Memories of a Hidden River Daylighting Rouge will enhance quality of life in downtown Northville By Marie McCormick
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ransplanted from the Southwest at the age of two, my family landed in the quaint, still somewhat countryside of Northville in 1988. I consider myself a native of the ‘Ville insomuch that I have no memory of life before. In 1991 when apartment living no longer suited our growing family, my mother took my sister and I to the front of our now family home and asked: So, is this where you want to live? Some of my fondest memories are of living so close to both Hines Park and downtown Northville. We played along the banks of the Rouge River, on the swings and play equipment as a child and throughout the disc golf course in my later teens. I worked summers as one of very few female umpires in Northville Parks and Recreation softball and baseball in the diamonds along the Rouge; endless winters tobogganing in Bennett
14 The ‘Ville
Arboretum; bike trips to Meads Mill. At the end of our street – Gardner Street – runs River Street. The two streets “T-bone” near the southeast corner of Northville Downs. We walked River Street to downtown – or skirted along the sidewalk-less edges to access Hines Park or get a treat at Custard Time. We sometimes poked our fingers through chain link fence at a random horse stabled for the weekend during a race at the track. We didn’t linger long, though. Children and families don’t play there. It’s a strange property between Hines Park and downtown that currently carries very little connection between the two draws. RIVER STREET IRONY There is a great irony about River Street, considering you can’t actually see the river. It’s hidden from sight. From Beal
Northville native Marie McCormick looks through the fence at Northville Downs. The Rouge River runs under the track property (top left) before coming to the surface in Hines Park near Seven Mile.
Street to Seven Mile, the river flows beneath a thick layer of concrete. This branch of the Rouge is called the Walled Lake Branch. It flows north to south from Oakland County through the cider mill, past Mill Race Village/Ford Field and the historic Water Wheel (formerly one of Henry Ford’s Village Industries), behind the Wagon Wheel bar -- only to disappear at Beal Street for a quarter mile paralleling River Street until it daylights again at the confluence of Johnson Creek near Seven Mile. The Walled Lake Branch of the Rouge River flows through important parts of the City of Northville, hugging the north and east side of downtown. The areas of town that have access to surface water draw high demand for passive recreational access - including biking, walking, fishing, and picnicking. Whispers of future development at the Downs
site have been urban legend for my entire life. Now that a development plan has been proposed, possibilities of resurrecting the Rouge River are on my mind and many other local residents. Daylighting this section of the Rouge River currently covered in concrete will offer Northville multiple benefits to the overall quality of life - something that will not likely be an option again in any of our lifetimes. FULL CIRCLE Coming full circle, the redevelopment of the Downs property sits not only dear to the heart of my childhood, but also the work I do professionally. I had the privilege of returning to my ‘hometown watershed’ two years ago when I was hired as executive director of Friends of the Rouge. This nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization was founded in