New home for Detroit archdiocese brings hope amid changes

Detroit — Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said the move from the old Chancery and Gabriel Richard Building to the new downtown home of the Archdiocese of Detroit two blocks away at 12 State St. was akin to what Socrates discussed in the Platonic Dialogues.

“You have a ‘second sailing,’” said the archbishop in a recent video message to employees of the Archdiocese of Detroit. “It’s not a totally new reality; you always bring your past with you.”

But nonetheless, “it’s a chance to recapitulate (that reality) and start fresh,” he said.

On Feb. 13, the 183 employees of the archdiocesan Central Services officially moved into a new Chancery building in the first major transition for the archdiocese’s headquarters in nearly 80 years.

Archbishop Vigneron said the move is bittersweet: “I feel sad about leaving behind those buildings which have been such an important part of the life of the diocese, especially 1234 Washington Boulevard,” he said, referencing the former Chancery, which has served as the central hub of the Detroit archdiocese since 1926.



However, the changes are “working cooperatively, knowing what we are doing and being able to contribute to one another’s work,” he explained.

Msgr. Robert McClory, moderator of the curia, noted that the consolidation of the archdiocese’s central operations from multiple buildings into one is not unlike what many parishes have undergone in recent years.

“For many of our parishes, they’ve had to discern that to be vibrant as a parish community, it may mean saying goodbye to some buildings that they’ve had as a part of their heritage,” Msgr. McClory said. “So we hope that we’re putting into practice what some of our parishes have had to do.”

Cumulatively, the archdiocese now occupies about 44,000 square feet on six floors of the 13-story building at 12 State St., about a third of the nearly 150,000 square feet once used by the Chancery and Gabriel Richard Building, where many floors had sat vacant.

 

Staying in the heart

The $3.25 million sale of four buildings owned by the archdiocese — including the former print shop in Detroit’s Corktown district and a vacant building adjacent to the former Chancery — was first announced to archdiocesan employees and the public in April 2013. At the time, Archbishop Vigneron said the move made sense financially, given the high cost of maintenance to keep up the nearly century-old structures. Some of the proceeds from the sales were used to help renovate the archdiocese’s new space at 12 State St., while the rest was to be deposited in the archdiocese’s Loan Deposit Program, to which schools, parishes and other institutions make deposits and apply for loans.

At the same time, “it is important for the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Detroit to remain in the city of Detroit,” the archbishop said, emphasizing a commitment to service and long-term presence downtown.

The archdiocese is leasing five floors and the lower level of the former United Way Building in the city’s Capitol Park district from Capital Park Partnership LLC, which also purchased the former Chancery Building from the archdiocese. Built in 1895, it is Detroit’s oldest surviving skyscraper and also once served as the Board of Commerce Building and longtime headquarters of Comerica Bank. Residential units are planned for the upper floors, part of a growing revival of development in the tiny enclave, which sits between Woodward Avenue and Washington Boulevard not far from Campus Martius Park. While the archdiocese is among the first new tenants, plans and construction are in the works for several shops, restaurants and other developments.

The Gabriel Richard Building, meanwhile, was purchased by GRB New Detroit, LLC, and plans are under way to sell the structure to Joe Barbat of Barbat Holdings LLC, with the goal to transform it into apartments. The Corktown space once housing the archdiocesan print shop — which now operates out of the lower level of 12 State St. — was sold to a private firm. No plans have been announced for the site of the former Chancery Building.

With the exception of the archdiocesan television station and archives department, the move now means nearly all of the archdiocese’s central operations will be together under one roof. In addition to staff from the former Chancery and Gabriel Richard Building, the new building will also house employees from the archdiocese’s Development and Stewardship offices, formerly located at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

The Catholic Television Network of Detroit (CTND), which had a studio on the second floor of the Gabriel Richard Building, moved to a separate location in Oak Park, where it maintains a broadcast tower.

Msgr. McClory — who emphasized a theme of “Better Together” during the transition — said the archdiocese will also retain its longstanding relationship with St. Aloysius Parish adjacent to the former Chancery Building on Washington Boulevard, which continues to serve as the “parish church” for archdiocesan employees.

 



Transition and changes

While the archdiocese was originally slated to move in November 2014, a pair of construction delays postponed the transition to Feb. 11-12. A special unveiling, prayer service and blessing was led by Archbishop Vigneron on Feb. 9, and the first day for employees in the new building was Feb. 13.

Krista Bajoka, adjunct to the moderator of the curia, said she is excited about the new building, which features new furniture and workstation styles geared toward better teamwork.

“There is a lot of new furniture here to build collaboration,” she said. “A lot of thought went into the designs.”

For instance, employee workstations have new desks, ergonomic chairs and a uniform color scheme on each floor. Several employees still have offices, but the majority has transitioned to open-concept workstations for more efficient use of space and resources.

In addition to the new work environment, archdiocesan employees have been attending training sessions hosted by the Catholic Leadership Institute focused on helping learn to work in better collaboration.

Bajoka said there are at least four conference rooms with seating evoking a casual, open atmosphere, as well as a first-floor café area where employees will now eat lunch together.

 



Saintly names

Msgr. McClory said generic room numbers can be “rather boring and bland,” so each room in the new building is assigned a saintly patron to bring more life and further indicate the building’s Catholicity.

Archdiocesan employees had the opportunity to suggest saint names, which led to titles as creative as the “Our Lady of Guadalupe Community Room” and the “Ven. Solanus Casey Phone Room.” The “St. Gianna Molla Medical Needs Room,” which is available for nursing mothers and others who require privacy, was named for the Italian doctor who chose her baby’s life over a cancer treatment that would have saved her own life. And the “St. John Paul II Collaborative Area” is a fourth-floor meeting place that both honors the legacy of the beloved pope and provides a space for conferencing.

Msgr. McClory said a first-floor chapel, named the “Chapel of the Incarnate Word,” was a popular suggestion among employees who were asked for their input for the new building.

“Our chapel is modest in size but it will still be available for prayer,” Msgr. McClory said. “We will have the Blessed Sacrament reserved.”

He said he hoped the chapel would express the importance of prayer before everything else. Significantly, the chapel is next to the main board room, and also happens to be in what would have been a prized location.

“Our ‘corner office’ is the chapel,” said Msgr. McClory.

The chapel has large windows so those walking past can see the stained glass inside, the murals of angels and the tabernacle: “They’ll be able to see that this is a church.”