Detroit, MI
Detroit Chinatown Vision Committee discusses Detroit Chinatown
Community members gathered in Angell Hall Sunday evening to eat, connect and listen to panelists at “Detroit Chinatown Visions,” an event featuring the Detroit Chinatown Vision Committee discussing new developments and a proposed revival of Detroit’s Pan-Asian neighborhood.
The Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month event was presented by the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs and Trotter Multicultural Center. It featured food, discussion of the history of Detroit’s Chinatown and a screening of “Big Fight in Little Chinatown,” a documentary on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinese communities all over the country.
The DCVC is working to create a new center for Detroit’s Pan-Asian community after the original two were destroyed in the 1960s as part of Detroit’s urban renewal initiatives. DCVC member Roland Hwang, founder of American Citizens for Justice, began the panel by reviewing Detroit’s first and second Chinatown neighborhoods. Hwang said the original community was torn down when the Detroit Housing Commission labeled it as a slum in need of demolition. One prevalent restaurant in the neighborhood — Chung’s Chop Suey — relocated to Cass Ave in an attempt to create a second Chinatown. However, the neighborhood largely ended after the business closed in 2000.
Jacob Molewyk, DCVC co-chair of Asian outreach, said the committee began after the 2023 demolition of the Shanghai Cafe and the Chinese Merchants Association building at 3143 Cass Ave., a cornerstone of Detroit’s Asian community.
DCVC member Leslie Tom said the committee hopes to commemorate the history lost due to the gentrification of Detroit neighborhoods.
“There is a lot of pressure to kind of gentrify these areas, or lose the memory of how these immigrant communities have created these enclaves in these cities,” Tom said. “And when you make these disappear, you sort of lose the identity and the memories of your origin story, and how your culture thrived and survived in this country.”
In July 2025, the committee hosted its first block party to celebrate the revival of Detroit’s Chinatown and Asian American heritage, featuring vendors, art and performances. Tom said she is excited for DCVC’s second block party planned for July 25, the anniversary of the day the merchant association building was knocked down.
“I feel like it’s so beautiful,” Tom said. “I’ve not seen a community with so many multi-generational skills come together and really start to reclaim what the space is and reclaim that history. To start to rethink what the future of this space could be, expanding into a Pan-Asian identity, rather than just a Chinatown.”
Lisa Yee-Litzenberg, DCVC co-chair of Asian outreach, said the organization focuses on community development and neighborhood planning through its non-profit arm, the Chinatown Redevelopment Corporation.
“What we’re doing is doing a lot of work to do strategic planning,” Yee-Litzenberg said. “We’re really listening to the community. We’re building from the ground up. So we’ve been partnering a lot with the local community residents (and) the businesses. …We’ve been hearing from a lot of other Chinatowns around the country and even in Canada and elsewhere, to kind of see how they built themselves up and the challenges that they’re facing.”
Hwang concluded by reemphasizing the organization’s mission to preserve Pan-Asian culture in Detroit before opening the panel to audience questions.
“Ethnic enclaves, particularly Japantowns, Koreatowns, Chinatowns, etc., are not easily movable or replaceable, and they should flourish in the name of cultural preservation,” Hwang said. “People should recognize that other cities do a better job of preservation and recognizing their historical significance. I think that that’s part of our mission: to make sure that people realize the importance of recognizing past neighborhoods and cultures.”
In an interview with the Michigan Daily, LSA senior Tyler Nguyen, AA&PI Heritage Month and event co-coordinator, said he encourages students to engage with local history and community efforts.
“If you’re an individual who is wondering about your place, there is actually history right at your fingertips, right at your doorstep and right on campus,” Nguyen said. “Acknowledging that is a really important step as we find more permanent and fulfilling answers to the questions we have about our community.”
Daily Staff Reporter Hayley Weiss can be reached at hayweiss@umich.edu.
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Archbishop Edward Weisenburger and Fr. Mario Amore on restructuring
Archbishop Edward Weisenburger and Fr. Mario Amore on the archdiocese restructuring on Nov. 17, 2025 in Detroit
The list of Catholic parishes targeted for the possible stoppage of weekend Masses has grown to about 90 parishes across southeast Michigan, according to the latest proposed models the Archdiocese of Detroit has released as part of its major restructuring process.
The archdiocese released on Thursday the models for potential parish groupings for the six remaining planning areas in the archdiocese, and 32 parishes wouldn’t have weekend Mass under at least one of the models. Previously released models showed that 58 other parishes could stop holding weekend Mass.
The Archdiocese of Detroit recently completed listening sessions meant to garner feedback on the models, but parishioners can still share input through a survey that is open until July 31.
The archdiocese has been divided into 15 planning areas, or geographic areas, and three or four models are being proposed for each planning area, said the Rev. Mario Amore, executive director of parish renewal for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The models have different proposed groupings of parishes ― called pastorates ― in which a grouping would share a pastor and potentially other priests. In some cases, selected churches in the grouping would no longer hold Saturday Vigil or Sunday Mass.
The models released on Thursday are for planning areas 6, 7, 8, 11, 14 and 15, which include parts of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties and parishes in St. Clair and Lapeer counties.
Sixteen of the parishes wouldn’t have weekend Mass under any of the models, including St. Alphonsus-Clement Parish in Dearborn, Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Redford Township and Our Lady of Hope Parish in St. Clair Shores.
The models are part of the archdiocese’s biggest restructuring plan in years. Announced last fall, Archbishop Edward Weisenburger said the archdiocese can’t maintain the roughly 200 existing parish buildings and is working to “right-size” the archdiocese, along with its personnel and financial resources.
