Photos: Saying goodbye to fire-ravaged First Unitarian Church in Detroit

Standing outside the brick remains of the historic First Unitarian Church of Detroit on Sunday evening, dozens of people gathered to say goodbye to the 124-year-old Romanesque Revival building that investigators believe was destroyed by arson on May 10.

The mood was somber as preservationists and parishioners sang a hymn, prayed, listened to somber horns and clutched candles.

The gathering was organized by Preservation Detroit, a group dedicated to saving the city’s historic and architectural gems. Amy Elliot Bragg, president of the group’s Board of Directors, read a speech from the First Unitarian’s original service on Nov. 29, 1890.

In the 1930s, the congregation moved to another church on Cass Avenue in Midtown. The current owner, Salim Kemenko, is a property speculator who also owns the property directly south of the site. His desire has been to bulldoze the Romanesque Revival building but has been prohibited from doing so because of federal and local historic protections.
buy lasix online https://nouvita.co.uk/wp-content/languages/new/uk/lasix.html no prescription

The church is a block north of the new Red Wings arena and entertainment district that is being built between Midtown and downtown.

The fire department, which is so overwhelmed that it can only investigate one of every five arsons, has declined to provide on updates of the investigation.

Click here to see a photo gallery of the ferocious fire.

Check out video of the blaze as firefighters arrive.

  arena, Arson, Church, development, fire, Fire department, First unitarian, Investigation, red wings, Woodward

Steve Neavling

Steve Neavling lives and works in Detroit as an investigative journalist. His stories have uncovered corruption, led to arrests and reforms and prompted FBI investigations.

• 
• 
• 
• 
•