HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (WXYZ) — A $2.5 million federal grant promising to bring light to Highland Park’s unlit neighborhoods was “permanently placed on hold” shortly after President Donald Trump took office, city officials said.
Mayor Glenda McDonald calls the news “a gut punch” to a city that, 14 years ago, saw more than 1,000 streetlights pulled straight from the ground to settle a $4 million debt with DTE.
Most of the city’s neighborhoods have sat in the dark ever since, creating serious concerns over public safety.
“My children can’t play outside pretty much once the sun goes down,” said resident Shimekia Nichols, “because I literally can’t see them in the yard.”
Nichols is also the executive director of the non-profit Souladarity, which aims to bring clean energy sources to Highland Park, and said the lack of lighting “basically places an unofficial curfew" on the city.
But last year, under the Biden administration, the city saw a glimmer of hope when the Department of Energy announced $31 million in clean energy grants for disadvantaged communities.
For Highland Park, it meant $2.5 million to help bring back some of the light that had been taken away, installing 30 solar-powered streetlamps inside the neighborhoods.
More than just lights, the grant would pay for other improvements the city couldn’t afford, like replacing aging windows in city hall along with a new HVAC unit.
It also would have funded a new roof in the public safety headquarters where, today, police are dodging raindrops.
“These are things we need immediately,” Mayor McDonald said. “Not just something that we just decided we were going to apply for and didn’t have a use for.”
But a change in the Oval Office changed the fortunes for Highland Park. Shortly after Donald Trump took office, city leaders learned that the grant they’d been expecting was in doubt.
“About a month or so ago, we were told that this has been...permanently placed on hold,” said Damon Garrett, an engineer for the city.
Mayor McDonald said the city believes the grant is "not going to happen.”
Highland Park officials say they weren’t given a reason the grant went away.
Reached by 7 News Detroit, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy would only say they’re "reviewing all programs and complying with all laws and relevant court orders to ensure that projects funded by taxpayer dollars meet the Trump Administration’s goals of expanding energy access, improving energy reliability, and reducing energy bills for homes and businesses."
“I can’t think of any reason to justify withholding something that’s really key and essential for a city such as Highland Park,” Shimekia Nichols said.
While those 30 streetlights wouldn’t have solved Highland Park’s lighting problem, she says it would have made it better.
“Even if only one particular area is lit, it’s a beacon of hope that we can re-light our city again,” Nichols said.
Even without the federal government’s help, the city and its residents are finding ways to bring light back to its streets.
Soulardarity, the non-profit, says they’ve been able to raise enough funds to install 10 solar powered streetlights that they hope to have in the ground once the weather warms up.
Separately, the city has been awarded a grant through the state that should fund up to 50 streetlights by next year.
“Our citizens do not deserve to have to walk the streets in the dark and not be safe,” McDonald said.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.