From Obscene to "green": The Big Picture of Fairlane Green

In places all across the country, city governments are taking action and helping build their community. There have been extreme positive changes in places that many have lost hope on. One prime example of this happening is Fairlane Green in Allen Park, Michigan. The city of Allen Park and Ford Motor Company has invested huge amounts of money into developing a landfill into an innovative and beautiful shopping center, but the excitement does not stop there. The large redeveloped area created a community of much other positivity, causing anticipation in large numbers and also skeptical uproar, in Allen Park.

When the thought of Fairlane Green comes to the mind of the average person, they probably are thinking one question – “why is it on a hill?” The answer to that question is simple but blunt; it was built on top of the Clay Mine Landfill. During the 1950s, it served as containment for Ford Motor Company’s industrial waste. The hill is made of compacted dirt and other materials to keep the degrading waste underneath from causing any likely harm to the surface, in addition to providing a foundation for the shopping center. Fairlane Green is the country’s largest shopping center redeveloped from a landfill.

Other than being the transformation of a city dump to an economic gold mine, Fairlane Green has proven to be innovative. One example of innovation is the shopping center’s energy saving lighting system. Its stores have many light sensory skylights, which open whenever the sensors detect that there is enough sunlight to illuminate the center and eventually close and activate the light fixtures installed there to come on whenever they detect the opposite. There are also white reflective roofing plates on the shopping center to reflect heat from the sun to maintain a more affordable heating and cooling system. Also, there are cisterns installed on the roofs of some stores to detain and recycle rainwater. These innovative facts and many more have helped Fairlane Green receive several outstanding awards, including: the Gold Certification, which is an acknowledgement from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, saying that the center is a “green” site; it has also received the Phoenix Award for excellence in brownfield development.

Failane Green also provides many other positive aspects to the city of Allen Park. It has given approximately 2,000 people jobs in that area. There are many restaurants that intertwine with the shopping stores where families can dine at after a long day of shopping. The large mass of 243 acres of land outside of the shopping area, which was previously a wasteland is now “green” and provides a shelter for wildlife. This area also includes a park with a 3.5 mile pathway around it for recreational activity.

On the other hand, Fiarlane Green may not be as innovative and environmentally friendly as it is advertised. There still remain questions concerning the long – term effects of building a shopping center onto a landfill. Unlike questions of other landfills turned shopping centers in the country, these questions can’t be answered with the same confidence because this is the first time a shopping center has been reconstructed from a landfill this enormous. Some people are worried that the massive artificial hill will collapse whenever the waste underneath has finished decomposing and others worry that the toxic chemical waste below the surface will contaminate its surroundings, that could possibly cause harmful effects to the natural wildlife habitat or humans. Of course these are valid concerns – especially for those who live in the Allen Park area, but they are unlikely outcomes.

There are obviously going to be some worries down the line, but as long as it is being compared to the overshadowing good that is going to be produced from it, a little worry can be afforded. The bigger picture of this entire idea is one that includes a magnificent new shopping center instead of a horrible unproductive landfill; over 150 acres of land preserved for wildlife; restaurants; ponds; and recreational pathways. This is a dream come true for environmentalists who wish to see unproductive areas “go green”.