Photo Credit: City of Detroit
Detroit celebrated a new chapter this week in its efforts to revitalize and reconnect its neighborhoods, as Leona Medley, executive director of the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan joined residents and community partners to officially open a newly completed stretch of the Joe Louis Greenway near Grand River and Oakman Boulevard.
The event also marked the unveiling of a striking new bronze statue honoring legendary boxer Joe Louis, not for his accomplishments in the ring, but for his often-overlooked role in breaking racial barriers in professional golf.
The recently completed section of the Joe Louis Greenway adds two miles of pedestrian and bike-friendly path between Joy Road and Intervale Street. This expansion builds on the section opened in 2023 that runs from Warren Avenue to Joy Road. With this addition, the total length of completed greenway now approaches six miles, and another six miles are expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The greenway, when finished, will stretch 29 miles through Detroit and into neighboring communities including Highland Park, Hamtramck, and Dearborn, connecting 23 Detroit neighborhoods along the way.
Duggan, speaking at the ribbon-cutting, emphasized the impact the greenway is already having on Detroit’s landscape and sense of community.
“The Joe Louis Greenway is transforming miles of blight and creating beauty and recreational opportunities, while connecting neighborhoods in a new way,” he said. “We named the greenway after Joe Louis because of his incredible contributions in and outside of the ring, and I’m thrilled to be here with his daughter, Joyce, to unveil the beautiful new statue of her father.”
The latest segment includes new sidewalks and bike paths, but also important safety and aesthetic features such as steel panel fencing, landscaping with new trees, lighting, and emergency call boxes. A key addition is a new trailhead located at Grand River Avenue near Cloverdale Street. This trailhead features an open-air shelter available for reservation and gatherings, a resurfaced alley to support food trucks and entertainment, and a public plaza that now serves as home to the new Joe Louis statue. Designed to be a welcoming gateway into the greenway, it mirrors the functionality of the already existing trailhead at West Warren Avenue.
The newly unveiled statue, titled “Outside the Ring,” was created by Detroit-based artist Austen Brantley. Cast in bronze, the sculpture pays tribute to Joe Louis’ groundbreaking influence on the game of golf. Known to most for his dominance in boxing, Louis was also the first African American to compete in a PGA-sanctioned tournament. Beyond his own personal achievements, he actively worked to open the sport to other Black athletes, most notably through the creation of the Joe Louis Open golf tournaments, which ran from 1941 to 1951 in Detroit and offered a platform for Black golfers who were barred from mainstream competition.
“The spirit that never quits—that’s what this statue means to me,” said Joyce Barrow-Henderson, Louis’ daughter, as she reflected on her father’s enduring legacy. “Not only for golfers, but for families, for children, for dreamers, for every person who knows that greatness does not come from winning every fight—it comes from getting back up again, again and again.”
Brantley, a self-taught figurative sculptor, completed the statue over the course of five months after being selected through an open call issued by the City of Detroit’s General Services Department in collaboration with the Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship (Detroit ACE).
A panel that included artists, architects, business leaders, and members of the Louis family chose Brantley for the commission. According to Rochelle Riley, Detroit’s Director of Arts and Culture, the statue was part of a larger mission to highlight Louis’ role as a pioneer who helped change the face of American sports. “He held Joe Louis Open Tournaments right here in Detroit to showcase the talent of Black players, paving the way for them to eventually play in PGA tournaments,” Riley said.
Funding for the new greenway segments was made possible by $35 million in State ARPA dollars awarded by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The Oakman Boulevard shared-use path, part of the expansion, was funded through a $1.4 million grant from the MDOT Transportation Alternatives Program. The Joe Louis statue itself was part of a broader beautification initiative supported by a $40 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
For residents along the greenway, the project is about more than infrastructure. It’s about unity and community pride.
“I look at this project as a connector, and I use the word ‘unifier’ to describe it—and that also makes me think of Joe Louis,” said Gerald Jeter, who lives and attends church along the greenway. “He was a unifier, not just a boxing champion but a champion of Detroit.”
The greenway’s expansion reflects a broader vision that emerged from the Joe Louis Greenway Framework Plan, which was shaped through community engagement to ensure that each mile reflects the voices and needs of the neighborhoods it touches. Medley reinforced this sentiment.
“The Joe Louis Greenway is designed with community at its heart,” she said. “These new segments will connect even more people across Detroit, Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Highland Park, bringing our region closer together through shared spaces that serve everyone.”
