DETROIT – The two-story building at 3145 Cass Avenue in Detroit was deemed dangerous and unsafe before it was torn down over the weekend.
But to many Chinese Americans in Metro Detroit, it was part of the foundation of their history.
Carolyn Chin Watson’s grandparents owned a restaurant in the former Chinatown district on Cass Avenue.
“It was honestly the only source of income, and for immigrant families, you don’t speak English, you don’t have the education, you can’t get a job elsewhere. This was their livelihood,” she said.
This property was purchased by the Chinese American Merchants Association in 1963.
The AAPI nonprofit American Citizens for Justice got its start here.
“This was really a social center, a place for people in the community to hang out,” American Citizens for Justice president Roland Hwang said.
Over the weekend, demolition ordered by the city’s Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department got underway.
The property is owned by Olympia Development of Michigan.
Preservationists, Chinese Americans, and other community members were hoping to delay demolition to see if the building could be saved.
The city council even approved a resolution to delay.
“That unfortunately hasn’t happened and now we are here today to see this,” Detroit City Council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero said.
Now they’re pushing for any development of this property to pay homage to its past.
“There needs to be conversation between the Asian American community and the city and Olympia to make sure there is space in this place to remember our history,” Santiago-Romero said.
Chin Watson agrees.
“I would love to see this become a vibrant community center,” she said.
Local 4 reached out to Olympic Development about the future of the property on Cass. A spokesperson referred Local 4 to a statement from the Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department detailing why the building needed to come down.