Joe Louis Greenway will connect Detroit to Hamtramck, Highland Park & Dearborn
(CBS DETROIT) - A new trail is one mile closer to connecting neighboring cities.
Hundreds gathered Saturday to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of the Joe Louis Greenway.
"The Joe Louis Greenway will go a long way towards creating a sense of pride that helps alleviate the mental anguish of decades of disinvestment in our communities," said Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield.
The first mile to the path can be found between Joy Road and Warren near Livernois in Detroit.
"We just broke it through north of Joy," said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
"A year from now, we'll be all the way up to Fullerton and it will look just like this."
The plan is to expand the rail 27 miles, connecting Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park and Dearborn.
The legendary boxer's daughter, Joyce Barrow Henderson, held back tears during the honor.
"My father loved this city and it is abundantly clear that ya'll love him too and what is a champion without his people," Henderson said.
She says the greenway solidifies her father's memory in Detroit.
"When the Joe Louis Arena came down, we were really sad and when the city came to us and started to talk to us a lot about what they were thinking as far as the greenway was concerned, we did say that buildings come and go but this will be everlasting," Henderson said.
"For us its super important that my dad's legacy lives. It's really important right now when we're living in a country that's super divided. He's such a significant figure not just in the ring but in American history in unifying our country."
It's designed to be a regional connector, to help beautify 23 neighborhoods, on a site that used to house an abandoned railway.
Upon completion, the path will be a 10-minute walk for 40,000 residents.
