A $20 million vision to turn Detroit's Chandler Park into an ecological laboratory is underway.
"The goal is to create the first urban conservation park in Michigan," said Maggie DeSantis, president of the East Side Community Network, which is facilitating a collaborative effort of several community organizations to revitalize the 200-acre park on Detroit's east side.
The park will include a "combination of ecological installations, high performing charter school, and regional recreational installations," said DeSantis.
She said the next step will be a fund-raising campaign for the 800-student charter school with a hoped-for opening date of September 2016.
DeSantis said in the next few months more than $2.5 million will be invested in new football and soccer fields, tennis courts, and renovation of the park's historic comfort station.
-- Virginia Gordan, Michigan Radio Newsroom
