In 2024, Detroit City Football Club acquired the site of the former Southwest Detroit Hospital at the corner of Michigan Avenue and 20th Street for the purpose of building a new stadium that will serve as a permanent home for soccer in Detroit.
— Sean Mann, CEO, Detroit City FC
The new stadium will be constructed on the former Southwest Detroit Hospital site, which opened in 1973. This hospital was groundbreaking in Detroit for being Black-owned and for hiring and accrediting African American doctors and nurses, a rarity in the United States at that time. The hospital resulted from the merger of four smaller hospitals, aiming to serve the needs of the city’s Black community during an era of widespread health care segregation.
Despite its promising start, the hospital faced operational and financial difficulties, and it ultimately closed in 1991 after just 17 years. Since then, the building has been abandoned for nearly two decades, emblematic of Detroit’s shifting urban landscape.
As a tribute to the pioneering founders and the hospital’s significant role in Detroit’s history, Detroit City FC will include an installation within AlumniFi Field to honor the hospital’s legacy and contribution to the community.
