GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Once a predominantly Dutch community, Roosevelt Park, located on the city’s southwest side, now brings a blend of Latin American culture to Grand Rapids.
Over the last decade, immigrants from Latin American countries have settled in the area. People from countries such as Puerto Rico, Mexico or Guatemala are ingrained in this community’s culture.
“Here we have Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican representation, Guatemala representation, El Salvador representation… There's a little bit of everything here, you know. So that's why this, this corridor here is so special,” Gilma De LaCruz said.
Along Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, formerly known as Grandville Avenue, terracotta buildings and colorful decorations can be seen along the road.
This street is a pillar of the Roosevelt Park community. Supermarkets, clothing stores and restaurants can be found along the busy road.
“You know, there's a melting pot of individuals that know that this area exists,” said Joshua Reyes, co-owner of M&M Bakery. “You can go to this area and kind of get something out of the normal, not your typical, corporate chain or something like that.”
However, this street was shut down for several months due to road construction. This temporary closure took a hit on the community.
“There's been several frustrating moments of just no access to the area,” he said. “So if you have no access, there's no way for customers to get in. If there's no way for customers to get in, then obviously not many sales happening.”
Right across the street, Rincón Criollo Restaurant is facing the same hardship. De LaCruz’s mother opened the restaurant almost a decade ago. In recent months, they have had to close the restaurant some days due to the construction.
“We’ve all been struggling to keep our doors open, to keep our teams,” she said. “Because our teams are our family as well, and it's been a really big impact financially in all of the businesses here in the corridor.”
Luckily, that road construction project is now over. Cesar E. Chavez Avenue is now reopened and busy once again. This gives hope to business owners to keep moving forward.
“We have a spirit of the positivity, the faith in God that he's going to give us the strength to keep going,” she said. “He's going to put all the resources that we need to keep our doors open.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the end of the multi-million dollar project took place Oct. 10.
Now, the community is ready to get things back to what they once were. Business owners encourage those looking for a vibrant cultural experience to visit Roosevelt Park.
“I'm pretty sure you're going to take home an amazing experience from the culture at Cesar Chavez Avenue, not just for you, but for your entire family,” De LaCruz said. “That's going to give you – like I say – a staple in your family, knowledge about culture.”