Leon Atchison

Parks & Recreation

"Belle Isle," says Leon Atchison,” will become Detroit what the Golden Gate Bridge is to San Francisco and what the Empire State Building was to New York."

A five-year, $10 million renovation of the nation's only urban island park is foremost among the many projects initiated by Detroit's Parks and Recreation Department under its new director, Atchison, appointed last spring by Mayor Young.

Atchison, who served as Congressman John Conyers' administrative assistant for six years, is expecting a master plan for the island's renovation from Dan Kiley and Associates before the first of the year.

Through the use of federal, state, and local funds, many improvements are already underway, including the refurbishing of the casino, a $1.2 million expansion of the children's zoo, and a fish planting project around the island.

Atchison, who was born and raised in Detroit and in the public school system here, moved over to Parks and Recreation from his post as the city's director of Purchasing. His financial expertise, as well as his knowledge of Detroit's recreational needs, was immediately needed.

Mayor Young had just slashed $3.2 million from the $25 million Parks & Rec budget and fired the Department's last Director, Mary Williams. Atchison was forced to close the city's recreation centers for the entire month of April and lay off the entire recreation division staff - some 269 people.

"We then rehired them 30 days later under CETA (the federal government's Comprehensive Employment Training Act),” explains Atchison, ”thereby taking them out of the general fund payroll account. That maneuver saved us the $3.2 million, and it also enabled us to go through the summer with a full program."

The budget woes didn't end there, however; Atchison is currently readying another eight per cent reduction in this fiscal year's budget. He may, also face the prospect of further across-the-board cuts in all departments.

"We don’t know at this point what the Mayor is going to ask us to do,” worries Atchison. "That's why he's talking now about the possibility of enabling legislation for an increase in the local income tax.”

- Joel Greer