The 20-foot bear slide at Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park sits across from a 22-foot otter slide. Photo: Samuel Robinson
Residents along Detroit’s Southwest riverfront can expect to see an influx of new visitors when it opens at the end of this month.
The new Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, at 1801 W. Jefferson, sprawls 22-acres across W. Jefferson at the Detroit riverfront. Opening on Oct. 25, the $80 million park includes a four acre playground, a water garden, sports pavilion, 20-foot tall bear slide and other animal shaped structures.
Matt Cullen, the CEO of the Riverfront Conservancy, compared the new park to that of downtown Chicago’s Millennium Park, one of the city’s most visited tourist attractions during a media tour Wednesday.
“This is going to be the most iconic park in the United States,” Cullen said.
He said he wants the park to change the way people in Detroit feel about their city and interact with their community.
“When we started this, we started with a philosophy of bring everybody,” Cullen told media representatives ahead of the hard-hat tour. “We didn’t always have that — we didn’t have assets that represented that. We didn’t have a place for young adults to come and play basketball, we didn’t have a splash pad, the kind of thing that you’re going to bring your kids and your grandparents and taking advantage of all the family picnics.”
The park is calling the giant bear slide the Bernstein Bear. Crews assembled the bear in May, 2024, at the centerpiece of the Delta Dental Play Garden, one of four sponsored zones in the park, including the Clinton-Huron MetroParks Water Garden, the William Davidson Sports House and DTE Foundation Summit.
The water garden is the first ever Metroparks location within the city of Detroit.
A $1 million donation will create two open-air basketball courts and surrounding gathering areas inside the sports complex named after the late Detroit Pistons owner. Tom Gores, the current owner of the Pistons announced the investment into the park Wednesday in a press release.
The new courts and activity space are in addition to the 60 basketball courts the Pistons built as part a $2.5 million community court project.
There’s also the Gilbert Family Foundation Water Wonderland for interactive water play.
The park, which features landscaped, tree-lined walking paths and sprawling lawns, opens its inaugural weekend with family friendly entertainment. Former Motown group, The Jacksons will perform on the Summit Main Stage at 4pm Oct. 25 as part of the Detroit Harvest Fest. Grand opening weekend events are happening at 10am-8pm Oct. 25 and 11am-8pm Oct. 26.
Marc Paso, the public relations director at the Conservancy didn’t give an exact number, but said they expect a big turnout with people attending throughout the community during the weekend.
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