Bad news for Archdiocese & Washington Blvd

[SaintMe]

http://freep.com/article/20090903/NE...-make-big-cuts

Just got the word this morning in a meeting at St. Aloysius. The Archdiocese of Detroit is cutting 29% of its work force. We won't know until November who is getting the axe.

Consequently, the Gabriel Richard Building @ 305 Michigan Ave. [[which they have spent a year and a half renovating) will be vacated and put up for sale. Employees who survive the cut will be relocated to the site of the old St. Martin DePorres High School near Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

Also the St. Aloysius warming center at 1209 Washington Blvd will be vacated and demolished.

The Archdiocese also owns a slew a vacant storefronts between St. Al's and Grand River.

Eh. I need a glass of wine.

[Homer]

They should just melt down a few gold chalises and candle holders.

[E hemingway]

I've heard the vacating Gabriel Richard Building rumor, too. There is no way they're going to be able to sell it in this market. And why move all of their remaining downtown office workers to an old Catholic School by the Seminary? I have a feeling this won't be a quick move. I am not surprised they plan to shut down St. Al's Warming Center. Its days were numbered as soon as the Book Cadillac came online. There has also been a shakeup at Sts. Peter & Paul's Warming Center, too, on the other side of downtown. Methinks the Archdiocese plans to move all of its downtown-area outreach services out of the downtown area.

I am surprised Vigneron's administration wants to raze the St. Al's Warming Center building. Logic would presume that building needs to go or at least be reconfigured to accommodate a parking garage for any redevelopment of the adjacent Book Building. But nothing like that is going to happen any time in the foreseeable future. Ideally, they should keep the facade of that two story building for a couple of floors of retail/office space and put parking above it. Plus they will be able to wrangle a lot more money from brownfield and historic tax credits if they keep that building and reconfigure it for parking above.

[Lorax]

I'm sure this is being planned in conjunction with any development of the Book Tower by Ferchill. There should always be Washington Boulevard storefronts- I hope they don't make the mistake of having just a big ugly concrete garage sitting on the street, like the new one across from the Lafayette, or the really ugly one that sits opposite the DPL, where Mackenzie Hall used to be.

[slick]

Consequently, the Gabriel Richard Building @ 305 Michigan Ave. [[which they have spent a year and a half renovating) will be vacated and put up for sale.

Sounds like a good place for the pension boards to move into.

[SWMAP]

The roof of the building that houses the warming center is very, very bad. There was a huge sign on it at one time and the roof became very damaged. The AOD has estimates for repair and they are huge. I'm not sure, though if the AOD owns the building or if St. Al's is just a tenant.

At any rate, Hemingway is correct - Ferchill wants the warming center moved. A deal is supposedly in the works to have a warming center a few blocks west.

[Gsgeorge]

Which building is the "Warming Center"? When I look up 1209 Washington Boulevard on Google the church shows up. Don't tell me they're knocking down this church?

Way too bad about the Gabriel Richard Building, too, I remember reports in the press a little under a year ago saying the building was being prepped for retail and commercial spaces, with new green certification. A real shame. I hope it is properly sealed to prevent scrapping & vandalism.

[Rocko]

It is too bad about the Gabriel Richard Building... it occupies a prominant corner there across the way from the Book Cadillac, and as an occupied property it has contributed some stability to that little area. They have just done some work to the ground floor. Hopefully, they can get the building occupied before too long....

[rogerotodi]

I'm the pastor of St. Al's Parish which sponsors the St. Al's Outreach Center [[we are not a "shelter" and we no longer call ourselves "the warming center").

We have been in dialog with the Archdiocese of Detroit for the past year regarding the Outreach Center [[our parish offices are located on the second floor of this building as well). Of course our preference would have been to stay where we are, but we have been preparing ourselves for a move should that become necessary. We haven't closed or been sold yet and nothing has been demolished nor are we aware of any imminent plans to sell or demolish the building.

We have expressed our need to be relocated near the Church [[which has NOT be demolished or closed!) so we can continue the close collaboration between the parish and the outreach ministries and so we can continue to be conveniently located for our clients and guests and parishioners.

We are not angry with the Archdiocese and we have no axe to grind with either the Archdiocese or the owners or developers of the Westin Book Cadillac. Everyone has been very helpful and supportive of our work here.

To be sure, it will be challenging to develop the plans for another facility while we are continuing the day-to-day operation of our outreach and parish work. However, the so-called "crisis" represents a genuine opportunity for us and we are facing it in that light. We are eager to continue and expand our ministry as an historic downtown church and look forward to the new ways God will guide us through this phase of the life of our little parish community.

We're grateful to all the generous people who support our work with donations of goods and money and for the wonderful array of volunteers who come from all over the Metro region and particularly the downtown businesses. Thanks too, to the interested bloggers who keep us in the news on this site.

[Lowell]

Thank you for the clarification!