Abandoned Gothic Church in Detroit: a Dome, Stained Glass and Fresh Wood in the Roof

This church in Detroit has a dome, stained glass in every direction, and detailed woodwork from the floor to the ceiling. It also has holes in the floor and plaster coming off the walls. It is falling apart, and somebody is also putting it back together one fresh board at a time.

It is a small church and I almost skipped the video. It is too pretty to leave out, so this one is short.

What we found

The first thing is the ceiling. There is a dome with painted ribs, stained glass all around it, and a dove hiding in the woodwork up in the roof. Plaster and lath have come down in places.

Then I climbed up, and it was sketchy. It is dark and creaking and some of the railings wobble. The wood up there is a mix. Some of it is old and some is brand new, which tells me someone is restoring the place. The roof is open at the top with no hatch, so that new wood is getting rained on. You could climb all the way up if you are a climbing person. I came in through a hole marked insert person, so I went back out backwards.

On the floor level there is a fireplace and an old piano tipped on its side. A second piano, a Kingsbury from Chicago, still kind of works. Some keys play and some do not. The door into one room is sealed, so you walk through the wall where the door used to be.

The main room is where most photographers get their shot. You can see the dome, the lights, the curves, the organ and the chandeliers all at once. I think the detail across the archway is hand painted, and there is carving on the benches too. In one corner they have redone the roof. Elsewhere the floor is falling apart, so you watch your step. There is a stage with a cross etched into the wall behind it. I took some steps down toward the pews that looked safe, and I made it down.

It looked like people had been sleeping on the benches, and in the back was another homeless person who was just kind of chilling there, with their garbage. The way we came in was the craziest part. The floor is collapsing on both sides, and the door had been kicked in so hard that the whole frame moved. In the basement there is a gym I was not expecting, with the floor falling in there too.

Why this church is abandoned

The church opened in 1911 and closed in 2005. It went abandoned after the reverend passed away, and then it was locked up in legal battles over his estate. While it sat, the organ pipes were stolen and scrapped in the fall of 2009.

A different church bought the building with plans to renovate and restore it. That is where the fresh wood comes from. Some of the catwalk and the ceiling had already been redone when I was there, but much more work is needed before this place is saved.

When I left, the dome was still up there over all of it.