Holly Fournier, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Detroit, emphasized that the models are just draft proposals “intended to solicit feedback from parishioners.” She said no decisions have been made regarding pastorate groupings, weekend Mass schedules or any other aspect of the restructuring process.
The Rev. Mario Amore, executive director of parish renewal for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said in May that parishioners understand that the archdiocese “needs to do something” about its challenges. But when it becomes personal for people, it’s “very difficult,” he said.
“And there’s a lot of human emotions, and … we need to honor that,” Amore said. “We need to be attentive to that, and no one’s saying that it’s an easy process, and it’s not a process that … we’re happy that we need to undertake, but it is one that we do need to undertake.”
What the latest Wayne County models show
Planning Area 6, which is in the southern section of Wayne County, excluding the Downriver area, includes 16 parishes. Eight of them would stop holding Saturday Vigil or Sunday Mass under at least one of the models for the planning area.
They include St. Mary, Cause of Our Joy in Westland, St. Richard in Westland, St. Aloysius in Romulus, St. Sabina in Dearborn Heights, St. Linus in Dearborn Heights, Divine Child in Dearborn, St. Alphonsus -St. Clement in Dearborn and St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Dearborn.
Planning Area 7, which includes the northwest portion of Wayne County, has 15 parishes, four of which wouldn’t hold weekend Mass under at least one model. They include Our Lady of Loretto in Redford Township, St. John XXIII in Redford Township, St. Priscilla in Livonia and Resurrection in Canton Township.
What the latest Oakland and Macomb Co. models show
Planning Area 8, which is in southern Oakland County, has 13 parishes, six of which wouldn’t have weekend Mass under at least one of the models. They include St. William in Walled Lake, St. Gerald in Farmington, Prince of Peace in West Bloomfield, St. Joseph in South Lyon, Church of the Transfiguration in Southfield and Our Lady of Albanians in Southfield.
Planning Area 11, which includes the southeastern section of Macomb County, the Grosse Pointe communities and one parish in Detroit, has 14 parishes. Seven of them wouldn’t have weekend Mass under at least one model. They include Our Lady of Hope in St. Clair Shores, St. Lucy in St. Clair Shores, St. Basil the Great in Eastpointe, St. Margaret of Scotland in St. Clair Shores, Holy Innocents-St. Barnabas in Roseville, St. Matthew in Detroit and St. Clare of Montefalco in Grosse Pointe Park.
What the models in St. Clair, Lapeer counties show
Planning Area 14, which is in St. Clair County, has 12 parishes, five of which wouldn’t have Saturday Vigil or Sunday Mass in at least one model. They include Sacred Heart in Yale, St. Edward on the Lake in Lakeport, Holy Trinity in Port Huron, St. Christopher in Marysville and Immaculate Conception in Ira Township.
Planning Area 15, which is in Lapeer County and part of northern Macomb County, includes ten parishes. Two wouldn’t hold weekend Mass under at least one model. They include St. Mary Burnside in North Branch and St. Cornelius in Dryden.
asnabes@detroitnews.com
Carl’s Chop House, 3020 Grand River in Detroit, 1923-2008
It was one of the most prominent restaurants in Detroit throughout the 20th century. Carl’s Chop House served Detroit for decades, from the Great Depression through the new Millennium.
Founder Carl Rosenfield first opened as the Grand River Chophouse in the early 1920s and he moved the business across the street and renamed it Carl’s in the 1930s. The often-repeated story goes that he won the full ownership of a bar from his partner in a poker game and turned it into Carl’s Chop House.
Prior to his restaurant success, Rosenfield was a well-known tire merchant. At one point, Rosenfield also owned a lighthouse near Port Sanilac.
As a restaurateur, Rosenfield persevered through many trials, including the Great Depression and a beef shortage during World War II, which left the steakhouse to serve chicken, lobster, sturgeon and “a lot of fish I never heard of,” he was quoted as saying.
A sirloin steak dinner was $1 when Carl’s Chop House opened.
By the 1960s, business was booming, and the restaurant was serving thousands of customers daily and had plans to expand the 850-seat dining room to 1,200. By then, steak dinners were up to $6.
They bounced up to $10 in the 1970s when longtime Detroit News restaurant reporter and critic Molly Abraham included Carl’s in a column, pointing out that even though the restaurant was a bit out of fashion — it had been open for more than 50 years by then — she describes the place as having “an infectiously festive, informal atmosphere.”
Along with the steaks, convivial atmosphere and firm handshakes, Carl’s Chop House was known for always being open, even on Sundays. The only day of the year it was closed was Christmas Day, Dec. 25, which was also Rosenfield’s birthday.
Rosenfield, who would support local farmers by purchasing cattle and other livestock from the Michigan State Fair, was still working at the restaurant in the 1980s when he was in his 90s. He died in 1991 at age 95.
The new owners of Carl’s Chop House ushered it into the next century for another generation to enjoy.
It wasn’t the same without its namesake proprietor, who was known for an absolutely crushing handshake, however. In 2008, owner Frank Passalacqua filed an application with the state for a topless permit, hoping to turn the property, which was now a neighbor of MotorCity Casino, from a steakhouse to a strip club.
Passalacqua, who was more successful at Mario’s Italian restaurant in the Cass Corridor, said he was losing $1 million a year on Carl’s. The gentleman’s club idea never materialized. Carl’s closed in 2008 and the building was demolished in 2010.
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
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