The Riverfront East Alliance (REAL) came together a decade ago this month to fight the construction of the three permanent casinos in the East Riverfront district.
They won that battle, and are now focused on positive developments in the area like the Watermark,
the Riverwalk and the Detroit
Elevator and Globe Buildings. They are also working with entities interested in redeveloping structures like the Detroit Armory
building and Shapiro Hall.
The organization plans to celebrate its first ten years with a community forum entitled Going for the Gold (20 Years). The forum will bring together organizations from within REAL's boundaries(I-75, Gratiot, E. Jefferson,
and Van Dyke) to ultimately bring about positive changes in the community.
Organizations -- including Lafayette Park 50, Community Foundation of
Southeastern Michigan, the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, Eastern Market
Corporation, The Villages and the Detroit Historic Preservation Coalition Task
Force -- will also each have an opportunity to talk about their individual efforts as well as planning collaborations on areas of focus, such as security, that overlap.
The forum be held on Spetember 21 at Christ Church Detroit,
located at 960 E. Jefferson Avenue near I-375. Regular REAL meetings are held at the same location on the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. Call 313-438-4143 for more information.
Source: REAL
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.