Mill Run Project

Henry Ford purchased the old Newburgh Cider Mill in 1933 and razed the existing structure to construct a new building on the site in 1935. Local farmers and Rouge Plant workers were employed to build the new plant, which specialized in the production of twist drills and drill bits.

Ford Motor Company sold the Newburgh Mill facility to the Wayne County Road Commission in 1948. It was used for decades by the Road Commission's Forest Division and later became home to the Wayne County Sheriff's mounted division.

Wayne County, in conjunction with local stakeholders and community leaders, identified a rehabilition plan for Newburgh Mill presented by Newburg Mill LLC that will reactivate the site and celebrate its history through public interpretive space.The sale of the property and the Newburg Mill LLC plan was approved by the Wayne County Commission in November 2019.

The mill itself will be redeveloped in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Additionally, this development will better connect Newburgh Mill's green space with Hines Park trails and facilities and create new access points to the neighboring lake that has been historically blocked from public use. Newburgh Mill as it looked in December 2018.

Artist's rendering of rehabilitated Newburgh Mill and property, based on a pending proposal from Newburg Mill, LLC.

After purchasing the original Wilcox Gristmill, Henry Ford razed the dilapidated structure and constructed a new building in 1923. The facility initially produced generator cutouts and later it produced taps, a tool used for forming internal screw threads. For a time, 95% of Ford Motor Company's tap production took place here.

After Ford's tap operations were moved to Waterford, the company deeded the property to Wayne County in 1948. It has been a maintenance facility, a work station for the county's alternative work force, and a storage space.

Wayne County, in conjunction with local stakeholders and community leaders, is actively working with Tony Roko and the Art Foundation toward a proposed redevelopment plan for the Wilcox Mill site. The sale of the property and the Art Foundation's plan was approved by the Wayne County Commission in November 2019. The Art Foundation plan will transform Wilcox Mill into an arts campus with public greenspace open from dusk to dawn and a public sculpture garden.

The mill itself will be redeveloped in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Additionally, this potential development plan includes improved connections between Wilcox Mill's green space and Hines Park trails and facilities, as well as to surrounding neighborhoods.

Henry Ford purchased this site in 1920. It had been the site of the Phoenix Gristmill, built in 1840, and the Matthews Distillery. Both had burned down. Ford constructed a new building in 1922, designed by legendary architect Albert Kahn, beside the millpond of Phoenix Lake. The plant was unique in that it employed mostly women because Ford felt that women were more adept at assembling delicate electrical parts such as voltage meters, light switches, and generator cutouts.

Ford Motor Company deeded the property to Wayne County in 1948 after it moved these operations to Ypsilanti. Phoenix Mill has served as a maintenance facility for the County. For 25 years it served as the Wayne County Road Commission's sign shop and later it was home to Wayne County's Bridges Division.

In 2018, the Wayne County Commission approved a development agreement with Critical Mass, LLC to rehabilitate the building while respecting original styling envisioned by Ford and Kahn, incorporating public uses and interpretive space. In addition to reactivating the space and celebrating its history, the Phoenix Mill development envisions better connecting the Phoenix Mill site's green space with Hines Park trails and facilities. The project plan calls tangible steps toward that goal, including removing fencing that separates the mill from the park as well as adding bicycle parking, flower beds, improving public access to the river, and opening up the viewshed to Phoenix Lake.

Few Wayne County operations are more important to residents than our park system. That's why we've undertaken a project, dubbed Mill Run, to rehabilitate three historic Ford Motor Company mills currently owned by the County. In addition to reopening the mills for public uses, the project will open to the public currently inaccessible green space, create new trail connections, and ultimately expand the size of Hines Park. Unfortunately some misinformation has been spread about Mill Run. We'd like to correct the record.

MYTH: Hines Park is for sale.

