Mayor Mike Duggan | City of Detroit
Mayor Mike Duggan | City of Detroit
- Community members, advocates, and family work to keep Stoudamire's legacy alive
- Renaming sparks a more than $200,000 park improvement plan
Stoudamire's family and friends said his loss had a tremendous impact on not just his family but the City of Detroit. "Marlowe was a tireless advocate for the City of Detroit, sharing his love for this city everywhere he went," explained Stoudamire's brother, Ricardo Marble.
Sharing his love for the Motor City while keeping his legacy alive, officials, community leaders, and nearly 700 neighbors worked to secure the renaming of Troester-Hayes Park to "Marlowe Stoudamire Park." It's the park where he and his siblings grew up playing, blocks from their childhood home.
"Marlowe once said Detroit is the most authentic city in the country, and he would challenge anyone who thought otherwise,” explained Marble. “To name a park after him would ensure that his legacy will continue and show everyone that grew up in the 48205 zip code as we did, that you matter and you can make a difference like my baby brother did."
The hope is that renaming the Park after Stoudamire, who represented 48205 neighborhoods all over the globe while staying true to himself and where he was from, will empower the community, especially children.
"What made Marlowe special wasn't just the fact that he could connect one-on-one with anybody; it was the fact that he would take those connections and find commonality between individuals of different backgrounds and cultivate ways to bring them together to collaborate on shared interests and needs," added Stoudamire's widow, Valencia Stoudamire.
Though his more than four-decade legacy will live on through city parks; community advocates, neighbors, and elected officials said his work and dedication to the city will be forever more.
"Marlowe Stoudamire was loved, admired, and respected by those who knew him," said Councilwoman Latisha Johnson. "The reason is simply that he loved, admired, and respected them. His life's work is a testament to this fact. His intelligence, compassion, and selflessness enabled him to accomplish so much for many in such a short time. Marlowe leaves a legacy of love, and the Marlowe Stoudamire Park is a fitting tribute to his legacy and will forever remind us of his goodness and charity."
Along with park renaming, there are also park improvements in the works. The City of Detroit has $240,000 from the Pistons Palace endowment with the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan for capital improvements for the plan. The plan is to fundraise to complete a full park renovation over the next year, to start community engagement, and to design park improvements beginning next month.
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