Farewell to a landmark: Sears closes
At the close of business on January 6th, 2019, Sears of Lincoln Park closed its doors for the final time. A department store chain that counted over 3,500 stores as recently as 2000 had declined to approximately 615 stores by 2017, and under 450 locations when the announcement affecting the Lincoln Park store was made. This closure occurred barely three months after the liquidation of the store at the neighboring Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn.
Once tabbed the most successful Sears location in the world, its 2019 closure officially sealed the end of the Sears Lincoln Park Plaza, which was the second of its type built Downriver back in 1956-57. It would lay in mothballs until being demolished in 2024 to make way for mixed-use development.
John Dingell left his mark Downriver
The Downriver area – and the country as a whole – was deeply saddened by the passing of a congressional patriarch, as longtime Congressman John Dingell lost his battle with cancer on February 7th, 2019 at the age of 92. A champion on the national stage in his never-ending fight for universal healthcare as well as his environmental focus, Dingell also served his local constituents with honor, pride, conviction and compassion.
Timetable finally in place for underpass?
The latest twist in the ongoing saga regarding the railroad crossings in Woodhaven would definitely reach fever pitch in March, 2019, where it was reported by WXYZ Channel 7 that a commuter waited for a stopped train to clear for two hours and five minutes.
Canadian National (CN), the owner of the maligned railway, did not attempt to deny or refute the story, owing the instance to a communications issue with another railroad provider.
Since the beginning of the year, Michigan State Representative Darrin Camilleri had been spearheading the latest effort to get an overpass constructed in the area to allow a freer flow of traffic, and to allow ambulances easy access past the railway toward Beaumont Trenton Hospital.
At least one death in an inbound ambulance had been reported within the past year, with family members indicating the tragedy would not have happened had they not been stopped by a train for over twenty minutes.
The late Representative John Dingell had in fact secured $10 million through a referendum in 2005. Shortly thereafter, it would be found that a complete project would cost an additional $12.5 million, which could not be raised in spite of several attempts.
In preparation for this, earlier in the year Woodhaven Mayor Patricia Odette announced a millage proposal to be voted upon at a special election in May. Preliminary designs were shown at a public hearing, which were significantly different this time around. Instead of the project concentrating on the Allen Road crossing, efforts would be moved to the Van Horn crossing, east of where a new I-75 service road had recently been completed.
All hopes were being placed on this May proposal, as failure to use the 2005 funds by September, 2019 would result in the forfeiture of said funds, and place local officials back at the proverbial “square one.” The vote would ultimately fail at the ballot box, 1402-1164, with Mayor Odette making the judgement call to “move on.”
Airline closure strands hockey team
Three Downriver students who had the opportunity to play for the local Junior Hockey League at an excursion in Poland would find themselves with no immediate route home in March, 2019 following the sudden closure of WOW Air, the aircraft carrier based in Iceland which had service from Detroit Metro Airport.
Among those caught during the closure was 18 year old Devin Stroia from Grosse Ile, member of the East Coast Spartans hockey team.
The amount of total passengers stranded at their pickup points due to the sudden airline closure were staggering to the point that other airlines, despite offering discounts due to the issue, found themselves overbooked more than a week in advance. Possible connecting flights would involve multiple carriers, many of which would not offer discount similar to other carriers, which would complicate matters. For the traveling hockey team, this would mean one week or more of unbudgeted hotel and food expenditures.
Wildfire strikes Fighting Island
The night of April 14th, 2019 brought what was, to many observers, a substantial fire affecting Fighting Island in the Detroit River opposite Wyandotte.
Final confirmations as to the cause would take some time to determine, but it was said the fire, which was contained to some twenty acres of marshland, was due to a Canadian Coast Guard exercise gone wrong.
The fire was first reported around 8:30 that evening. Coast Guard and a fire brigade from the town of LaSalle, Ontario would battle the fire.
It was fed by strong northerly winds pushing the fire southward toward the caretaker’s residence. For the record, crews from Michigan were not utilized. The particular policy in question dictates crews from a foreign country cannot voluntarily step in to help battle the fire; they could only respond if formally requested.
Upon observations from the shoreline, it appeared the entire northern half of the island may have been engulfed. However, evacuations of hunting dogs living on the property were not necessary, and the fire was reported under control by 2:45 a.m. the following morning.
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