The University of Michigan’s
plan for its Detroit Center
for Innovation, announced in
October, has generated mixed
responses from the campus
community,
with
some
students creating a petition
condemning the center as a
sign of gentrification. The
Daily
spoke
with
several
Detroit residents about their
views on the Center..
The Center for Innovation
will be built on the site
formerly
set
aside
for
the
construction
of
the
proposed Wayne County Jail.
Construction of the jailcame
to a halt in 2013 after going $91
million over its initial $300
million budget.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said the University
aims to attract businesses
and entrepreneurs to Detroit
through
the
Center
for
Innovation.
“This new Detroit Center
for Innovation enhances that
legacy by meeting another
pressing
need
—
helping
to
further
the
economic
development of the city and
the region,” Fitzgerald wrote.
“As the president wrote in
his message to the campus
community last month, the
university will help provide a
pipeline of talent and platform
for
research
collaboration
to help grow and attract
businesses and entrepreneurs,
while positioning the future
workforce for success in a
dynamic
and
diversified
economy.”
A majority of the concerns
about the center lie around the
building’s impact on Detroit
residents.
The
petition,
titled “#UMichRegentrifiers:
Invest in Detroiters” stated
the University’s decision to
spearhead the center “signals
its priorities in Detroit do
not lie with Detroiters.” The
petition said the University’s
investment
in
Detroit
Renaissance
Real
Estate
Fund LP, a firm with ties to a
string of evictions in Detroit,
was a sign of the University’s
lack of genuine commitment
to the city. It also claimed
the
University
was
more
invested
in
gentrification
and
furthering
business
interests
than
supporting
Detroit residents. Staff of
the University’s Semester in
Detroit program also released
a statement questioning the
Center’s intentions.
LSA
junior
Oluwakemi
Dauda,
who
graduated
from the Benjamin Carson
High
School
of
Science
and Medicine in Detroit in
2017, said she, too, has
questions and concerns
about the building that
have yet to be answered.
“Being a site that has
had so many promises
for it, but that they
failed, I am concerned
if this amazing idea of
an
Innovation
Center
is going to actually fall
through,” Dauda said.
“My only other concern
is how it will impact
the
Detroit
residents.
How does that impact
residents from Detroit
being able to have access
to the Center, even if
they are not students?
Are
people
who
are
students from U of M
who are from Detroit,
do they have access to
this center? How will it
affect people who live
around this center?”
Dauda told The Daily
she sees potential in
the Detroit Center for
helping Detroit residents
and she hopes that the
University sees that potential
too.
“I really hope that they are
seeing more as a way to create
impact and not money,” Dauda
said. “Although, of course,
them being entrepreneurs and
businessmen, that’s always in
the back of their head. But I
feel when it comes to initiative
for a new business plan, like
the Innovation Center, I feel
like the forefront of their
minds should be that and not
the financials that come after
it.”
LSA
freshman
Chanel
Barnes
attended
Cass
Technical High School in
Detroit, which is close to
the proposed location of the
Innovation
Center.
Barnes
said her experience at the
University has really showed
her
how
much
Detroit
Public Schools are lacking in
providing a quality education.
She also said people often
come to downtown Detroit
and
take
resources
that
residents need.
Barnes
said
she
thinks
the new building does not
have any direct initiative for
students in the Detroit Public
School system and will have
greater
benefit
for
those
outside of Detroit.
“It
seems
like
they’re
putting more of the building
on people who are not of lower
income. It seems like it is
going to students who have a
higher privilege of education,”
Barnes said. “It is in the
downtown area, so I see it will
have an impact on the local
students and community in
general. But I won’t say it will
have a positive impact.”
Thomas Page, a Detroit
native and Los Angeles Police
Department
retiree,
has
returned to Michigan after
retiring and now works in the
community by leading bike
rides around Detroit.
2 — Tuesday, December 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Detroit residents reflect on new
building, impact of gentrification
Plans for construction of Center for Innovation sparks criticism, conversation
See DETROIT, Page 3