2007: A summary

Phoenix Engine Center rewarded to Trenton

Chrysler would announce on April 18, 2007 that the decision had been made to build a new Phoenix engine plant alongside the Trenton Engine Plant, with a hoped-for start-up date of 2010. This plant would eventually replaced operations at the older adjacent facility, which was nearing the end of its expected useful tenure.

The State of Michigan and Wayne County were commended for the project becoming a reality, as was Chrysler and their building engineers for being flexible. By reducing their square footage needs from 1.2 million to 804,000, it finally solved the question of whether Van Horn Road would have be closed down between Fort Street and West Jefferson to allow for the project. The difference in area would allow Van Horn to remain an important thoroughfare to Jefferson Avenue and Grosse Ile Township.

Farmer Jack dims remaining stores

In early July, all remaining 66 stores in the Farmer Jack grocery store chain were shuttered, acting on a decision by parent operator Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) to pull out of its Midwestern U.S. investments and concentrate on its core stores in the Northeast which bore their name.

With A&P also citing “unsatisfactory operating trends,” it brought the end of an 82-year run of a chain formed by Tom Borman and uniting with his brother’s chain as Food Fair in 1955. It had become Farmer Jack in 1966 and, though always based in Metro Detroit, had even seen an brief 1980s expansion that included stores in Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Seven stores were located Downriver at the time of their closure.

Airport expansion jeopardizes south end

Trying to capitalize on the recent wave of reconstruction at Metro Airport, Authority Chairman Lester Robinson announced further, more ambitious plans for the facility, now named the 13th busiest airport in America. The 2007 announcements included a light-rail system traveling north-south which would link the airport terminals directly with the car rental agencies on Lucas Drive. The possibility of a third new terminal building was also discussed.

The plan which generated local headlines, however, was the proposition of a fourth parallel runway which would be constructed adjacent to Middlebelt Road. A taxiway required for the runway would travel as far south as Pennsylvania Road, which would affect many homes and some small businesses. It also raised the possibility both Eureka and Middlebelt Roads would either have to be tunneled underneath the proposed runway, or cut off altogether. As both these roads were major roads linking the airport with the community, the debate over this expansion would continue on.

Ecorse continues to battle the odds

Meanwhile, another round of embezzlement accusations was hitting the city of Ecorse. Among several issues being debated was one regarding the abandoned Michigan Steel Works (MSW) site on Mill Street near Jefferson. In 2006 it had been scheduled to be dismantled, with Ecorse potentially being able to net $10 million in scrap sales of steel and copper on the site. Plans were to redevelop the parcel to house 300 waterfront condos along the Ecorse River, plus office and retail areas. But eyebrows would raise when Ecorse could prove only $2 million out of the $10 million scrap investment was realized.

The matter would be referred to the Michigan State Attorney General’s office. In the ensuing weeks, the home of Councilman Arnold Lackey was raided, with a computer confiscated.

In 2007), voters in the city spoke loudly as virtually the entire elected officials roster was replaced, with the exception of Treasurer Doris Young. The new administration was led by Mayor Herbert Worthy, whose staff found immediate dissatisfaction with the officials’ pay scale. The last acts of the previous administration slashed payroll, cutting the mayor’s annual salary from $69,000 to $12,000, while council members suffered a cut from $14,000 to $5,000 annually. Immediately, the new sitting council voted to overturn these pay restrictions, but the procedure would have to go through court before any changes could be made.

Downriver Thoroughbred racing?

While the Racino idea would fade in the ensuing years as attempts to block the building of the complex were made by the three Detroit casinos, the horse racetrack would end up taking form in 2007 on several hundred acres of land to the south. Given the name Pinnacle Racetrack, it was located near Sibley & Vining Roads. The time between the project’s initial announcement and initial site approval was in record time: just over one month. Further plans were in the works to make the construction multi-phase, with a bare-bones Phase One operation to complete the following summer, with a grandstand of 1,000 built to see the horse racing.

Pinnacle Race Course in Romulus was due to open to the public in the summer of 2008.

Missing persons case turns baffling

Police and Fire personnel had responded to a house fire in the Dawnshire Subdivision in Riverview – adjacent to the WJR radio tower – on January 8, 2007. The house was gutted and slated to be demolished afterward. One of the home’s co-owners, however, would be unaccounted for following the event, and fast began to dominate Downriver headlines as an exhaustive manhunt would get underway in the ensuing months. The one year anniversary of the event would turn up a significantly reduced amount of reputable leads in the case.

Cadaver dogs were sent into neighboring fields in an attempt to find evidence. Nearly 40 officers from Downriver Mutual Aid as well as the Coast Guard joined helicopter searches, which turned up no trace of 49 year-old Lizzie Mae Collier-Sweet, the wife of prime suspect Richard Sweet. Police believed from the beginning that Richard had a hand in both the fire and his wife’s disappearance. Disturbing evidence regarding an illicit affair Sweet had been having with another individual raised suspicions further, as he would be on the books for not only rape charges with that individual, but for the murder of his first wife, which he was awaiting trial for.

Initial evidence against Sweet would run into a roadblock later in the year, with said evidence being declared inadmissable, as the information was purported to have been gathered illegally.