It is a spring day and the weather is beautiful in downtown Wixom. The crowds of people that have gather at many places through out the downtown area show an enthusiastic presence: at the City Hall Complex, at the two newly opened Restaurants, and the line in front of the Movie Theatre for the afternoon matinee is long. The downtown has been transformed from a once bifurcated area from east and west, is now an all-inclusive, smooth-flowing transitional business district.
The transition began as residents demanded more from their business leaders, their government representatives: both local, county, and the state. There too was an infusion of energy when the Ford Motor Company property was sold to a large Canadian Corporation to build a series of unique vehicles that is now using all of the facilities; and best of all, the Company has never requested and will not even consider a tax-abatement to occupy the facility. The City has changed dramatically in a short period of time.
True, the elimination of the Wixom Elementary School was a shock to the community, but the facility’s lack of student population made the closure relevant. Nevertheless, the realization that the school had been sold and completely renovated by the Downtown Development Corporation with a negotiated lease between the Downtown Development Corporation and the University of Detroit Mercy injected life into the downtown for a much wanted Medical Training Center. The Center has a daily student population and improves the business ambiance in the area.
The renovation from elementary school to a medical training facility: a three-story building was a significant achievement; the parking has been expanded for the development and the roads surrounding the facility allows a transitioning into a continuous ring-road configuration making easy ingress and egress into the facilities from either Wixom Road or Pontiac Trail.
The addition over the past few years of several new Specialty Shops into the ring road property of Sam Poota has made the area attractive. The added shops are now another stable of the downtown area and brings customers that once passed through the area to stop and shop. A further contribution to the seamlessness of the downtown with other businesses is the addition of artwork: statues and lighting configurations that cause a pause in the hectic pace of the student, the technician and the shopper. Altogether the downtown areas have been transformed into a pleasurable place to enjoy. The effort and planning that was expended on the transformation were well worth the effort.
Noticeable too is the fact that the government assisted Senior Citizen Complex was never completed as planned. However, the new Senior Condo Development and Medical Rehabilitation Center was completed and the complex now has a population of two-hundred twenty-five residents. The facility has been a tremendous undertaking as the extension of the Providence Hospital Out-patient Cancer Center wanted the ability for their patients to have temporary, but long-term housing while treatment was undertaken. The elimination of long travel times and expenses by patients requiring long periods of treatment is a new trend in facilitation of the hospital’s out-patients health care system. Health care, education and medical training were growth sectors for employment and the community leaders and business men facilitated in adding these resources to the community.
The addition of two charter schools has also added to Wixom’s ability to add Education in many fields of expertise offering non-traditional education platforms for the non-traditional students. The SWOVEC center has been expanded and now includes the latest training and research in the sciences and engineering fields and offers Asociate Degree Educational opportunities.
It is worth noting that the past fourteen-years have been kind to Wixom, and there are those areas in Oakland County that have been less fortunate. Detroit is now just coming out of its Bankruptcy and the future looks a lot brighter for the Detroit area.
It took a lot of work by a lot of people to get Wixom where it is today as a community. But the work and the strategy was worth it, as the residents and the leadership were progressive in a response to an economy that was sluggish and a global market displaced American workers. Aggressive planning and cooperation with business, government, and educational, and health-care institutions have positioned Wixom to look forward to a future that is brighter than it was viewed back in 2oo11.
Thanks to the foresight of the community and its leaders, Wixom will move into the future with an infusion of new people, new interests in Education, Medical Technology, Health Care, and Research and Manufacturing.
A Community with Character can only be accomplished by people with character and integrity and a desire to make changes that facilitate the community. This is how it should be in every community: a smorgasbord of opportunities to choose from in not only the education fields but also in the vast sectors for employment as well.
A Community with Character has not been windblown into adversity but has transitioned once again into a community that offers a place that families can enjoy and will call it home.
We share a dream Wayne.