- [Will] Coming up on One Detroit.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage month, we'll meet a local couple who's helping to revitalize Southwest Detroit.

- Made it very personal.

- [Will] Plus we'll get a sneak peek at Detroit Opera's upcoming season.

Also ahead, our political contributors weigh in on the first debate between the two vice presidential candidates.

And we'll let you know what's going on in Metro Detroit this first weekend in October.

It's all coming up next on One Detroit.

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(upbeat music) - [Will] Just ahead on One Detroit, Cecelia Sharpe of 90.9 WRCJ sits down with Detroit Opera's Yuval Sharon to talk about the theater's new season.

Plus, we'll check in with our political contributors to get their thoughts on the showdown between vice presidential candidates, Tim Walz and JD Vance.

And we'll fill you in on what's happening around town this weekend.

But first up, it's National Hispanic Heritage Month, and we visited a part of Detroit that is known for its Latino history and culture.

The Southwest Detroit community is currently seeing a lot of growth in redevelopment.

One Detroit's Bill Kubota has a truly Detroit story about a couple helping to revitalize the area where they grew up.

(light music) - Southwest Detroit is vibrant and always has been vibrant, even in the downturn, because people have a certain tenacity and a certain grit.

- [Will] Southwest Detroit, like the construction boom town here, billions being spent.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge, Ford's Michigan Central, the Greenway Southwest connecting to the Joe Lewis, that's the big stuff.

Plus we forget those working the smaller projects.

- So AGI Construction is AGI, and it's all God inspired.

- [Will] AGI, that's Tanya Saldivar-Ali and Luis Ali, life and business partners showing One Detroit one of their interior renovations at the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation building, a hub for the Latino community where students learn about and build robots, get quality computer time, do some 3D printing.

- This is the first and the largest teen tech lab.

So we were super excited to be able to build out this space for our community.

- [Will] Tanya and Luis started AGI in 2008, the project that changed their lives, a basement renovation at Cristo Rey High School.

- The basement was an old cafeteria from the 1940s and 50s, and they just used it for storage.

Our mentor, Frank Venegas, with the Ideal Group, really set that project aside for us and said, "Hey guys, I've seen you guys.

I know what you guys are capable of.

I have this project."

- [Will] Frank Venegas, industrialist, supporter of the students at Cristo Rey.

- [Tanya] He was the guy.

- He's the guy.

- [Tanya] Yeah.

- Yeah, Frank Venegas is the godfather of Southwest Detroit.

- Yeah.

- He's the guy.

- [Will] For AGI, a major undertaking.

Before the renovation, students ate lunch sprawled across the gymnasium.

- And now they have this beautiful space, and it really changed the trajectory of what type of projects that we decided to prioritize.

- [Will] The projects they'd focus on churches, schools, nonprofits, and small businesses like theirs here in Southwest where their prospects didn't seem so bright coming out of high school 30 years ago.

- Especially when the gangs came through in the 90s.

I got into a lot of trouble.

You're a product of your environment.

And so my best friends that I grew up with, from a very young age, joining gangs.

I consider myself a pretty good kid, but I had a little rap sheet.

(Luis laughs) - [Will] Luis and Tanya first got together in high school.

Luis got outta town, joined the military learning project management in his more than two decades in the Air Force.

Tanya got into business administration, finding her way thanks to a Detroit Hispanic development corporation, anti-gang program.

Years later, the two out on their own with their construction company.

- When we came back, obviously we could have chose to move anywhere, but as the economy started to change from recession to everybody talking about the revitalization of Detroit and what's happening, we wanted to make sure we were part of that.

- [Will] On Scotten Street, the relocated first Latin American Baptist Church.

- There's a group of Mexican came to Detroit, and we're looking for a Baptist church that spoke Spanish that were instrumental in starting our church in 1930, - [Will] A congregation displaced when the Gordie Howe Bridge project needed their property down in the Delray neighborhood.

That left pastor Kevin Casillas looking for a new home.

- We saw a long list of properties, many in Detroit and many outside of Detroit.

- We were looking at building a new building for them, and you know, the budget was getting up there.

- [Will] Then another church closing down, gifted first Latin American their historic building.

- [Kevin] We're able to move into the building, and with the settlement money, we're able to remodel the downstairs basement area, and then construct a community gym that we call the Victory Activity Center.

- Run back.

There's your man.

- [Will] A gym like Pastor Casillas had in Delray.

Youth basketball, indoor soccer, community events, weddings, baby showers.

- We understood that our value on that project was not just building something.

We were fighting for a church to be able to be made whole and still have an existing space here in the community.

They needed to be here.

- Come on, let's go, players, let's go!

