William Davidson Foundation Offers Updates on Commitments to Southeast Michigan Region

DETROIT – (September 13, 2021) – The William Davidson Foundation and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy today announce that a new Sport House in the future 22-acre park on Detroit’s West Riverfront will be named after the Detroit businessman and former professional sports team owner, William “Bill” Davidson (1922-2009). With its most recent commitments to the Conservancy, the William Davidson Foundation has now granted more than $11 million to the ongoing transformation of Detroit’s international riverfront into a beautiful and accessible world-class gathering place for all. The Foundation also shares details of its efforts to stimulate economic growth and improve quality of life in the Southeast Michigan region, including more than $150 million in funding made in the last decade alone. 

The William Davidson Sport House will add to the public offerings on the Detroit Riverfront and features a raised canopy with skylight that provides two public open-air basketball courts and flexible space for a range of programs and events that will welcome visitors from all walks of life. Designed by award-winning Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye, who also designed the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the William Davidson Sport House is slated for completion in 2023. The Sport House will be part of the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park, also named after a renowned professional sports team owner, businessman and philanthropist.

“No project truly connects the region and plays a more central role in Detroit’s resurgence than the revitalization of more than five miles of the Detroit Riverfront from the Ambassador Bridge to Belle Isle,” said Darin McKeever, president and CEO of the William Davidson Foundation.

The Foundation considers the William Davidson Sport House a fitting tribute to its founder, as Mr. Davidson owned the Detroit Pistons, Detroit Shock and Tampa Bay Lightning pro sports franchises and is widely considered a visionary in bringing together sports, venues and the community. The naming of the Sport House will be celebrated this weekend, at the Conservancy’s “Shimmer on the River” outdoor fundraising event on Friday night and the West Riverfront Block Party on Saturday.

The leadership of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is grateful for the partnership of the William Davidson Foundation in making this new park a reality.  The opening of the park will have a significant impact on the continued revitalization of the West Riverfront and the Sport House is sure to become an icon for the community.

“Kids who see the William Davidson Sport House will immediately recognize it as a place that was built for them,” said Mark Wallace, president and CEO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. “It will be a draw for youth from the city of Detroit and from the Southeast Michigan region. This park will be like no other park anywhere in the world, and it will contribute to an increased quality of life for generations of Detroiters.” 

“It was an honor and privilege to be part of the Detroit Pistons family under Mr. Davidson’s ownership,” said Isiah Thomas, former Detroit Piston and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “Decades later his values, character, and love for Detroit continues to shine through the work of his family foundation. The William Davidson Sport House is a fitting tribute to a man who believed that sports is a universal language and can bring people together for the greater good.”

Founded in 2005, the William Davidson Foundation’s grantmaking has accelerated since its founder’s death in March 2009 and today it is among the five largest Michigan-based foundations. The Foundation’s priorities – including its focus on Detroit and Southeast Michigan – reflect Mr. Davidson’s, and the organization’s approach embraces the kind of calculated risk-taking and transformative investments for which he was known in business and philanthropy.

“The last year and a half have brought so much of our region’s most critical and under-appreciated assets into sharper focus: our resilient small business owners and entrepreneurs, our inspiring arts and cultural institutions, and the public parks and other gathering places where we have found comfort and connection,” added McKeever. “These are areas the William Davidson Foundation knows well, and we look forward to continuing our work with our grantees and other partners to ensure the success of the people and places Southeast Michigan needs for a bright future.”

The Foundation’s commitments to the City of Detroit and Southeast Michigan region include:

• More than $45 million to arts and cultural institutions, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Institute of Arts, The Henry Ford, the Detroit Zoo, and Michigan Opera Theatre;
• More than $40 million to small business incubators, accelerators, and other initiatives to help entrepreneurs develop their ideas, attract capital, and assemble the talent they need to grow and thrive;
• $25 million to the “Grand Bargain” that enabled the City of Detroit to preserve city pensions, settle its bankruptcy claims, and transition the Detroit Institute of Arts to operate independently from municipal government; and
• More than $21 million to the Detroit Riverfront, Belle Isle, and other efforts to redevelop and activate community parks, plazas, and public spaces.

