“Part of my role was just a neighbor who really cared what was happening in the neighborhood in this giant, empty lot and I wanted to ensure that I could bring my neighbor’s voices and amplify it in whatever way I could.”
Eleanor Moreno is a Grand Rapids School Board member and represents the Neighborhood Partners Committee. They say the opening of Unity Park in the city’s Roosevelt Park neighborhood is a bittersweet moment, as the park aims to honor who and what came before.
“I think there are so many beautiful elements about this park that do just that.”
Reminders such as the steeple from St. Joseph the Worker Church, which once stood on the site, have been repurposed into a bulletin kiosk, as well as the church’s organ pipes being painted and made into a water sculpture.
“I think the joy out of this, when I drive by tomorrow, it is going to see all the kids after school taking ownership of this space.”
The city invested over $2 million in the project, which was designed with input from residents to reflect the culture and history of the neighborhood.
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