One thing that we saw that was important to us as a church in the community that's been here for more than 90 years was the heart that Luis and Tanya had to contract people from the community, not just Detroiters, but people that live here in Southwest Detroit.

- [Will] On West Vernor, another restaurant renovation and upgrade.

But these days there's even more work to do.

- Up above we have second story apartments.

- [Will] Space is not viable as rentals for years, now building owners see opportunity.

- So we've got housing stock above all the commercial corridors and most of 'em need a lot of work.

- [Will] One block over new residential going up, not an AGI project, but significant, Tanya says.

- So in my lifetime, this is the first time I've seen ground up development in our neighborhood.

It's exciting to see, but what we're doing is we're advocating for as many local contractors to be on these jobs.

It's important that we have representation from our communities working on these type of projects.

How does that development impact our neighborhoods?

Especially when we think about preserving neighborhood culture and history in the face of rapid development.

- [Will] Tanya and Luis thought local contractors and trades people needed to get together to take part in all of this, have a place to meet.

- We have pretty much gutted everything down to the studs and have restructured the foundation of it.

- [Will] In the heart of Southwest Hubbard Richard neighborhood, just north of the historic St. Ann's Church, AGI sets up shop.

Built 120 years ago, survivor of floods, a sinking foundation fixed now, the former residents of the Lozano family, and famed educator and musician, Frank "Panchito" Lozano, now to be called the Design-Build Green Hub.

- Because of some of the struggles and bearers that we've had as a construction company and wanting to help others kind of not have to go through some of those struggles, we are in the middle of this development to be able to train kind of construction 101.

And it's not just for skilled trades, but for entrepreneurs and other small businesses like ourselves.

- [Will] A rehab with historic preservation in mind, even saving the chimney from collapse with the steel frame lending support, the building has green environmentally conscious features.

So this is a demonstration project too.

- We told that the house was used as a safe house.

So when Mexicans would come from work, they would come here, get something to drink and eat, and then they would go and find work.

I was actually told that my father came through this house because he came in the late 50s, early 60s for road work.

♪ Lady ♪ - [Will] September, 2024, the Design-Build Green Hub ready to go with an open house for the neighbors to see.

- Our next step is to start focusing on programming and what program is gonna look like, around estimating, and blueprint reading, and how can we engage more people in the development process.

- Our end goal is not for AGI to be this huge, you know, conglomerate making all this money.

Yeah, that's nice.

But the goal is to see our community come up.

And so we just wanna engage people where they're at and make sure everybody has the opportunity to go to the next level.

- We are part of the fabric and the thread of Detroit, and our Southwest community has a rich legacy, but we want people to remember that contribution to the city as a whole as well.

- Architecture gem, that's what it is.

- It is, it is.

- [Will] Detroit Opera's new season gets underway on October 19th with Verde's La Traviata.

The diverse lineup of performances range from traditional opera to a work that follows the wrongful convictions of five teenagers.

One Detroit contributor, Cecilia Sharpe of 90.9 WRCJ, got a preview from the Opera's Gary L. Wasserman, artistic director, Yuval Sharon.

- Sounds confusing.

(upbeat music) - Walk us through this upcoming season of Opera.

- So the four pieces that we're doing this year, I think do span a pretty wide range of what Opera has to offer, including a piece that was written only five years ago, The Central Park Five by Anthony Davis, who we featured in 2022 as the composer of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, a piece that we're all so proud of because it started here in Detroit and went on to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera of New York and Seattle Opera, Opera Omaha, and is coming to Lyric Opera of Chicago.

So great to have Anthony come back with Central Park Five, a piece that is also about social justice, is about the miscarriage of that justice, you know, with the story of the five exonerated young men.

- When can people see The Central Park Five opera?

- Central Park Five is in May of this upcoming May, May of '25.

- [Cecelia] '25.

- I should say that that production is coming to us from Portland Opera that did a production by the theater director, Nataki Garrett.

It's a multimedia production that is very strong.

She uses just state-of-the-art technology in a way that is, to really tell the story and give us the idea of what it meant to read about the story as a headline first, and the difference between the headline and the real people that experienced this particular story.

So it's a brilliant, a brilliant production.

- And then before that is Mozart's Così fan tutte, directed by you.

- So just prior to that will be our new production this season.

So a new production means we haven't rented it from somewhere else where they have done all the good creative work.

When you do a brand new production, it means we're building the costumes, we're building the set.

The concept for it is all gonna be originating first and foremost here in Detroit before it goes anywhere else.

So for me, I feel like that is always the place where we can really say, this is what Detroit Opera stands for.

So this year that piece is one that I'm directing, Mozart's Opera Così fan tutte, which I'm going to use as an exploration of artificial intelligence.

So that Mozart's original piece, the characters in the opera will be, well, they won't be played by robots, they will be humans playing robots.

