ROAD TRIP: Muhammad Ali Park in Detroit

DETROIT, June 14, 2023 -- The Islamic Center of Detroit (ICD) is pleased to announce the inauguration and special ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the new Detroit city park named Muhammad Ali Park which will be taking place on Wednesday, June 21 at 12:00 PM at 8279 Mark Twain Street, Detroit, MI 48228, adjacent to Islamic Center of Detroit. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and the Ambassador of Qatar in Washington, Mr. Meshal Bin Hamad Al Thani, will be hosting the major event.

Before the inauguration day, ICD will have a special invitation dinner hosting both the Mayor and the Ambassador with dignitaries and leaders of the Detroit community on Tuesday, June 20 at 7:00 PM.

The new park is an upgrade to an area that was previously an empty, unkempt lot named the Belton-Mark Twain Park. The ICD adopted the City of Detroit-owned Park, generated funds by collaborating with the City of Detroit, the Embassy of Qatar, Wayne County, and generous donors from our community members to develop a state-of-the-art family park that all residents in Detroit can enjoy and renamed it Muhammad Ali Park. 

Specifically, the renovation included adding a covered children's playground, a basketball court, a running and walking track, a soccer field, and a picnic area. The new design was meant to make the park a safe, pleasant, and family-oriented park that is open to all in the nearby neighborhoods.

As Detroit continues to reinvigorate the city, ICD has discovered the need for safe outdoor spaces for children and families to use for recreation and enjoyment. The ICD community center is situated in District 7 of Detroit, home to over 100,000 people including new refugee families. As a religious institution, our reach expands far beyond District 7 alone. The recent influx of refugees has contributed greatly to the expanding need for green spaces to grow our vibrant community, thus making this project more important than ever.

ICD hopes the Muhammad Ali Park will be a safe community park for our neighbors to use and to foster inspiration for coming generations.