DETROIT – For about two decades, people driving near 7 Mile and Woodward have seen a construction site that, at some point, would be the new campus for Perfecting Church. Now, after years of waiting, financial roadblocks and lawsuits, the wait will soon come to an end.
“The story is a long story, because we started out over 20 years ago,” Bishop Marvin Winans with Perfecting Church said.
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As a refresher – in the early 2000s, Winans announced a massive plan for the space – one with a $60 million price tag.
But, for years, the site sat nearly empty.
“During the crisis of the financial institutions in 2008, it stopped. But, our faith kept growing,” Winans said.
In 2023, the city of Detroit sued the church, saying construction had not been completed fast enough.
Neighbors in the area expressed frustration about the delays.
Both the city and the church later came to terms and the lawsuit was dropped in turn for a schedule of goals and a timeline that had to be met.
“We’ve had to find financial institutions that would help us and it’s just been one roadblock after the other,” he said.
Local 4 is told the building is nearly 170,000 square feet and over 16-acres of land.
Damon Tooles, the president of Tooles Contracting Group, who is handling the build, says the sanctuary will seat over 3,000 people and the chapel will seat 500 people.
There will be a 400-seat amphitheater in front of the church, a grand staircase inside, along with large executive spaces inside, sunday school rooms, and massive parking lots.
“It started off as an 18-month construction project,” Tooles said. “We are probably in month 23 now. So, one of the things that was significant to this project because it started 16 years ago was that in that timeframe, the stormwater retention system laws changed.”
As a result, they’ve put in a new water retention system.
“We are at a point now where we are on the line to completion and all of the challenges have pretty much been met,” Tooles said.
Bishop Winans says although his congregation has been challenged throughout this process, he is hopeful for what’s to come.
Local 4 asked him what his vision is for everything ahead.
“Continuing to work and believe God,” Winans said. “To continue to inspire His people and to know that this building is going to be an asset to the city of Detroit.”
The church expects construction to be done by the end of the year, but they say the details for the grand opening are still being planned.