, he said the city intends to pivot from the past vision for the area as a space for additional logistics or industrial development and instead direct it toward something that contributes more directly to an increased quality of life in the area.
He said green space, increased stormwater management capacity, and other improvements will bring “vibrancy and resiliency” to the area.
Unspent and uncommitted Community Development Block Grant funding of $800,000 from the 2023-24 fiscal year could support the Wyoming commercial demolition project.
A property at 5063 Wyoming Ave. will be demolished as part of the city of Dearborn’s effort to remove neighborhood blight and expand both green space and stormwater management capacity to the Eugene-Porath area.