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right piece of vacant land in the city of 
Detroit, in a community that wants horses 
to be part of the neighborhood’s future,
” 
he explains. “To build an urban equestrian 
center so we can scale up this unique youth 
program, and that this new facility will be 
part of stronger Detroit neighborhoods.
” 
On Tuesday, June 11, the Detroit Public 
Schools Community District Board of 
Education unanimously approved Detroit 
Horse Power’s purchase of a 14-acre site in 
the Hope Village neighborhood at Fenkell 
and Linwood, formerly the home of the 
Paul Robeson School, which was demol-
ished in 2012 after a fire destroyed the 
building in 2011.

With site plan approval granted by 
the City of Detroit’s Building Safety 
Engineering and Environmental 
Department in June as well, Detroit Horse 
Power is on its way to offering not only 
programming but also a vibrant communi-
ty hub for its neighbors. 
“This unique project has received two 
major milestones on our path to turning 
this transformational vision into a reali-
ty by owning the land and receiving the 
municipal approvals needed for success,” 
he explains. “We really want this to be an 
asset for the community.” 
They’ll be securing horses for their 
new facility in the coming year to year-

and-a-half, he says, including ones for 
experienced students and ones that can 
work well with beginning riders at a range 
of sizes. They expect to have about 15 
full-time employees as well as volunteers 
involved with the organization, which he 
says has raised $5.2 million, with another 
$1.4 million pending of its $11.4 million 
capital campaign goal. New market tax 
credits should help round out their fund-
ing after they hit around $9 million. “We’re 
working to close a gap of about $2.4 mil-
lion, which will keep us on pace to open in 
2025,” he explains. 
Meanwhile, he credits the communi-
ty for its support of the organization’s 
progress. “I think we’ve only gotten that 
far because there are people that have 
embraced this kind of out-of-the-box 
vision for horses to be a part of Detroit’s 
future.”

COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Arthur Horwitz of West Bloomfield, pub-
lisher emeritus of the Jewish News, says he’s 
been fascinated by Silver’s plans for estab-
lishing an urban equestrian center, which 
spoke to Horwitz’s own story of connecting 
with horses when he was in middle school. 

An artist's vision of what 
Detroit Horse Power in 
Hope Village will look like.

The proposed lobby of the 
facility, which will break 
ground later this year.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DETROIT HORSE POWER

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