River Rouge drawbridge accident site
Three historic drawbridges have lined the Rouge River in the northern suburbs since the early 1900s, with locations on Dix Highway and Fort Street in Detroit, plus the Jefferson Avenue bridge on the northern border of River Rouge. Despite their reliability over the generations, age would begin to grip these structures in the 1990s, and plans were made to rehabilitate the Fort Street crossing adjacent to I-75. Due to the lack of quality replacement parts needed, reconstruction of the Fort Street site would take longer than the anticipated two years.
It was not seen as a problem with regard to detours until 2011, when an accident would disable the Jefferson Avenue drawbridge in an incident that could easily have been avoided with a more alert person staffing the bridge that day. Having lifted the bridge for a passing cargo ship, the operator (later found to be under the influence of substances) inadvertently lowered the drawbridge right onto the passing freighter. This caused significant structural damage to one of the main components of the bridge, bending beams to the point the structure was considered defective and unsafe, and was subsequently closed. It was the first major bridge accident (not including multiple collisions at the former King Road overpass on I-75) since the second crash at the Grosse Ile Toll Bridge in 1990.
It was thought the repair job on this structure would be somewhat quicker than the ongoing project taking place along Fort Street. This would prove to be a gross miscalculation, and the businesses in the northern half of River Rouge would begin to pay for this accident with their own well-being.
Fairlane Green, proposed Wal-Mart dooming Sears plaza?
Since the closing of Montgomery Ward in Southgate over ten years earlier, rumors had run rampant on where the next Wal-Mart superstore would locate, joining those already operating in Taylor and Woodhaven. The Wards site was the original site scouted, but had later drifted to the Sears Lincoln Park Center. With the opening of the Fairlane Green mega-complex (known to locals as “The Hill”), the majority of smaller stores at the Sears Center had moved on, putting the mall at 85% vacancy.
Plans were made to transfer the remaining stores to other plazas, demolish the strip mall, and build the Wal-Mart alongside the Sears building. A protracted battle would then engage between Sears and Lincoln Park over access rights. An alley behind Sears (on the border of Allen Park) was the focal point; in addition, part of the proposed Wal-Mart building would also spill into Allen Park.
After several months, the issue was ruled in favor of Sears: they did not have to cede access to the city of Lincoln Park for the project, which was quickly directed to Southgate. The new Wal-Mart would end up built on the site of the former Michigan Drive-In theater and Southtowne Crossing Shopping Plaza, which itself was down to two smaller tenants (a hair salon and Lew Silver Diamond Broker) at the time of its razing.
The Sears Center would end up with exactly one tenant: a Dollar Tree, once a Chinese restaurant and GNC outlet vacated. Plans were underway for Dollar Tree to take the storefront at Dix & Southfield (the former Great Scott / Perry Drug / Rite Aid building). Those plans fell through, with Dollar Tree management insisting all along there were no plans for them to move. The plaza itself, once 36 stores in all, would continue to deteriorate as development proposals continued to trickle in.
Ecorse Mayor Worthy is sentenced
On January 25, 2011, nearly 1 1/2 years after being arrested by FBI officials as part of a probable kickback scheme by a Public Works provider, Ecorse Mayor Herbert Worthy was officially sentenced to 18 months in federal prison despite the fact Ecorse voters re-elected him to office the prior November.
Worthy had won a second term in office in spite of those past troubles, for which he entered a guilty plea in 2010. He was one of four men overall who were implicated in a bribery and embezzlement scheme which cost Ecorse taxpayers to the tune of $3.1 million. When the Ecorse DPS was forced to lay off 70 workers, the Michigan Municipal Services company was hired to do the DPS work. The two other men involved were accused of bribing Hollenquest and Worthy with gifts in exchange for inflated invoice charges to the city.
Pinnacle Racecourse meets finality
Upon further investigation into the matter of Pinnacle Raceway – which was by now waging a losing battle in logistics as well as sympathy – even before Huron Schools brought the tax matter to light, it was found Pinnacle management had gone to the Michigan Tax Tribunal, asking for a lower assessment on the buildings & grounds.
This was needless as Pinnacle technically owned nothing thanks to the Land Bank designation still in effect.
They also tried to split the land with a Chippewa Indian tribe in hopes that a casino of their own could finally be built within the city. That would fall through easily, as taxes would need to be paid for such a split to take place… which took them right back to the starting gate.
No further horses would emerge from this gate as, by 2012, Pinnacle was closed for good and the property set for auction.
downriverhistory.blog 