Ice Skating in Detroit

[Tetherunit]

Came across this photo in DetNews. Noticed the church in the background that looks very similar to Dexter Ave. Baptist Church which i understand was formerly a Jewish synagouge. The caption read that the skater Art Staff, was the proprietor of the Dexter Skating & Tennis Club. Coincidence? I would be delighted to know that Zussman playfield [[now named) was once the home of an skating rink. Does anyone have a historical insight on this?

[EastsideAl]

I don't know exactly what this picture is, but here are a few thoughts. First of all, if that is the Dexter Baptist Church, I don't think that building was ever a synagogue. I know it was a Swedish Baptist church in the '40s and '50s, because relatives-by-marriage of my mother went there.

Art Staff was a WWI era national speed skating champion from Chicago. From the evidence of this photo he apparently performed exhibitions, including barrel jumping, for several years thereafter.

Looking at the stands in the background I would guess that the "rink" here was actually a football field. Back in the days when we had consistently cold winters it was not uncommon for Parks & Rec to just flood fields to create ice for skating. My mother worked at one of these "rinks" made on Northwestern's football field when she was in high school in the '40s. I remember skating on a similar ice surfaces in Chandler Park and Balduck Park when I was a kid in the "60s.

[Lowell]

And on a side note and as a sign of spring the ice rink at Campus Martius has been removed.

[Bluenote132003]

They also used to flood the field in front of thr Canon Rec Center in the 60's and 70's. Noone ever worked there, if you wanted to skate you brought your shovels and cleaned it off. The better ice near Cadieux was designated for hockey, while the shallower [[and bumpier) ice in the direction of E. Warren was for skaters and kids. It was great having Harper Sport Shop just down the road. Skates sharpened every year, and Christmas frequently included a new hockey stick and tape!

[Llama]

Any chance that could be Clark Park? I'm trying to remember-- I think there is an apartment building and a school on the Clark St side.

There's a fenced ice rink in Clark Park, still.

As an aside, anyone know how long that Y on Clark St opposite the park has been closed? And am I remembering correctly it was one with an indoor pool? With the density in that neighborhood and especially given the number of kids, seems an indoor rec center for cold weather and after dark would be well-used in that location.

[p69rrh51]

The Dexter Tennis & Skating Club was located at 3775 W. Davison between Dexter and Holmur. The apartment building in the background is the Dexter Court Apartments and the church originally was the Dexter Baptist Church, and its still operating as the same.

[EastsideAl]

The Dexter Tennis & Skating Club was located at 3775 W. Davison between Dexter and Holmur.

Which would put it precisely where Zussman Playfield is today.

The park, incidentally, was named for WWII posthumous Medal of Honor recipient, Raymond Zussman, who had lived in the nearby neighborhood.


The church has an odd history. It was built in 1926 as Dexter Blvd. Baptist Church for a Baptist congregation that had previously been located on E. Grand Blvd. That congregation outgrew the building and built a much larger church at James Couzens and Clarita [[occupied now by Hartford Baptist) in 1942 and became known as Covenant Baptist. That congregation exists today on Maple west of Orchard Lake in West Bloomfield.

The Swedish Mission Church then moved from 14th St. and Antoinette into the Dexter building in 1943 and became known as Evangelical Covenant Church. This is the church that my mother's Swedish-American relatives attended for many years. They left the building in 1958 for one on 8 Mile near Telegraph. The congregation exists today as Faith Covenant Church at 14 Mile and Drake in Farmington Hills.

The present congregation in the church moved into the building in 1958 and became the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. This African-American Baptist congregation had previously been the Thomson Avenue Baptist Church in Highland Park. The congregation celebrated its 95th anniversary last year.

[Honky Tonk]

Any chance that could be Clark Park? I'm trying to remember-- I think there is an apartment building and a school on the Clark St side.

There's a fenced ice rink in Clark Park, still.

As an aside, anyone know how long that Y on Clark St opposite the park has been closed? And am I remembering correctly it was one with an indoor pool? With the density in that neighborhood and especially given the number of kids, seems an indoor rec center for cold weather and after dark would be well-used in that location.

That was my thought too. We used to walk there, [[IF we were lucky, a parent would drive) to skate in the Winter. That, and I wonder if he cleared that last barrel?

[masterblaster]

Thank you so much p69rrh51 and EastsideAl for the history and knowledge. It is too bad that tennis and skating club [[the building and the organization) no longer exist.

[Tetherunit]

Thanks for confirming my original suspicion.

[dguy4evr]

I used to go skating at the Chandler Park Ice Rink. Skated there almost every week night and weekend day and night. My buddies and I would play games with the "Guards" where they would try to get us off the ice when the period was over and they couldn't catch us so they would lock the gates and throw our shoes out in the snow.
Good times!!!