Work Begins at Broadway Park West

 

Broadway Park West work site over the winter months. © Dawn Nelson.

Work has begun at the new riverfront development known as Broadway Park West. I watched semi trucks roll in on Monday, March 10th to start off the week, after a few sentinel pickup trucks made their appearance over the weekend. 

I imagine things will move swiftly now. For the time being, I will enjoy the open view. Once the buildings go up, the view will be forever obstructed. 

Time is of the essence.

---

© Dawn Nelson 2025. All Rights Reserved.

A New Pedestrian Bridge

The new pedestrian bridge. Photo taken late February 2025. 

 

The new pedestrian bridge has been installed at Broadway Park West. It won't be available for quite some time, but it is impressive in its stature and placement. 

© Dawn Nelson 2025

Seasons Change

Snowy mums, early November. Photo by author.

The mums are out. 

I had to find winter homes for some of our plants outside work these past few weeks.

Still have a few that need to go.

Most importantly, I found a tree to climb in Wheeler Park.

Notables: 

The bulldozers are moving the earth over on the Broadway Park West development and have apparently now replaced all of the contaminated soil. Seems hard to believe, but it appears to be a reality.

There is another beer garden going up over on the east side of the Broadway Bridge called Lo (short for Lowertown Cafe, I believe). 

Casey's Tavern beer garden is closed for the season.

The Conscious Cafe series continues on Tuesday mornings at the NEW Center from 8am to noon or so.

More soon...

October Days

 Notes from the Neighborhood

Casey's Tavern beer garden, established 2023. Photo by author.

Casey's Tavern opened their beer garden on October 6th! Open Thursday through Saturday from 4 to 9:30pm, weather permitting. Offering beer and wine and small snacks, with the option to order carryout food from Casey's full menu. It is quite the transformation from the old lumberyard!

Speaking of third spaces, a popup café series called the Conscious Café is held every Tuesday at the NEW Center at 1100 N. Main Street. Donations welcome.

If you stop by the Summit Street Party Shoppe when they first open, you will hear the egg rolls sizzling in the kitchen as they make them fresh for the day. I am always amazed at the selection of items in this little bodega. For instance, you can choose from 2 different types of ginger beer, at least a dozen different types of juice, or pick up eggs and kosher hot dogs for your weekly grocery needs.

If you are taking a train anywhere, show up early--the train is only at the station for 4 or 5 minutes before moving on. I watched someone miss their train by a difference of maybe 30 seconds. His beseeching the train engineer to stop was of course met with no avail. Moral of the story: don't be late.

More updates soon, cheers!

Autumn Days ~ 1st edition

Notes from the Neighborhood

The Fed Up Ministries food truck at the NEW Center party. 

Highlights from the past couple weeks: 

• No new seasonal newspaper from the rail advocacy group just yet. The Amtrak station has a few copies of the summer edition though; hopefully the latest will be out soon. 
• The NEW Center (nonprofit workspace) celebrated their 30 year anniversary with a party and dancing. While I remember this location once hosted something called the Art Train, I learned that the whole place used to be a scrapyard.
• I was also reminded that Wheeler Park is named after the first African American mayor of Ann Arbor, Alma Wheeler.
• Fed Up Ministries food truck was onsite at the party at the NEW Center, bringing awareness to the need for food justice.
• The Conscious Cafe continues the Tuesday series at the NEW Center through October.
• Casey's Tavern opened a beer garden on the weekends (Thursday, Friday, Saturday).
• There appears to be another beer garden in development on the other side of the bridge. Oooh, competition, how exciting! Places to go, people to see, beer to imbibe. 

That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

Notes from the Neighborhood

Now that the academic year has kicked in, along with the football season, things are becoming more dynamic in this town. 

After I left work on Saturday night, I walked over to the train station to see if the latest Michigan Rail Passenger newspaper had come out for the season (not yet). As I passed by Casey's Tavern, I could see the football game on the television through the window. I'd never realized how well it appears to be a sports bar from across the street. 

I guess we're doing something right over there. 

Some interesting things I have found of late in the neighborhood: 

• Summit Street party store carries eggs and a number of deli and hot food items for lunch. I stopped in one morning on my way to work and the fellow offered to make a fresh pot of coffee. Instead I opted for an orange soda from Iraq, I believe. 

• The Border to Border trail is very popular in this area, but a lot of people still aren't aware of the new access point through the tunnel by the Argo Dam. I imagine there will be more signs and wayfinding at some point, but for now it seems to be a secret pathway. You can find it at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Depot Street, aligned with the train boarding platform.

• The Broadway Park West development is slowly moving along. The earth moving machines have leveled out the site and now it is difficult to figure out just what is happening over there, if anything at the moment. 

• The construction on the east side of the Broadway Bridge is chaotic and extends into Pontiac Trail. I've started avoiding driving through this stretch and instead come into town by the hospital and turn at the top of Depot Street where it is still called Fuller. It is a rather pretty view of the river coming in this way.

• The Amtrak trains seem to be running very much on time these days. The 7:00 p.m. train has been quite consistent. I learned that the last train to Detroit is at 11 pm and folks can return to Ann Arbor at 6:30 am, which means Ann Arbor is in fact accessible by train for work if you live in Detroit. 

That's it for now. These notes from the neighborhood are part of my Depot Dispatch. 

Through the Looking Glass

Every week I walk along North Main Street and can look through this frame of train trestle and earth to see the development at Broadway Park West. 

So far they have mostly just flattened the earth in preparation for building, so you can still see the cityscape clearly in the background. 

I rather love this view.

© Dawn Nelson 2023. All Rights Reserved.