St. Stanislaus is for sale. Asking price: $79,000, according to Detroitrubex.
Patricia Montemurri of the Free Press reports Majid Shaukat of Rochester Hills bought the church for $2,500 after the Baptist congregation that bought it from the Catholics lost it in foreclosure. Read her story here.
One of the city's great Catholic church buildings, St. Stanislaus, on Dubois Street, is 100 years old and can be classified as a fixer-upper. It needs considerable repair. The real estate listing says the church has 22,000 square feet, with a sanctuary that seats 900, a choir stand, balcony and baptismal pool.
Designed by Harry J. Rill, a Detroit architect, St. Stanislaus has a Baroque exterior and an interior done in an opulent Beaux-Arts style, typical in elaborate Polish Catholic churches.
St. Stanislaus opened in 1913, during the frenzy of the early auto age, when the neighborhood was home to an increasing number of immigrants, especially Poles. Nearby churches include St. Albertus, St. Josaphat and Sweetest Heart of Mary.
Suburban flight after World War II robbed the parish of many families, then the city cut the parish in two with the Ford Freeway, which runs a block north of the church, which is easily visible to motorists on I-94, just east of the Chrysler Freeway.
In the early 1980s, the destruction of the neighborhood continued, with the construction of General Motors’ Poletown plant.
St. Stannie's closed in 1989. The building was eventually sold to Promise Land Baptist Chuch, which is moving to a building on 7 Mile Road, according to Detroiturbex.com.
