MAR APR 1955 - River Rouge Historical Museum

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topped all the scorers with 25 points, while Lew Brown was next for Rouge with 13. Walt Ector and Herb Wood were next with nine while Jim Childs had seven. Edgar Frazier was high for Inkster with 16 points, with Al Duncan getting fifteen. Chet Hicks and Paul Shannon were next for the Vikings with ten each. On “Dream Teams” – Martin, Ace Court Man, Wins Honors – The All State Basketball Team announced by the Detroit Free Press honored River Rouge High‟s great forward and leader, Blanche Martin, with a berth on the first team in the State Wide Class B Selections. It was the first time since Coach Lofton Greene has been at Rouge High that one of his youngsters had been selected on the Free Press First Team. Previously, Jack Belkin, Bill Whitaker and Cleon Gilliam had made the Second Squad. The Free Press, is honoring Martin, paid tribute to most prolific scorer in Panther history. Martin is a remarkable board man and outstanding clutch player. Martin has totaled 398 points in 19 games this year to establish a season long record. Martin also holds the individual game mark at River Rouge with 35 points. A strong six-footer, Martin excels with a picture jump shot from around the circle and a tremendous driving layup which is almost impossible to stop. Possessing tremendous spring, the Rouge youngster has been known to sail 20 feet through the air to score on his driving shot. That extra bounce also makes Martin a strong board man, the Panther forward being regarded as one of the State‟s top rebounders. Martin was second in the balloting to Ralph Coleman, Lansing St. Mary star, who was an All Stater last year. This is quite a distinction for a player from this area since out state votes usually outnumber Detroit area ballots by a wide margin. However, Martin received support from Jackson, Monroe and other outstand cities. MARCH 24, 1955 River Rouge Awaits Ride on „Easy St‟ – On Tuesday, March 15, River Rouge was the featured city in the Detroit News series, “Suburbia Revisited”. For the benefit of those who may have missed Detroit News Reporter Earl B. Dowdy‟s graphic account of dynamic River Rouge, the Herald obtained permission to reprint the article. That Dowdy has so effectively captured the spirit of the city in his comprehensive report may be attributed to the fact that River Rouge is his “hometown”. Unworried by the growing pains and money troubles that afflict so many other suburbs, River Rouge is on its way to becoming one of the wealthiest cities in the Metropolitan area. Other places may worry about rising taxes. River Rouge talks about cutting them from their already low level – and doubling the municipal budget at the same time. The city already gets a rich tax return from its gold-plated riverfront and a 324-acre industrial colony on Zug Island. Officials predict a boom is ahead that will increase the wealth of the community almost fivefold over what it was in 1950. River Rouge grew up a long time ago. It is a city of smoke stacks, of truck-burdened streets, of old schools and older houses. For years the population has stood steady at a little more than 20,000. Like having the Boss Say He‟ll Double Pay. – The biggest thing in the suburb‟s future is a new Detroit Edison Company Power Plant, started a year ago and scheduled for operation next year. It will have two 330,000 – horsepower generating units at the start, but it is designed for six units. That would make it one of the largest power plants in the world. “We believe the Edison plant will nearly triple our assessed valuation to $170,000,000”, said Mayor M. Warren Duncan. “That and future expansion by the Great Lakes Steel Corp. of its Zug Island blast furnace division should make River Rouge one of the wealthiest cities in the metropolitan area”. What this prospect has done for city planning is roughly akin to the castle-building that would be experienced by anybody who‟s boss promised to double his pay. A Big Health Center Among Next Projects – Already underway is the replacement of old globe-type street lights with modern fluorescent tubes; a $300,000 off-street parking project, and a complete street resurfacing program. Other projects scheduled for the near future include a $200,000
