Louis Armstrong (Wikipedia photo)
The city of Detroit is looking to redevelop an area once known as Harmonie Park, and before that, Paradise Valley, a bustling entertainment and business district for black residents in Detroit from the 1920s to the 1950s, Motor City Muckraker reports.
The area, bounded by Adams, Brush, Alexandrine and I-75, was eventually paved over as part of the urban renewal, Steve Neavling writes:
Now the city of Detroit is hoping to resurrect some of the area that once attracted jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong.
The city’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is seeking proposals “to restore and honor the rich cultural, economic and historical heritage of the former Paradise Valley within the area formerly known as Harmonie Park.”
The DDA owns five buildings and two parking lots in the area and wants to find a new use for them. Proposals are due by Nov. 11.
