It’s a more than $2 billion project that’s been in the works since the 1990s. This summer, crews are expected to break ground on construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge Project.
But for hundreds of families this project is destroying the community they call home.
It was 1976 when Gloria McPhail-Denhem and her husband moved into a house on Vanderbilt Street.
“All these houses were full of people and kids,” said McPhail-Denham.
Over the years, industrial pollution plagued the neighborhood and things changed.
“I like to sit on my porch some days, but you can’t sit out there- the smell is so bad,” said McPhail-Denham.
But Delray is home. And McPhail-Denham made memories in this home with her children, and later, with her grandchildren.
When she heard that the city wanted residents to move to make way for the construction of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, she immediately reacted.
“I kept saying I wasn’t going to move, I was going to stay here,” said McPhail-Denham.
But then they started making concrete for the bridge just down the street from the home where the 77-year-old with COPD lives. She struggled to breathe, so her daughters urged her to consider moving.
“My health is failing fast, so it is more pollution coming in. So, I’m really trying to get out of here, said McPhail-Denham.
“Now to think about moving, leaving everything behind… It is an experience,” said her daughter, Harriet McPhail.
Harriet lives with her mom and one of her sisters who has physical disabilities. McPhail and another sister have been house hunting, thanks to a deal offered by the city.
“You give us your house, we will give you this new house. We want that to stay true to form,” said Dayle Annette McPhail.
“What they are actually doing is suing a swap agreement, saying they are going to give us their home for a newly rehabbed home,” said Heather Zygmontowicz, the Deputy Director of Bridging Neighborhoods Program
We went with the McPhail sisters as they checked out a house available through the Land Bank house swap program for Delray residents. But they have to choose a house before the city does the renovations. It leaves them wondering - what will the house be like?
“We’re leaving our whole community. We’re leaving our neighbors behind. Everyone is branching out to somewhere else,” said Harriet.
“We have been in that house so long, since 76. So she has been over there since then. We all grew up there,” said Dayle Annette McPhail.
“It will be bittersweet to leave. I got a lot of memories of Delray,” said Gloria McPhail-Denhem.
More than 450 families will be impacted by the bridge construction. Many have the choice of staying or leaving.
The city right now is serving the first round of people who want to take advantage of the house swap. They’re hoping that will encourage others to move as well, before the construction of the bridge impacts quality of life for those still holding out in Delray.
