Asian Americans lament loss of landmark in Detroit’s old Chinatown, demand cultural site
Demolition of the historically significant building smacks of ‘arrogance’ and ‘greed,’ activist says
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Two days after the demolition of a historically significant building in Detroit’s old Chinatown neighborhood, Asian American leaders and elected officials urged the Ilitch family and city leaders to resurrect the site with something culturally meaningful.
A company linked to the billionaire Ilitch family razed the two-story, 140-year-old building at 3143 Cass Ave. on Saturday, despite pleas from Chinese Americans and preservationists to save the structure
A day after the Detroit City Council unanimously voted to delay demolition by at least a month, Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration said the resolution had “no legal force” and ordered the building’s owner, ODM Management, to “immediately” raze the structure.
As demolition crews combed through the debris Monday morning, preservationists and Asian American activists gathered near the site to denounce Duggan’s administration and the Ilitch family for ignoring calls to save the building, which the Chinese Merchants Association began using in the 1960s for social, educational, recreational, and religious purposes. The building also housed a restaurant and a theater for Chinese opera.
In addition to serving as a social hub, the building was a community center for the American Citizens for Justice, a group that formed in the wake of the death of Vincent Chin. Chin was a Chinese American who was killed in June 1982 by two autoworkers who allegedly blamed Asians for massive layoffs in the auto industry. At the demolition site, someone spray-painted the message “NEVER FORGET VINCENT CHIN.”
Hayg Oshagan, co-chairman of the Detroit Immigration Task Force, said the demolition smacks of “arrogance” and “greed” and compared the sites of many other razed buildings in the Cass Corridor to “unmarked graves” in a cemetery.
Oshagan said the building should be replaced with something that honors Chinese Americans.
“This should become a vibrant center of the community, and it should be called Chinatown,” Oshagan said. “This should be a place where we celebrate the contributions of the Chinese American community to the building of this city, as well as the contributions of all immigrants to making our city a great place to live.”
Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who introduced the legislation to delay demolition, said she was surprised by the actions of the Duggan administration and the Ilitch family’s Olympia Development.
“I did not expect the administration and Olympia to play hardball with history,” Santiago-Romero said. “I expected us to slow down a little, to have a conversation, and to ensure we have our Asian American leadership and community at front and center while we decide what is next.
Santiago-Romero stressed the need for the Asian American community to pay a role in deciding what will replace the building.
“My hope is that we continue to be able to work together, that we continue to uplift the history, and that the Ilitches and the administration do reach out their hand, do work together with us, and that we do this as an opportunity to build this future that we all want and we all need,” she said. “We deserve so much more than just demolishing our history and leaving a plaque here as a remembrance. We need to continue to uplift communities and engage with them.”
ODM Management, an Ilitch-linked entity, purchased the property for $50,000 in 2004, according to public property records, and had done little, if anything, to preserve the building.
In 2018, the city declared the property a dangerous building, and the city council signed off on the designation at the time. But in 2021, a separate survey for the city found that the building has a long and storied social history worthy of preservation and historic designation.
During that time, Asian American activists said no one reached out to them to discuss the fate of the building. That lack of communication must end, they said.
“It’s really sad to see that history is fleeing, but at the same time, a pivotal moment for us and Olympia and Ilitches to make this a space that is historic, that honors our history, that brings together all of the communities of Detroit, and really reinvigorates this space” said Carolyn Chin Watson, whose family used to operate a restaurant out of the building. “Hopefully we can do that together.”
Jasmine Rivera, co-executive director of Rising Voices, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Asian Americans in Michigan, said Chinatown is an important link to the past.
“We cannot be erased,” Rivera said. “You can’t demolish our buildings and take away the facades of our communities because we are here and we deserve to be recognized and celebrated. If we want a city in the future that is true and authentic to our roots that is welcoming to all, then we need to make sure that communities like Detroit’s Chinatown have a future that can welcome everyone and also honor that past of collective power.”
State Sen. Stephanie Chang, a Detroit Democrat who was the first Asian American woman to be elected to the Michigan Legislature, said she was “devastated” when she heard about the demolition. She called for a community center or art space “that recognizes how important Chinatown’s history is in Detroit.”
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