Mark Hackel: 'No way' Freedom Hill will reopen

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel is extinguishing any hopes in the county’s ethnic communities that summer festivals will return to Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights.

Now that Hillside Productions is reviving the concerts at the Freedom Hill amphitheater some, including Sterling Heights Mayor Richard Notte, have wondered aloud if the return of the ethnic festivals would be the next move.

But Hackel is adamant that Macomb’s only county park will remain closed indefinitely due to budget concerns. And general fund tax revenues will not be used to stage events there.

“There is no way that’s going to happen. The county will not subsidize events or … festivals,” he said in a recent discussion with reporters. “We’re not in the business of losing money.”