"The University Club on East Jefferson originally was a place for college graduates to gather and compare educations. The members built their final home in 1931 on East Jefferson. It included squash and racquetball courts, leaded glass, antlered trophy heads, and the dining room: a two story great hall. There were 20 bedrooms on the third floor for permanent occupants and 4 for visitors."The Detroit News
When the University Club closed in 1992 it was purchased by the Detroit YWCA. The YWCA moved out in 2008 due to the expense involved in upkeep.
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The University Club as it appeared in the summer of 2010. By this point the building had been sacked and looted, and the new owner had boarded up many of the broken windows.
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The interior of the University Club was a twisting labyrinth of staircases and architectural styles. It was very easy to get lost.
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One of my favorite rooms. Within a matter of weeks the chair was gone, the room had started to fill with trash, and someone was living in it.
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The main hall.
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Check-in desk for the guest rooms.
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Most impressive of all was the library / study.
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Guests could check out books, periodicals, and journals that covered a wide array of topics.
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On my last visit to the University Club, the library had been robbed of most of it's books, and many of the book cases were stripped out.
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Another thing I loved about the University Club was how a stairwell that seemingly led nowhere would open up into something unexpected; for instance, this stairwell goes down to the below-ground levels pictured below.
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The sauna also featured a full-service bar.
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Lockers in the hallway leading to the underground rec facilities.
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Changing room for the racquetball courts.
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The basketball court.
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I only just happened to stumble across the basketball court.
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Racquetball court.
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One of several lounges.
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This room always puzzled me... this looks like an altar of sorts, complete with a ram's horn...
Unfortunately, like so many vacant buildings in Detroit, the University Club quickly became a magnet for scrappers and vandals. Within a month of the first visit many of the fixtures and chandeliers had been stolen. Today the club is more or less destroyed, filled with trash and graffiti.
The future doesn't look too bright. The new owner also owns the liquor store across the street. His plans for the building may include demolishing it to make way for a parking lot, but that has not been confirmed.
For more pictures see: http://detroiturbex.com/content/down...lub/uclub.html