Rouge Park is bounded, roughly, by the CSX Railroad on the North, by Outer Drive, West Parkway and Parkland on the West; West Warren on the South and Trinity and Burt Road on the East. It is located on the far west side of Detroit.
In the 1920s, the City of Detroit paid $1.3 million to purchase land from six farmers at the western edge of the city to be used for Rouge Park. The Brennan Pools are a major feature. There are two Olympic-sized pools side by side and a smaller diving pool. This athletic facility is located near the intersection of Plymouth and Outer Drive.The smaller diving pool has since been removed.
The Rouge Park pools had a special roll in the history of the city. The 1956 United States' tryouts for the Olympic team were held here in the pools that Albert Kahn designed in the 1920s. The city of Detroit sought to host the 1968 summer Olympics. There was a very spirited and sometimes hostile competition between Detroit and Los Angeles since the U. S. Olympic Committee could nominate only one potential host city. Detroit won that competition. In the summer of 1963, the International Olympic group met in Germany to select the host city for the 1968 competition. Four cities sought the award: Buenos Aries, Detroit, Lyon and Mexico City. W hen the final vote was taken, Detroit lost to Mexico City by one vote.
The city’s population began to decline and issues other than park development took center stage. As the city sunk into debt in the Twentieth First Century, it could no longer afford to maintain the Brennan pools. They were abandoned by the city in 2010. In 2014, the Michigan state legislature and the Lear Corporation appropriated funds to restore the pool to their glory. In the summer of 2014, the restored pools were officially opened when the Republican leader of the state senate jumped into the pools to symbolize some of a revival for this great park in Detroit. Fortunately, there is now an active Friends of Rouge Park organization promoting the development of this potentially great urban park.
Information from www.Detroit1701.org Detroit The History and Future of the Motor City
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This Park is open Dawn to Dusk!
Hunting this cache at night is NOT recommended!
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