REALITY: The County is not selling Hines Park. Rather, our plans expand park acreage and identify ways to make the Park a more attractive destination for nature lovers, cyclists, runners, and history enthusiasts. Hines Parks' footprint is 2,300 acres. Wayne County is seeking development partners for four parcels of land totaling 21 acres. These 21 acres are former factory sites, with environmentally compromised, underused land that is inaccessible to the public. Three of the parcels have on it a run-down historic mill. The County's development partner would rehabilitate the mill preserving the mill's historical legacy while, at the same time, creating more publicly accessible green space. The first of these partnerships covering the Phoenix Mill property has an agreement that accomplishes these worthy goals. As we expand the public use of these 21 acres, Wayne County Parks and the Wayne County Land Bank are identifying parcels of County-owned land to add to Hines Park. So far, we've earmarked 16 acres of new land for in Hines Park and expect to identify at least 29 acres on new park land for Hines Park. The net impact of this project is a larger Hines Park.

MYTH: If the mills are sold, they're gone forever.

REALITY: The mills will remain where they are. Instead, however, of remaining run-down former manufacturing sites that are inaccessible to the public, under the development agreements, the mills will be rehabilitated and available for public use for the first time in 70 years. Any developer will have to agree protect the mill structures, create new trail connections on land where no current bike or hiking trails exist and open green space that is currently inaccessible to the public. This can, only, happen by engaging development partners for the Mill Run properties.

MYTH: Nankin Mills is for sale.

REALITY: Nankin Mills is not for sale. It is the crown jewel of Hines Park and the headquarters for the Wayne County Parks Division. The Department of Public Services is investing more than $800,000 to renovate the Nankin Mills Interpretive Center, improve its animal habitats and fabricate new exhibits. Work is to start on this project in the coming months.


MYTH: The Parks millage could be used to restore the mills instead of selling them.

REALITY: Wayne County can't afford to restore or even maintain these mills from millage funds. The cost to rehabilitate the three mills is estimated in the millions. This price tag, likely, exceeds the annual capital improvements revenue generated by the Parks millage. Diverting funds from the Parks millage or other County sources would mean defunding other important parks projects and, even then, the Parks millage, likely, wouldn't cover the cost of this project. The ¼ mill Parks millage is the primary revenue source for the entire Wayne County Parks system, comprised of 5,600 acres of parkland. Wayne County Parks are drastically underfunded compared to similar systems. The millage funds available for capital improvements in FY 2019 total $2.6 million. More than $1.3 million of that budget is allocated by Wayne County Commissioners for park projects in local municipalities, leaving about $1.3 for capital improvements throughout the entire Wayne County Park system.

MYTH: These properties have deed restrictions and are integrated into Hines Park.

REALITY: The Ford Motor Company donated or sold these mill properties for $1 to Wayne County. There are no deed restrictions prohibiting the sale of these properties. They've never been programmed as public space by Wayne County Parks. Some of the land is even zoned by local communities as residential. While Wayne County has the right to sell these properties, Wayne County is only interested in selling to developers who will accept the development agreements that will increase public access to this land and preserve the historic mills.


MYTH: There is no information available on this project.

REALITY: Information on this project has been readily available. In addition to the public discussions about the Phoenix Mill sale during Commission sessions and committee meetings, Wayne County leadership has discussed this project with a local media and the County Executive has answered letters of concern from residents. Additionally, the Administration has met or communicated with local officials and more than 15 nonprofit organizations on more than 50 occasions to ensure this project is shaped by community input and support.

Please visit waynecounty.com/millrun to learn about the project, review public documents, and keep abreast of the latest developments. In the coming months, as redevelopment plans progress, there will be public informational meetings to discuss the project and seek input from community leaders, local elected officials, and residents.

The Friends of the Detroit River [FDR], along with several regional nonprofits and government agencies, will receive a $1.9 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation for an Iron Belle Trail Continuation project. The project will complete plans for 3.5 miles of trail gaps and enhance the Iron Belle Trail connections between Detroit and the Downriver communities. When completed, the Iron Belle Trail will span 48 counties and more than 2,000 miles statewide, including 25 miles through the Downriver communities.

