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OAK PARK page 18

At our original location

(2599 Crumb Rd. • Commerce Twshp.)

Friday, September 20 - Sunday, September 22
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The construction, much of it at
the back of the facility, is a work
in progress. Meanwhile, the Kol-
lel's lawn is decorated a la "This
Old House," with building sup-
plies strewn neatly over just
about every blade of grass.
The synagogue and learning
center began extensive renova-
tions last August, and they are
scheduled to be completed in Feb-
ruary. Plans call for nearly dou-
bling the current space to include
a new sanctuary and more class-
rooms, in addition to major ren-
ovations on the existing facility.
f Oak Park is no longer a
neighborhood for those on a
limited budget, its former im-
age as Orthodox Central Sta-
tion also is evolving.
Certainly it remains an Or-
thodox stronghold, but these days
the Neighborhood Project sees an
increasing number of families
who are not observant, but who
want to live in a Jewish neigh-
borhood.
"It's a very diverse group of
people (moving into Oak Park),"
says Marion Freedman, director
of the Neighborhood Project.
Many of them are the children,
the grandchildren, and some-
times the great-grandchildren of
Detroiters who lived, quite com-
fortably, in diverse communities
for years. But unlike their pre-
decessors, these Jews are not
abandoning their neighborhoods.
The first Jews came to Detroit
from Germany in the 1840s and
settled on Hastings Street on the
city's east side. By the late 1800s
the German Jews were moving
out, but the eastern European
Jews were moving in. During
World War I, Hastings Street
was so heavily populated by Jews
that it garnered the nickname
"Little Jerusalem."
Then the North began to call.
Around 1910 Jews began leav-
ing Hastings Street to settle on
Oakland Avenue, which lay be-
tween two large industrial areas,
Hamtramck (home of the Dodge
boys) and Highland Park (where
you could get a body — a car
body, that is — built by Mr.
Ford). Predictably, many of the
Jews' neighbors here were Pol-
ish-Americans.
By the 1940s, Jews had com-
pletely abandoned the old Hast-
ings area, and it was difficult to
find even a remnant of the Jew-
ish community. All the Jewish-
owned businesses were gone, all
the synagogues had been sold to
churches.
The Jews were replaced, for
the most part, by black Detroi-
ters, and the neighborhood be-
came known as "Black Bottom"
(which gave rise to a popular
dance and song).
The Jewish community, mean-
while, moved out of both upper
and lower Hastings, out of the
Oakland area, away from 12th
Street and onto Linwood and
Dexter streets. They would stay

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here until the post-World War II
era, when Oak Park became the
Jewish neighborhood of choice,
especially among young families.
Marion Freedman of the
Neighborhood Project believes
Oak Park is experiencing a re-
vival today in part because of I-
696 and the aesthetic additions
— the decks, parks and play-
grounds — which came with its
completion.
"For a long time, people were
very hesitant about the area be-
cause no one knew where the
highway would cut or what it
would look like," she said. Then
they discovered that not only did
the changes actually improve
the area's appearance, the high-
way made Oak Park even more
accessible to the rest of the sub-
urbs.
Ms. Freedman also has seen
what a difference the Federa-
tion's purchase of the former
B'nai Moshe has made, as has its
decision to update the Jimmy
Prentis Morris JCC.
There was a time when a
"youth group" at the Jewish Cen-
ter branch could mean those aged
50-60. Then the Federation
added a pool and a health club.
Today, families with small chil-
dren and young, single adults are
regularly seen at the JCC.
The changes in Oak Park have
meant changes at the Neighbor-
hood Project, as well. There's no

Families who are not
observant, but who
want to live in a
Jewish
neighborhood.

need to encourage anyone to
move into a home on Gardner
Street in north Oak Park, but
there are still houses available in
other areas of both Oak Park and
Southfield. The Neighborhood
Project has increased efforts to
help families interested in set-
tling there by providing them
with a $10,000 incentive.
Yet as the Oak Park boom
shows no sign of slowing down,
there's no telling how long even
those homes will be available.
"Will Oak Park continue like
this? Without a doubt," Ms.
Freedman said. "Just look at
everything going on." She noted
not only the renovations at Jew-
ish educational institutions,
synagogues and temples, but
the improvements at houses on
virtually every street in Oak
Park.
"Nobody is going to put that
kind of money into a home or
business and then abandon it,"
she said. "Oak Park is here to
stay." ❑

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