Detroit Riverfront Conservancy delays opening boardwalk until 2025

Fired CFO allegedly embezzled $40M from conservancy

William Smith embezzled nearly $40 million over a 12-year period from 2012 to 2024, the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan alleged. He appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon and was given a $10,000 personal bond with standard conditions including no travel outside the Eastern District.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit residents and riverfront fans will need to wait another year before enjoying the boardwalk, which was slated to become the newest segment of the award-winning route this year.

Instead, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy will open the boardwalk when construction on Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park is completed in the fall of 2025.

As it sorts through legal cases following the alleged embezzlement of tens of millions of dollars by its former CFO, the conservancy has shifted its initial plans to open the riverwalk segment that would have connected the Riverfront Towers to land owned by the Downtown Detroit Authority, which is west of the apartments.

In a statement sent to FOX 2, the conservancy said the change in plans was because of planned construction coming to Jefferson Avenue next year.

"The decision to delay the opening is simply the result of our cost/benefit analysis given seasonality and upcoming construction on Jefferson," the statement read. "Construction of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park is on schedule and we look forward to opening the boardwalk and the newest stretch of Riverwalk just west of it when the entire community gathers to celebrate the opening of Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park in fall 2025."

Even as the riverwalk continues to grow in size, there are still portions along the Detroit River that are not accessible to the public.

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That includes land between the former Joe Louis Arena and the future Ralph C. Wilson Park. A temporary solution from the conservancy was to build an asphalt path this past summer that would have connected the boardwalk to the rest of the riverwalk.

But because of major road construction coming to Jefferson Avenue and an expected drop in pedestrian traffic, the conservancy said it would open the section next year.

Once complete, the park will connect the riverwalk to another growing network of trails moving through Detroit called the Southwest Greenway.

The boardwalk, which is 1,800 feet long, was first completed in 2020.