Central City Alliance

Central City's Motor City Makeover

Sep 27, 2002

Central City Alliance coordinated Central City?’s first ever Motor City Makeover on Friday and Saturday, June 21 & 22. Over 40 men, women and children volunteered their time to remove piles of debris from the community?’s largest illegal dumping sites located on Hastings Street, Mansur, and Harper between Piquette and I-94.

The Wayne County Alternative Workforce helped collect and stack 120 abandoned tires from the streets and alleys, overgrown foliage was chopped down, pallets, broken glass, gas tanks and other indescribable debris was removed. There was so much garbage from illegal dumping that three large dumpster filled to the brim and two large dump trucks hauling and dumping over 12 loads was not enough to remove all the debris.

Piles of debris still sit despite the fact that CCA member Pete Peterson, of Fast Pete?’s Hauling, volunteered to donate his equipment to remove the remaining piles, if the City?’s Public Works Department authorized a dump site.

However, despite several calls from CCA and Albert Fields of the Mayor?’s Office, the Interim Deputy Director of the Public Works Dept., Ulysses Burdell, still refuses to make a four minute call to coordinate a place to dump the debris, so the rest of the debris will probably sit until it turns into lumps of coal.

The positive side to Central City?’s clean up efforts is that after several requests to the owner, the vacant Carter Color Coats factory is finally boarded up.

Sincere thanks goes out to Howard Brophy and staff of Brophy; Mark Bommarito and staff of Michigan Paper & Die; Bob Dunlop, Dave?’s Drive-In Restaurant; Stan Shepard, Shepard?’s Tune Up & Brakes; Mildred Thibodeaux, Detroit Art Space; Robin Buckson, Tangent Gallery; Pete Peterson & Bob, Fast Pete?’s Hauling; Carson Tutt, Alternative Workforce; and Principal, Imani Humphrey, students and faculty of the Aisha Shule/W.E.B. Dubois Public Charter School for volunteering their time, equipment, food and/or making a monetary donation to Central City?’s first Motor City Makeover - Great Job!