(Yuval laughs) - Okay, real people playing robots.

- That are playing real people.

- Playing real people.

- Yeah, so.

- Okay.

Be sure to check it on the stage.

It sounds confusing, but you'll understand it when you see it.

- When you watch it, it'll make perfect sense.

- Okay.

And you are the mastermind behind this new production.

- Thank you.

- When will this staging take place?

- April, three performances in April.

- [Cecelia] And we're working our way backwards.

- [Yuval] Exactly.

- I feel like I need to get my tickets.

- Oh yes.

- Already.

(Cecelia laughs) And what's prior to that as we work our way to the star- - As we work our way backwards.

- Of the season, yes.

(both laughing) - Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel will be the piece that we do in February and March of this year as well.

So the Spring is quite packed.

We have three very, very unique and exciting projects finally and starting our season.

(Yuval laughs) - To kick off everything.

- To kick it all off is something that is a real, you know, one of those pieces that everyone says, I would say it's one of the ABCs of opera, but it doesn't start with an A, B, or C, but it's La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi.

And that we have the great benefit of our music director Roberto called Leading, a stellar cast, and a production by Francesca Zambello that has been seen in a number of other cities.

Really elegant, beautiful, grand in its way.

Lots of dancing.

Lots of, there's even two dogs in it.

I try to get my dog in it, but she's too small.

(both laughing) But- - It's okay, maybe next time.

- Maybe next time.

- That will be the closest to kind of a, the kind of the opera that, you know, if you are a traditional opera lover, like this is one that will be the closest probably to what you're familiar with, you know?

And I'm glad that we can provide that as well in our season.

And I hope it's a good starting point.

Like let's kick off that way, and from there let's keep exploring outward to Handel, to Mozart, and to Anthony Davis.

- So four operas laid out starting with La Traviata.

- [Yuval] Yes.

- Then Rinaldo, Così fan tutte.

- [Yuval] Yes.

- And the Central Park Five.

- [Yuval] That's right.

- For Detroit, Metro Detroit, and anyone from around the world to come right here to the heart of Detroit and check out.

- Can't wait.

Lots of- - [Will] And you can see more of their conversation on OneDetroitpbs.org.

- I try to get my dog in it, but she's too small.

- [Will] Let's turn now to this week's first and possibly only debate between the two vice presidential candidates, Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio and Democrat Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota met face to face with just over a month to go in the tight presidential race.

When Detroit contributors Stephen Henderson of American Black Journal, Nolan Finley from the Detroit News, and Zoe Clark of Michigan Public shared their opinions on the outcome of the matchup.

(upbeat music) - So Stephen, I am gonna start with you to talk about this debate that is being billed as sort of respective in tone and focused on policy.

Is Midwestern nice making a comeback?

(Stephen laughs) - Maybe, maybe that's what you needed is two Midwesterners to kind of take over and show 'em how we're supposed to have dialogue.

You know, I thought that of the debates I have seen in the last, you know, eight or 10 years, this had the closest tone to the things that you wanna see out of it.

I mean, they actually talked about issues.

They got to a lot of specifics about those issues.

They were very good at highlighting the real differences between the parties and the candidates in terms of how they would deal with those issues.

And they did it in a way that was, you know, adversarial, which is what a debate is supposed to be, but it wasn't nasty, and, you know, nobody called anybody a name, and they even empathized with each other about a couple of different things.

I mean, it was what you think of when you think of debates.

I've been saying today that I think, you know, the closest I can remember to this is probably Romney-Obama in 2012.

That's a long time ago.

We've seen, you know, a lot of really awful exchanges since then.

So it was nice to see something that actually gave people a chance to evaluate these candidates according to substance.

- Nolan, are you positive about the positivity?

- Well, I liked the debate.

It was civil, and it was conducted with a dignity befitting the office.

They were seeking no cheap shots, no gotcha moments, no snarky, smug smiles while the other person was talking.

When they agreed with each other, they acknowledged it.

I mean, they defined themselves, and there clearly was a difference in their positions, and they explained that.

But I thought it, again, I'll agree with Steve, this is what politics should look like, and we've gotten so used to turning on these debates and expecting this snarling, nasty, you know, exchanges between two candidates.

And you, you know, the two big debates we've seen so far in this campaign, I mean, they were cringeworthy.

You just felt yourself getting anxious while you were watching this.

This was the way it should look.

- But Stephen, one of the issues with this is most likely, especially compared with those two debates from earlier this season, fewer voters likely watched this debate Tuesday night.

How do we get more folks engaged with this process when at the table it is a civil conversation and focused on policy.

- Yeah, right, people wanna see the fireworks.

They wanna see 'em get after each other.

You know, I think part of the problem here is that this was a vice presidential debate.

