After nearly a century of service, DTE’s demolition of its landmark striped smokestacks in March followed by the boiler house at their Trenton Channel Powerplant in little more than 60 seconds made headlines this past month.
The symbolism of this event stands as something more than a transition away from coal-fired energy, ushering in a new era of regional metamorphosis for economic growth in the Downriver area of Wayne County. Trenton Mayor, Steven Rzeppa, stated that “the transformational symbolism of the DTE powerplant coming down is something worthy of discussion. Like many changes it comes with challenges but even more so with opportunities for the entire Downriver region.”
Trenton and other Downriver communities throughout the area are re-making themselves from what they were to what they can become with a holistic approach to remediation of riverfronts and former industrial sites that once ultimately defined Downriver. According to Mayor Rzeppa, “it’s been a public/private, government/industry collaboration that is reshaping the entire downriver area. “
The Downriver Community Conference (DCC), in conjunction with the area’s municipal governments are enlisting new strategies to transform decayed coal-fired plants and industrial sites once considered a blemish into potential assets for economic growth. According to Jazmine Danci, Administrator/Economic Development, “This moment is an opportunity for smaller Downriver communities to rethink their future. Residents in the Downriver region won’t need to continue viewing these sites as decaying industrial liabilities. We’ve held open listening forums so communities can feel more like stakeholders than observers in this movement. We’ve worked tirelessly to earn community trust that all of us living here want make these transformations successful.”
We’ve worked tirelessly to earn community trust that all of us living here want make these transformations successful.”
One shining example of what’s possible sits a few hundred feet south of DTE’s former powerplant site. The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge (North America’s only international wildlife refuge) has its Visitor Center on what was the site of a Chrysler Paint Plant. The before/after remediation and image are nothing short of miraculous.
As John H. Hartig, PhD · Board Member, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy noted, “this very section of the riverfront now looks much as it did when French explorer Cadillac ventured up the Detroit River 323 years ago before the area was settled.”
DTE is now making its largest investment in reconfiguring what had been their old powerplant into a battery storage and clean energy facility while communities throughout the downriver region are putting themselves in a better position to facilitate growth and investment working in tandem with state and federal agencies and through the DCC. So much of what’s happened already has spawned an entrepreneurial spurt of seismic proportions. Many new startup businesses have been registered through the SWCRC in cities both on and off the Detroit River front making this section of Wayne County something of an entrepreneurial ecosystem.
With great change comes great opportunity and the entire Downriver region is poised to fully leverage the transitions from past to future that are taking place in each of the area’s 18 communities. Whether emerging from the pandemic’s pause on progress or evolving from rustbelt to greenbelt economies, the public/private collaboration with the DCC, SWCRC and Destination Downriver have placed the Downriver region in the position to fully leverage opportunities already targeted and those that are still emerging.
