City officials and community stakeholders gathered in Rouge Park on Thursday to celebrate the newly revitalized Tireman-Minock Park in Detroit’s Warrendale/Cody Rouge neighborhood.

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Detroit City Councilman for District 7, Fred Durhal, said Thursday that the new park symbolizes something great: “Community ideas,” he said.

“When we go to these community meetings, folks talk about, ‘we need a place to recreate; we need a walking track so we can walk at least a mile; we want to have swing sets; we want to have playscapes for our children so they can stay active; we want a picnic place so we can congregate and even in the summertime hold some of our meetings here,'” Durhal said. “So what you see here today is indicative of that type of thought that you guys put out into the community that we take back to our public-private partnerships and bring all this into fruition.”

The park was funded as part of the city’s Strategic Neighborhood Fund initiative, with additional funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, Huntington Bank and the Gilbert Family Foundation.

The park sits on the former site of Dixon Elementary School on Detroit’s west side. Dr. Patricia Butler, community development manager for the Cody Rouge Community Action Agency, said at the park’s unveiling on Thursday that she has hoped the area would be revitalized ever since the day the school closed. 

“And when I saw the school going down I didn’t get discouraged, because I said when something comes down, something else is going to come up. And out of the ashes came this beautiful park,” said Butler.

The park, located within the bounds of the much larger Rouge Park, features a playground, picnic tables, picnic shelters, walkways, and fitness equipment.  

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Other headlines for Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024:

• Detroit Home Accessibility Program applications are now open for Detroit residents who need accessibility modifications made to their homes.
• The Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce is conducting a survey to ask about the potential of developing an LGBTQ+ business district in metro Detroit.
• Metro Detroit is offering a mix of summer music events this weekend, including the annual Ribs and R&B festival at Hart Plaza; The Queens of R&B tour coming to Little Caesars Arena on Friday, headlined by groups Xscape and SWV; and The Lathrup Village Music Festival outside the Southfield Municipal Center, featuring Thornetta Davis, Stacey “Hotwaxx” Hale, Paul Hill and more. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

The rich history of Chinatown in Detroit is often lost on those who aren’t old enough to remember.

The first Chinese immigrants began arriving in the late 1800s and by the 1930s, Detroit’s Chinatown was created just west of Downtown. Urban renewal forced the Chinatown to relocate to the corner of Peterboro and Cass. 

State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) held a press conference on Monday to praise the $1 million in funding allocated in the Fiscal Year 2025 state budget for the nonprofit, Midtown Detroit, Inc., to revitalize the old Chinatown neighborhood. 

Interim Executive Director of Midtown Detroit, Inc. Maureen Stapleton and Board Member of the Association of Chinese Americans Richard Mui joined The Metro to discuss the organization’s restoration efforts.

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Stapleton said she has many memories of House of Chung’s, a restaurant and important institution in the community.  

“House of Chung’s was one of my favorite places to go. My family, we would get dressed up and we would go down and it was a vibrant area, even in the ’70s and the ’80s,” Stapleton said. “And so we at Midtown Detroit, Inc. – understanding the need to ensure culture, but to show a diverse culture, we’re very excited to work with some community developers, and others, and Senator Chang, to ensure that we could begin to replace or redo some of the things that have been taken away over the years to ensure that the Chinese heritage continues on in our city.”

Mui says preserving historic cultural spaces is important. 

“I’m standing outside of Chung’s restaurant right now. Just looking at the changes, it’s remarkable,” he said. “You know, driving up and down Cass you see it changing.  So yeah, definitely I can see that as [a] beacon, I can see that as an attraction. I was just in Philadelphia for our national conference and they’re working to preserve that Chinatown because they’re trying to build an arena on the edges there. And I think it’s, you know, I think there’s a demand for it and it’s just a matter of kind of getting the seeds going and growing it.”

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Stapleton and Mui.

More headlines from The Metro on July 29, 2024:

• This month, the Milliken v. Bradley U.S. Supreme Court ruling turns 50 years old. It overturned a district judge’s ruling that would have desegregated Detroit’s schools by bussing students from the suburbs into the city and vice versa. Guest host Robyn Vincent reported on a story for Chalkbeat Detroit that looks back on that case and its impacts on us today. Detroit historian and journalist Ken Coleman joined the show to discuss the historical threads that led to the case. 
• On the latest episode of MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben sat down with former Democratic state Rep. Adam Zemke to discuss who Kamala Harris might pick for her vice president candidate.
• In 2023, Detroit opened a new office devoted to urban agriculture. The city believes gardeners are on the front lines of many things like rehabilitating soil often soaked in toxins from old auto plants, removing blight, or simply creating positive social interactions by rooting oneself in the food they grow. Patrice Brown recently became associate director for Detroit’s Office of Urban Agriculture. She joined the show to discuss how the office will continue to support green initiatives in the city.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The city of Detroit broke ground this week on the first phase of a new mixed-use housing development in North Corktown.

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The new development, called Preserve on Ash, will bring nearly 600 new and preserved units of affordable housing to Greater Corktown, according to the city, thanks in part to a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“As Detroit comes back, we are building the city in a way that includes Detroiters of all income levels who stayed, rather than pushing them out,” said Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement about the project. “In the past five years, we have invested $1 billion in affordable housing, and the Preserve on Ash marks the beginning of the next $1 billion we will invest into more affordable housing over the next five years.”

The project, led by the nonprofit Community Builders, will include 69 total mixed income housing units across five buildings — 48 of which will be rent and income-restricted for renters. Another 22 units will have project-based vouchers from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority so that the rent payments will be based on household income.

Preserve on Ash phases II and III are expected to start construction next year.

Other headlines for Friday, July 26, 2024:

• More Rite Aid stores are closing in Michigan as the pharmacy chain goes through bankruptcy.
• Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit is holding its fourth annual New Voices: Detroit event from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 2, celebrating a new generation of artists, ambassadors and advocates in Detroit’s arts and culture scene.
• The Paris 2024 Olympics officially began on Friday with the opening ceremony. To celebrate, the Michigan Science Center is hosting an Olympics-themed event for individuals 21 and older called “After Dark: The Mi-Sci Games” from 6 to 11 p.m. this Saturday.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.