Partners in the massive project with FDR, the grant fiduciary, are Downriver Linked Greenways, Wayne County, MotorCities National Heritage Area and the Department of Natural Resources.

Within the Downriver area, the project spans multiple municipalities and affects more than half a million residents. The overall goal of the project is to strengthen connections between the Downriver Linked Greenways and the Hines Park Greenway to Detroit Greenways, ultimately serving 1.75 million people in the Detroit Metro region.

The project will increase bicycle access to parks, including Lake Erie Metropark, stretching from Flat Rock to Detroit along the Iron Belle Trail and west through Hines Park to Northville. It will improve trail-road crossings and trail gateways, and create a new park commemorating the 1932 Hunger March in Southwest Detroit.

Said David Howell, board chairman for FDR, "This project provides long-awaited plans to fill gaps in southeast Michigan greenways and will implement some exciting features along the way. It will greatly increase the quality of life and recreation throughout the area."

Downriver Linked Greenway's Anita Twardesky, agrees. "Since 1998, Downriver Linked Greenways has strived to connect our communities via a comprehensive trail system. This system provides opportunities for both recreational use and non-motorized transportation. In addition, access to our natural resources is key to our region for both economic development benefits and recreation use."

The Iron Belle Trail Continuation project, and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Grant, are the result of years' worth of partnering between the groups involved in the project. The initial gap study began in 2015 and identified key areas that would complete and strengthen this segment of the Iron Belle Trail. From there the five groups came together to shape a larger vision.

The groups identified seven major tasks in the project, outlined briefly below. Work begins immediately on the Iron Belle Trail Continuation Project. For more information, contact Friends of the Detroit River at www.detroitriver.org

1. Route Gap Planning, Design and Engineering: Adding more than three and a half miles of trail in Detroit and downriver communities to fill gaps in the statewide Iron Belle Trail.
2. Road Crossing Design and Engineering: Improving or creating safe road crossings at 17 major road intersections along the Iron Belle Trail.
3. Marketing and Branding Plan: Promoting Destination Downriver, a collaborative effort to recognize the regional trail network as an important tourist destination and an asset to the region.
4. Hines Park Connector Framework Plan: Support a professionally led, community-driven Framework Plan for the Hines Park Connector, which will link the Iron Belle Trail and downtown Detroit with western Wayne County communities using the Rouge River gateway corridor, among other routes. New non-motorized access to routes from neighborhoods surrounding Hines Park will be explored-29 potential access points are already identified. Preservation and potential for repurposing of the historic Ford Mill sites to a use compatible with the park will also be explored.
5. Gateways Feature Planning and Construction: Adding iconic entryway features to the north and west entry points of the Downriver Linked Greenways in Southwest Detroit and Flat Rock.
6. Fort Street Bridge Park Construction: Transforming a neglected urban space into a landmark park in the city's most industrial zip code, 48217. The new park will commemorate the 1932 Hunger March, a major turning point in national labor movement history, and serve as a resting space along the Iron Belle Trail where the Downriver Linked Greenways, Detroit Greenways and connector to Hines Park Greenway intersect.
7. Capacity Building and Project Sustainability: Ensuring long-term sustainability for our trail system, funds will go toward pursuit of implementation dollars for planning tasks moving forward and establishing maintenance agreements and ensuring that all aspects of the project remain on track and successful for many years to come.

About Friends of the Detroit River

Friends of the Detroit River, a nonprofit, was formed in 1992 by a group of citizens dedicated to preserving and maintaining the habitat of the Detroit River. Founded on the belief that coastal wetland habitats in the Detroit River are the responsibility and privilege of all of the area's citizens, FDR works to rehabilitate and restore many of the area's shorelines. The Detroit Riverkeeper program was established in 2002.

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