Bang the drum slowly for Keyworth Stadium’s loss of the DCFC

Fans of the Detroit City Football Club will have to travel a little bit farther to see home games in two years. That’s when the club plans to say goodbye to Keyworth Stadium and move into a new stadium in Detroit’s Corktown.

By Charles Sercombe
As many already know, the Detroit City Football Club (DCFC), also known affectionately as LeRouge, will soon have a new home field in Detroit’s fabled Corktown.
The DCFC announced last week that it purchased the former Southwest Hospital, located west of Corktown on Michigan Ave.
The club plans to raze the former hospital and build a new stadium at the site. The team says it will move there in two years, but, in the meantime, will continue to call Keyworth Stadium home.
That ultimately means saying goodbye to the public school district’s Keyworth Stadium, where the team has been playing since 2016.
The club said the move is necessary because the team has outgrown Keyworth.
In a press release, Tom Mann, the CEO of the club, said the move to Corktown is “… an opportunity to grow our organization and sport.”
The club’s Chief Creative Officer, and co-owner, Alex Wright, added:
“… Our players, staff, and supporters deserve a stadium with modern amenities that retains the best elements of Keyworth while also putting the club on firmer financial footing.
“The city and the people of Hamtramck were there when we needed them. Investments by our club and supporters give proof of our gratitude, and we are excited to set forth on the challenge to make our forever home just as iconic.”
In exchange to playing at Keyworth, the club paid $1 per year to lease the stadium, but the club also invested over $800,000 in much needed repairs.
At the time the club moved in, the east side of the stadium’s bleachers were condemned. Numerous other repairs were needed, including new lighting.
Keyworth also benefited from a $500,000 grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation to install a new turf.
Former Hamtramck Public School District Superintendent Tom Niczay, who brokered the deal to bring in the club, said:
“With DCFC leaving, what concerns me is the short memory people have. Before DCFC, Keyworth was in disrepair — to put it mildly.
“The east bleachers were condemned. No one was allowed to sit there, per state safety inspectors. West bleachers, at various times, had to have a cyclone fence put up to block off broken (wood) and concrete.
“The lights were terribly outdated. The sound system could only be heard between the 40 yard lines.
“About $800,000 was put into stadium seating and concrete repairs. A Ralph Wilson Jr. $500,000 grant for a new turf was written and approved. Lights updated, sound system fixed.
“All this was done without asking taxpayers for any money. DCFC held a private sector fund-raising campaign. Hamtramck Public Schools and DCFC were lauded as one of the first public sector/private sector partnerships in the state. Partnerships do work, and the city now has a better Keyworth than before DCFC arrived in town.”
News of the DCFC moving out was reported by numerous local media outlets.
The DCFC started out as a semi-pro team but then quickly rose up to the status of a fully professional team. The club also fields a women’s team.
The club has what can only be described as rabid fans, dubbed the Northern Guard, who attend games with painted faces, and add to the spirited matches with their chants and banging of drums, as well as setting off colorful smoke bombs.
The fans have become as much as part of the game as the players.
Local bars and restaurants also enjoyed a boost on game days, when fans would stop by for pre-game drinks and eats, as well as after the games.
The Review reached out to the city’s Economic Development Department for comment on the local economic impact the club has provided to the city.
Karolynn Faulkner, the city’s Community and Economic Development Manager responded, saying the team’s departure “is a loss, both culturally and economically. I can’t speak to exact numbers or a precise economic impact, but DCFC attendees visit local establishments after the games.”
While the club enjoyed a loyal fan base, which included a number of people who lived outside the city, not everyone here is pleased about game days.
Residents living in the area of Roosevelt and Gallagher have often complained about fans taking up their parking, and the noise that emanates from the stadium during games.
And, according to sources, not everyone in the Hamtramck Public School administration and school board were fans.
The club’s embrace of the LGBTQ community and the display of the pride flag rubbed some in the conservative Muslim community the wrong way.
Recently, the plaque commemorating the rededication of the stadium was vandalized. Someone had spray-painted “F— DCFC” on the plaque, as well as other profanities.
The plaque has since been cleaned.
Keyworth Stadium was built during President Roosevelt’s administration, in the 1930s, under his Works Progress Administration program –in fact, it was the first WPA project in the state.
In 1936, Roosevelt dedicated the stadium, and later President Truman visited the stadium and after that then-Senator John Kennedy campaigned at the stadium during his bid to become president.
At one time, the city’s Jos. Campau business district would close down on Friday afternoons in order to see the Cosmos football team play at Keyworth. The Cosmos were, back then, a powerhouse in high school sports.
The stadium was named after Hamtramck’s famed educator Maurice Keyworth.
A number of local fans, as expected, were upset by the club’s announcement that it was leaving.
Former Mayor Karen Majewski lashed out on her Facebook page, saying the club was “Pushed out by current city leadership and its lackeys — because the kind of people who support DCDC are not the people they want spending their time and money in Hamtramck.”
Also, on social media, Linda Ward said: “I’m sorry to see this but they got so much absurd pushback over parking for just a few days of the year. This is a huge loss for Hamtramck.”
Lawrence Macks noted that the club had “a good run and they always said Keyworth wasn’t their final home. They’ll leave the stadium in better condition than they found it which is better than what most do. …”
But an administrator for the Facebook page called Hamtramck Square, who goes by the pseudonym of Hjmahh Klaham, is pleased to see the club going.
“Finally more parking. Also didn’t help they were flying them flags in our faces,” he said in an apparent reference to the display of pride flags during the games. “Good riddance,” Klaham added.
Hamtramck’s loss will be a great gain for Detroit’s Corktown. That area, which encompasses the neighborhoods around the former Tiger Stadium site, is now bustling with businesses, restaurants and bars.
Also, the reopening of the old Detroit train station building, now owned by Ford Motor Co., will attract even more people and businesses to the area.
Besides being located near a desirable area of Detroit, the new DCFC stadium will give the club more control over parking.
With the DCFC stadium up and running in two years, the financial gain for Corktown will be a huge boost, to say the least.
Posted May 24, 2024