Atwater Beach included in 2017 Knight Cities Challenge winners

Detroit projects are leading the Knights Cities Challenge this year...again.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the 33 innovative projects that will share $5 million as winners of the 2017 Knight Cities Challenge. The challenge is for ideas that center on helping cities attract and keep talented people, expand economic opportunities, and create a culture of civic engagement.

Atwater Beach, a project of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, took the top amount in the city with $225,000. The group is still fundraising for the urban beach, which will be an urban non-swimming beach between Chene Park and Stroh River Place. Inspired by similar projects in Toronto and Philly, Atwater Beach will be a public space with interactive activities for kids, beach furniture, and food and beverage services. They hope to have it open in 2018.

Courtesy of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy

The rest of the winning projects in Detroit are:

Better Buildings, Better Blocks $150,000 (by Building Community Value): Teaching real estate fundamentals for small-scale property development to minorities and providing initial financing.

Design Center in a Box: A Place for Informed Community Exchange, $205,000 (by City of Detroit Planning and Development Department): Creating pop-up city planning offices throughout the neighborhoods to increase engagement with neighborhood planning initiatives.

Detroit’s Slow Roll $129,400 (by Detroit Bike City): Engaging Slow Roll cyclists into Detroit’s non-profit sector.

Happy 18th Birthday! Local Citizenship Kit $101,000 (by Citizen Detroit): Increasing awareness for voting and civic engagement with a local citizenship kit sent on a resident’s 18th birthday.

More information can be found here.