It never rates as much attention as the presidential debates do.

It's also kinda late in the cycle, and people I think are reaching that point where they kind of have had enough.

They've seen enough of the nastiness, you know, the flood of commercials right now, and text messages on my phone all calling me by the wrong name, by the way.

- What are they calling you, Steve?

- Everything from Crystal to Sherry.

I mean, I don't know where they get the names that they say- - Because I'm Michael in every correspondence I get.

(Stephen laughs) - I've had my phone since 2007, so I don't know why they think anybody else has ever had it, but they have all the wrong names.

You know, I mean, people are starting to tune out, and starting to say, you know, I'll just wait till November and make a decision.

You know, the people who are undecided still, I think are largely people who are not taking in like every little twist and turn of this campaign and, you know, sifting through really complex stuff.

They're kind of hit and miss and waiting for something that comes across their radar that helps 'em make a decision.

I'm not sure that anything in this debate would've quite risen to that level.

And that's good because that meant that they had this kind of substantive discussion.

But I'm not sure that either campaign can count on something that happened during this debate to help them seal the deal with those people who have just not made a decision yet.

- But nothing seems to be moving the needle.

You'll get a, one candidate or the other will get a one point bump or a little more than that, and then the next week it's right back down.

I mean, I've never really seen anything like this, a race that stays this close for so long.

And you know, in Michigan, obviously they feel we're the key state, or one of two or three key states, because they are going to be living here for the next week or so.

Trump's in for the economic club next Thursday.

Vance has been in.

Harris has coming to Flint.

There's no end to their presence in Michigan.

And so, you know, we must hold the key to this, and I assume we do.

- Stephen, we got about 30 seconds left.

If we talk a little bit about all of the visits, the descending that is happening among these candidates, what does where the candidates are coming tell you right now about campaign strategy?

- Well, I mean, they're campaigning in places where they're trying to get out their voters, right?

I think this is still somewhat in some ways a base campaign for both parties here.

And Democrats know that if they can get the Democratic base, especially in Detroit and other urban cities to show up, Michigan's really kind of off the board, because when they vote, the state goes blue.

But Trump is still trying to get as many, you know, republicans and independents as he can as well.

- Okay, thanks you two.

Much more to come- - Thank you.

- Next week as the visits continue.

(Stephen laughs) - [Will] The first weekend of October is here, and the fall fun is continuing in Metro Detroit with festivals, concerts, musicals, and Halloween themed events.

Here's One Detroit's Zosette Guir with today's One Detroit Weekend.

(light music) - First up, the musical Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations.

The show follows The Temptations journey from Detroit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It plays at the Fox Theater in Detroit through October 4th.

Also on Friday, October 4th, Soiree on the Greenway at the Dequindre Cut Freight Yard.

in Detroit.

The masquerade fundraiser held from six to nine that night benefits the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.

The event for those 21 and older features, food, drinks, live performances, carnival games, and the unveiling of a new mural on the Greenway.

And Michigan's Big Country Fest takes place in Frankenmuth Friday and Saturday, October 4th and 5th.

Enjoy music, line dancing lessons, vendors, and food trucks.

The event runs five p.m. to midnight both days.

On Saturday, October 5th, the Smooth Jazz Fall Fest is at the Fox Theater in Detroit, starting at seven p.m.

The lineup includes Najee, Alexander Zonjic, featuring Keiko Matsui, and Jazz Funk Soul featuring Jeff Lorber, Everett Harp, and Paul Jackson Jr. Also on October 4th and 5th, get into the Halloween spirit at Octobernight in Monroe's River Raisin Territorial Park.

The park will be transformed into an eerie destination where you can dive into historic Halloween traditions, enjoy some seasonal refreshments, plus some live music.

On Sunday, October 6th from one to four p.m., the Angel's Place annual Fall Fest will be taking place at the Detroit Country Day Field House.

There'll be lots to check out, including arts and crafts, carnival games, food and beverages, a petting farm and live music.

The event is a fundraiser for Angels Place, an organization that supports people with developmental disabilities.

Also, on Sunday, Irish super group, Celtic Thunder, will bring its blend of live music and storytelling to the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in Detroit for their show Odyssey.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. And don't forget about Harvest Happening at Hess-Hathaway Park in Waterford.

There'll be fun events for the whole family, including pony rides, historic house tours, games and crafts, and music performances.

It'll be from 12 to five p.m. rain or shine.

(light music) - [Will] That'll do it for this week's One Detroit.

Thanks for watching.

Head to the One Detroit website for all the stories we're working on.

Follow us on social media and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

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From Delta faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support also provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit PBS.

(light music) - [Announcer 2] DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit PBS.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan-focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Learn more at DTEfoundation.com.

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(light music) (bright music)