East Warrenfest Celebrates Regeneration of Business Corridor
Mayor Mike Duggan and DEGC Small Business Services VP, Sean Gray walk along the completed East Warren streetscape on September 21st. Image courtesy of the City of Detroit
Terri’s Cakes celebrate their ribbon cutting with Mayor Mike Duggan. Image courtesy of City of Detroit
For a community that has long wished for more places to eat, shop, and gather close to home, the East Warrenfest on September 21 was truly an evening of celebration. I’ve lived in Morningside for almost four decades and remember too well those difficult years after the financial meltdown of 2008. My block on Three Mile emptied out, leaving only eight occupied homes out of 23 houses. East Warren was little more than boarded up storefronts and empty sidewalks strewn with litter. But what a turnaround we’ve made!
With the completion of the streetscape and a wave of new businesses opening up on the eastern end of Morningside and East English Village, the feeling of revitalization was palpable at the East Warrenfest September 21.
Hundreds of people, young and old, Black and white, from Morningside and nearby neighborhoods, mingled in the perfect Indian summer weather, shopping among the 30 vendors and stores lining E. Warren. Kids did arts and crafts and enjoyed the pop-up play area at the new Courville Plaza. Live music from jazz to pop to hip-hop was provided by musicians and music entrepreneurs and curators, including D.Cipher, Design Core Detroit, Dominique Campbell, Sophiyah e. and Wayne Ramocan.
Several of the pop-up food vendors provided a preview of bricks-and-mortar establishments to come, including the award-winning East African restaurant Baobab Fare opening next year on E. Warren at Harvard, and Gajiza Dumplin’s, an Asian restaurant that will have a home in The Ribbon development going up now at Kensington. Much to the disappointment of latecomers like me, Terri’s Cakes, which had a popup in their storefront near Three Mile, had already sold out by 6 p.m. Their grand opening is planned for January.
Two other businesses held their grand openings that night. Jeffrey D. Lewis II, owner of Morningside Café, was happy to report he’d had about 120 customers, and Sarah Williams, coowner of Next Chapter Books, described that night as “amazing,” with 98 paying customers and many more browsers.
A performance at the Courville Plaza during the E. Warrenfest. Image courtesy of Jim West
According to Joe Rashid, Executive Director of E. Warren Development Corporation, which organized the event, pop-up vendors pulled in $19,000 in sales, and E. Warren stores reported $16,000 in revenue. Shout-out to the rest of the EWDC staff – Sarah Feldman, BrieAnn Bell, and Nathan Kempinski – who were also crucial to making this all happen. E. Warrenfest was funded by Invest Detroit in partnership with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan. BCBSM was also a major funder of the streetscape.
Earlier in the day Mayor Duggan was joined by Ken Hayward, Vice President and special assistant to the president for Community Relations from BCBSM at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the streetscape at Courville Plaza. According to Ken, “We had a vision to help revitalize this area, and the outcomes have made a huge impact on the community that will have lasting implications.”
Of course there’s still a lot to be done. Much of Morningside hasn’t felt the love yet, but we’re heading in the right direction. For the first time in decades we know what real hope feels like.
