Facade repaired at Historic First Congregational Church in Midtown; more repairs needed

Church seeking funds for commitment grant

DETROIT – Its facade stood for more than 125 years before a heavy rainstorm took it down. Now, nearly two years later, a Midtown church has finally been fully restored on the outside.

The historic First Congregational Church on Woodward Avenue had a lot of help from the community to restore the facade.

In 2017, the facade of the church crumbled and left behind a mess that insurance wouldn't cover. Since the church is on the historical registry, fixing it required specific guidelines. The damage alone was estimated to cost $110,000, so it sat in need of repair for nearly two years.

The scaffolding has been removed and the front doors are back open, but restorations are still required. The church needs help to match a commitment grant of $100,000 which comes from from Partners for Sacred Places in Philadelphia.

In order to see those funds, the church must come up with $100,000 of its own.

The additional funds would help restore and fix the old bell tower and refurbish the handcrafted pillars that are slowly crumbling, too.

First Congregational knows once people understand the history of the church, they might want to step in and help with the preservation.

For more information about the church click here.


About the Authors:

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.