Joe Louis Greenway gateway park opens on Detroit’s west side
The Warren Gateway — a four-acre park with signature playground equipment and green infrastructure — is the city’s first constructed trailhead on the greenway.
The trailhead park on W. Warren Avenue, west of Central Avenue, features a futuristic playground, modern picnic shelter, green infrastructure and more.
The city’s first constructed trailhead on the Joe Louis Greenway officially opened to the public this week on Detroit’s west side.
The Warren Gateway is a four-acre trailhead park located on W. Warren Avenue, west of Central Avenue, featuring a futuristic playground, modern picnic shelter, green infrastructure, accessible parking and outdoor workout equipment. Once complete, the 27.5-mile Greenway will connect 23 Detroit neighborhoods and the cities of Highland Park, Hamtramck and Dearborn to each other, as well as to the Dequindre Cut and the Detroit Riverwalk.
“This is a great day for Detroit,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “What used to be an abandoned railroad tracks, overgrowth and tons of illegal dumping is now going to be a signature entry point to the Joe Louis Greenway for thousands of people each year.”
Leona Medley, executive director of the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership, joined local dignitaries, neighborhood residents and families at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate the new park, which she said represents the power of community.
“It’s about more than concrete and signs. It’s about hard work. It’s about commitment. It is about sweat. It’s about an amazing community who has fought for this city and continues to fight for this city,” said Medley.
Also among them was Joyce Barrow, the daughter of famed boxer Joe Louis, who told the crowd, “This is what it looks like to be a champion.”
“This is your space,” she said. “And we’re honored beyond measure that this is the way that the city has chosen to remember my father’s legacy.”
Sitting on the border between Detroit and Dearborn, the trailhead will offer direct connections to three parks in east Dearborn, including one of the city’s highly anticipated PEACE parks.
The Warren Gateway project was funded by a $3 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation and $3 million in city bond funding.
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