A transformational park development along the Detroit riverfront is much closer to reality today.

The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, in honor of its namesake’s 100th birthday, is gifting $100 million each to green spaces and trail initiatives in southeast Michigan and western New York, specifically Detroit and Buffalo. The gift will fund two major parks—including Detroit’s West Riverfront Park—and about 250 miles of trails in the regions.

President and CEO David Enger tells Curbed that Wilson loved exercise and being outside and near the water, so it made sense to give this great gift in honor of him on his birthday.

Each park—West Riverfront in Detroit and LaSalle Park in Buffalo—is not only on the water, but on an international border. Each park will receive $40 million in capital for construction, plus $10 million in endowment support. And each park will be renamed Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park.

The West Riverfront Park is projected to cost $50 million to complete.

Much like these parks, trail systems in the region each received $40 million in construction costs, plus $10 million in endowment support. Part of this will go toward completing parts of the Iron Belle Trail, among other main trails across seven counties in southeast Michigan. They plan on working on key pieces in the systems to build more connections in the trails, says Enger.

The foundation had been working with the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy for about 18 months on this project, and when DRFC President Mark Wallace presented the concept to the board, it came at a time when the foundation wanted to do something big for what would be Wilson’s 100th birthday. They funded the engagement strategy and design competition, and progressed to being a major funder in the project.

The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy named Brooklyn Bridge Park designer Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA) and Sir David Adjaye earlier this year to design the park after an extensive design competition. The park will transform 22 acres of flat, vacant land into various landscapes including a cove where people can swim, places for visitors to fish, various sports courts, and more.

Van Valkenburgh and Adjaye were in Detroit Tuesday evening for a discussion on “The Future of Museums, Public Spaces, and Parks” at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Van Valkenburgh noted that while on a visit to Detroit, he talked to a man fishing along the riverfront and realized how important fishing is to the population here, calling it an “avid urban passion in Detroit.” But his favorite parts of the park will be the cove—so people have access to the water—and the basketball pavilion—which he said would be “the temple of basketball in the city.”

Adjaye noted that he’s been visiting the city for about 20 years, and loves that downtown is finally feeling energized. But, he said, we shouldn’t have to tear down any of the old buildings, and that there’s plenty of vacant land to build on. He’s also waiting for next great architecture in the city.

So are we.

In West Riverfront Park, Enger says it will be a unique addition to Detroit in that it will be a destination that can attract all zip codes and people across Detroit. The community engagement process has been important in creating this park, he says. “If the community doesn’t design it, they won’t use it.”

The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy recently broke ground on Atwater Beach, which will add a new recreational area to the East Riverfront. Currently, the Riverwalk spans about three-and-a-half miles; in the coming years, with the additions of the UniRoyal site and West Riverfront Park, the Riverwalk will run all the way from Belle Isle to the Ambassador Bridge.

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. owned the Buffalo Bills, but hailed from Detroit. After he died in 2014, Wilson wanted his estate to go toward projects in southeast Michigan and western New York. The foundation will grant $1.2 billion over a 20-year period, ending in 2035. Their office is in New Center.