Over 2020 and 2021, the William Davidson Foundation made available more than $4 million in emergency response funding for urgent needs related to COVID-19, including grants to the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Gleaners Community Food Bank, and Forgotten Harvest. 

The Foundation’s grantees and supported projects also include several efforts that have received attention in recent days and weeks:

• The Motown Museum, which is celebrating its progress toward expansion as a tourist destination and creative hub; the William Davidson Foundation made the first major donation from the foundation community toward the campaign with a gift of $2 million in 2017;
• The Belle Isle Aquarium, which re-opened this summer, and whose $1.2 million in improvements were largely paid for by a grant from the William Davidson Foundation;
• The New Economy Initiative (NEI), which supports a network of organizations providing assistance to underserved small and growing businesses in Wayne County and which announced its latest round of funding in the Spring; the Foundation has granted more than $12.5 million to NEI over the last decade;  
• Detroit Month of Design, an annual month-long celebration of art and design in Detroit taking place in September, and DLECTRICITY, a light-based art and technology festival returning to Detroit on September 24-25; the Foundation has been founding and regular sponsors of these events; and
• Detroit Homecoming, on September 23-26, which the Foundation has sponsored every year since the event started in 2014, bringing former residents back to the city to discover new ways to support the economic and social renaissance of their hometown.

In total, the William Davidson Foundation has now committed more than $500 million in grants since its inception in 2005.

To advance its work in the city and region, the William Davidson Foundation will soon operate a small, satellite office in the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood. Foundation founder William Davidson owned the Detroit Pistons from 1974 until his death in 2009. The Foundation’s 1,500 square-foot satellite office will serve as a place to bring together Foundation grantees in Detroit and the Woodward Corridor, partners in the local philanthropic community, and other key stakeholders for gatherings and events. The Foundation has also recently acquired property along Woodward Avenue in Bloomfield Hills, formerly the site of the Birmingham Masonic Lodge, where it will build its headquarters facility over the coming years.  

About William Davidson Foundation  

The William Davidson Foundation is a private family foundation that honors its founder and continues his lifelong commitment to philanthropy, advancing for future generations the economic, cultural, and civic vitality of Southeast Michigan, the State of Israel, and the Jewish community. For more information, please visit williamdavidson.org.  

About William “Bill” Davidson

Born and raised in Detroit, William “Bill” Davidson (1922 – 2009) was an American businessman and philanthropist who earned international acclaim for his business acumen and skilled corporate leadership.  He served as President and CEO of Guardian Industries Corp., which he transformed from a small, struggling family company into one of the world’s largest manufacturers of architectural and automotive glass and exterior plastics for vehicles.  He was an innovator, making each of his major plants a profit center responsible for its sales, marketing, production and supply chain development. At the time of his death, Guardian was doing business in over 150 countries and employed more than 19,000 workers.

Mr. Davidson was also the owner of several American professional sports teams: the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shock of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL).  The Detroit Pistons won the NBA World Championship three times during his ownership.  In 2004 he became the only owner in U.S. professional sports history to have his teams win an NBA Championship, a Stanley Cup hockey championship, and the woman’s WNBA Championship in the same season.  His sports honors included election to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and selection as an inaugural inductee into the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Mr. Davidson was one of Michigan’s most notable philanthropists, responsible for more than $200 million in donations to local and international charities and universities in his lifetime.  He made transformative philanthropic investments with trusted leaders and organizations, including those which led to the establishment of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and the Davidson Visitors Center and Archeological Park in the Temple Wall area of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem. In 1997, the Council of Michigan Foundations honored Mr. Davidson for his lifelong philanthropic efforts locally, nationally, and internationally.