More than 800 homes and businesses in the heart of Lansing's African American community were destroyed in the 1960s to make way for the building of Interstate 496.

Now the city of Lansing is telling their story.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor announced the Paving the Way project on Thursday.

It will consist of oral histories from dislocated residents, and a virtual community showing what the area used to look like before the freeway.

"It was a neighborhood where the vast majority of African Americans in Lansing lived because of segregation, that was torn down and it immediately disrupted their lives," said Bill Castanier, president of the Historical Society of Lansing. "We want to tell that story from the point of view of the people it happened to."

The National Park Service awarded Lansing a nearly $40,000 grant for the project.