Detroit Today: How can the legacy of Detroit’s Chinatown be preserved?

Last weekend, a 140-year-old building that had once provided resources for Chinese immigrants was demolished by the Ilitch’s Olympia Development real estate company. Olympia plans to redevelop the area surrounding 3143 Cass Ave. as part of their District Detroit project.

The building contained a community center, a Chinese school, restaurant and more, serving many purposes for the Chinese Americans when Detroit’s Chinatown was thriving. The recent razing came days after the Detroit City Council asked the company to delay the building’s destruction. 

A group of Asian American advocates gathered outside the demolished building earlier this week to hold a press conference on the decision. They want Olympia to honor and preserve the cultural significance of Chinese residents who lived and worked in the Chinatown.

Listen: Preserving the history of Detroit’s Chinatown in Cass Corridor

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Carolyn Chin’s grandparents owned Shanghai Cafe, a restaurant that had sat in the 3143 Cass Building. Chin says the space was essential to the community, and held the remnants of a lot of Detroit Chinese culture.

“As individuals that are not white, are not Black, we’re always othered, so that really makes people come together,” says Chin. “They [Chin’s grandparents] would provide the space that would essentially create belonging and inclusion and care.”

Roland Hwang is president of American Citizens for Justice, a civil rights advocacy organization formed to seek justice for Vincent Chin after he was murdered in Highland Park 40 years ago. Hwang is also a lecturer at the University of Michigan in the Asian and Pacific Islander American Studies department. He notes that so much of history, including that of Asian American communities, is lost — often untethering communities.

“It’s [the recent demolition] an opportunity to have a conversation about how we might have more preservation of our landmarks and that certain neighborhoods don’t get forgotten,” says Hwang.

State Sen. Stephanie Chang is a Democrat representing Michigan’s 3rd state Senate district, which includes part of Detroit and some of its northern suburbs. Chang says it’s more important than ever to record history.

“If we don’t preserve it [Asian American history] now, we’re going to lose it,” says Chang.

Richard Mui is a history and civics teacher at Canton High School. He is teaching a course on Asian American Pacific Islander history and culture in the fall. Mui describes how Chinese Merchants Association based at 3142 Cass Ave. helped his father settle in the city.

“The Chinese Merchants Association that operated out of that building, it was a hub for the Chinese immigrants that came here. So, people like my father who didn’t speak English and had a limited number of skills — they really helped him settle. Helped him find a job, helped him find a place to live, get a car, so that he was able to raise his family,” says Mui.