library; $350,000 municipal incinerator; $275,000 industrial highway to divert trucks to the riverfront from the business district, and a $124,000 Health Center. A little further off, when more of the industrial manna is in the bank, is a new city hall and police and fire facilities to replace the 40-year-old building now in use. We can‟t miss” is the opinion of Commissioner John Tattan. “Industry already pays 81 per cent of our taxes, and the outlook is tremendous.” Plan to Rid the City of Old Frame Homes – Councilman Earl R. Beaudrie whose family settled in River Rouge more than a halfcentury ago when it was a muddy village, points with pride to the tax rate of $18.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation and predicts that will be cut before long. (Editor‟s Note: Last week Council voted to reduce the mill rate, fixing taxes at $18 per $1,000 of assessed valuation) “The rate was $20 per $1,000 six years ago, then $19 a year later,” Beaudrie said. “We cut it 50 cents more in 1953 and hope to make another appreciable decrease when the budget is prepared later this year”. The average home is assessed at $2,000, he added. Of all the planners, none is more optimistic than William Duncan, Director of the River Rouge Housing Commission. For years he has sought to ease a housing shortage with 339 city-owned units, more than half of them built for temporary use. But sometime in April he will begin negotiations with federal officials on a proposed $3,000,000 redevelopment program designed to rid the city of hundreds of substandard dwellings. The frame houses now sandwiched together on 30 foot lots would be torn down and replaced by modern homes with wider lot frontages, perhaps on wider streets. “The Federal Government would put up two-thirds of the cost and the city one third,” said Duncan (no relative of the mayor). “It would be worth every cent to rectify the mistakes made in past building. River Rouge School Picture Is Rosy - Another departure from the ills of other suburbs is the River Rouge school picture. At least, it is to Superintendent Glenn Bowen, who came to the established city last year from rapidlygrowing Taylor Township. Compare the lot of other school administrators, who must face new thousands of children each fall, to that of Bowen. He expects perhaps 200 more next September. The enrollment now is 3,650 in the high school and three elementary schools and teacher class-loads average 30 pupils or less, he said. A 17-room elementary school is scheduled to start rising next month at a cost of $450,000. Another school was torn down and completely rebuilt two years ago at a cost of $537,000. A new gymnasium for the high school may be added in a few years, making the old one available for vocational arts classes. “Our vocational shops are among the best now,” Bowen said, “and many of our graduates go on to good jobs in factories, printing shops and drafting room”. Beginner Teachers Get $3,850 a year. - River Rouge teachers start at $3,850 a year and many progress to $6,150 within 10 years, Bowen said. That places them among the better paid of their profession locally. School operation and the “pay-as-you-go” building program total $1,280,934 this year, paid for from a school tax of $14.95 per $1,000 of property valuation. This is half the rate of many suburbs. It is likely assumption that the French explorers, LaSalle and Fr. Hennepin, never gave the place a second glance when they rowed northward past it in 1671. But look at “Riviere Rouge” Now. Civic Party Heralds New Lights – Citizens of River Rouge will literally see their city in a new light Monday night when Governor G. Mennen Williams throws the switch that will put the new 199-unit fluorescent street lighting system into full operation. An occasion to instill civic pride in every resident, it will be marked by a civic celebration at 7:30pm to be staged in front of the city hall. Mayor M. Warren Duncan and City Commissioners invite the people of River Rouge to witness the ceremony to be attended by state, county and Downriver public officials. Kirby L. Wilson, past Mayor of River Rouge, will be toastmaster, and other former mayors on the speakers stand will be Thomas Bresnahan, Arnold Frutig and Arthur L. Valade. An invitation has also been sent to former Village President, Albert R. Heuer, Utilities Commissioner John R. Tattan
Page 1 and 2: River Rouge Historical Museum 10750
Page 3 and 4: Holdup Money Burns In Ash Can; Only
Page 5 and 6: finals, while Lourdes would have to
Page 7 and 8: not identified in the caption … s
Page 9 and 10: Panthers Wins City Cage Title For S
Page 11 and 12: a notice to pay, but understood he
Page 13: Cpl. Charles J. Kukta, 28, son of J
Page 17 and 18: are covered with vinyl plastic tile
Page 19 and 20: City Leases Community Center Space
Page 21 and 22: Kunkosky, Marie Nichols, Helen Dupu
Page 23 and 24: and floral designs, are baked and t
Page 25 and 26: long letter to me. When a man is ov
Page 27 and 28: The phrase, “bread & butter” be
Page 29 and 30: volunteer physicians, Florence Shec
Page 31 and 32: Blanche Martin and Dick Frazier. Me
Page 33 and 34: provided for future tankage expansi
Page 35: fans and honor guests were treated

MAR APR 1955 - River Rouge Historical Museum

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