Detroit and Buffalo will each receive $50 million from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation to improve waterfront parks.
The West Riverfront Park in Detroit will be renamed for Wilson, who lived in Metro Detroit and was best known for owning the NFL's Buffalo Bills.
The foundation made the announcement Wednesday on what would have been Wilson's 100th birthday. He died in 2014.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says the park revitalization will be felt most by those who consider themselves the city’s forgotten residents.
“You’re going to have the families, the 25% of families in this town that don’t have a car, that are going to be able to access those trails and in many cases, take those trails right down to the riverfront,” he says. “So the riverfront is for them as well.”
Another $50 million will go to support regional trails in southeast Michigan and another $100 million for western New York.
