Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015
Robinwood Park and the Parks Plan, 1980
As the 1970s drew to a close, the Troy Parks and Recreation Department found it increasingly difficult to find federal funds to develop park land. It was clear that municipalities with a master plan for parks had an advantage in the stiff competition for funds. The City of Troy’s parks plan was only a component of its 1965 City Master Plan.
In 1978 the Parks and Rec Department was authorized to retain Anderson-Lesniak to develop a master plan. When the document was finished, the Parks board held a public hearing, in November 1980. The most vocal opposition came from residents near Morse Elementary School, who worried that if a park was developed in their neighborhood, it would attract “rowdy young persons” and gang activity, especially since there had been a string of break-ins nearby. Parks director Roger Kowalski assured residents that there would be a 50-foot “buffer zone” between homes and a proposed park and that residents would continue to have input before the park was developed.
Troy City Council approved the new Parks Plan in January 1981, By 1986, Section 27 Park, as it was called before being named, had 18 acres of mostly wooded area and one small playground.
Moiseeff, Delores. 1977. Troy to develop long-range park plans. Oakland Press (Pontiac MI), September 2.
Eccentric (Troy MI). 1978. Parks plan in works. February 16.
Daily Tribune (Royal Oak MI). 1980. Troy school site to become city park. October 14.
Eccentric (Troy MI). 1980. School site to be city park. November 10.
Eccentric (Troy MI). 1980. Hearing on parks. November 10.
Daily Tribune (Royal Oak MI). 1980. Troy master parks plan draws Morse-area worry. November 14.
Snyder, Jesse. 1980. Troy public hearing shapes park system. Daily Tribune (Royal Oak MI), November 13.
DeGeorge, Gail. 1980. Plan for parks has weathered public scrutiny. Eccentric (Troy MI), November 17.
Daily Tribune (Royal Oak MI). 1981. Troy okays park plan. January 7.
Haldane, Neal, and Sharon Dargay. 1986. A look at Troy’s 13 parks: They provide close-to-home fun for 75,000 residents. Eccentric (Troy MI), May 15.
httpss://www.troymi.gov/Portals/0/Files/ParksRec/ParksRecMasterPlanFinalDraft.pdf (current parks plan)
To commemorate the City of Troy’s 60th Anniversary in 2015, we will publish a different story each day that highlights a person, discovery, or event that occurred locally, regionally, nationally, or even globally between 1955 and 2015 and that helped shape our lives and our community. We will try to post stories on important anniversary dates, but we also realize that dates are less critical than content and context. We will include the facts related to controversial stories, allowing our readers to form their own opinions. We invite you to read and comment on the stories. Your suggestions for topics are also welcome and can be posted on our Facebook page, www.troyhistoricvillage/facebook. You can also email stories or ideas to the 365 Story Editor at ed@thvmail.org.
