LOOKING BACK

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FARMINGTON HILLS, MI 48331
(313)553-9966
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Larry Stocker
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Continued from preceding page

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INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN, ORIGINAL MOTOWN GROUP

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Ferry Street

off

• Homemade Candies •

• Party Planning •

Mack Pitt

AND HIS
ORCHESTRA

358-3642

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._.

East Ferry Street today.

Other properties on Ferry
are owned by individuals
and private organizations.
Mr. Colburn said some res-
toration already has, been
started on Ferry Street.
"And we expect to hear some
positive reports within the
next couple of months that
would result in the restora-
tion of properties owned by
the Founders Society."
The total project is ex-
pected to cost about $5 mill-
ion and take 5-10 years, Mr.
Colburn said. It would re-
quire both public and pri-
vate investment.
The area is registered as a
city, state and national
historic district. It is a mile
north of such recently reno-
vated properties as the Fox
Theater and Orchestra Hall.
Among the Jewish institu-
tions once housed in the two-
block area Preservation
Wayne hopes to see reno-
vated was the B'nai B'rith
Community House. Located
at 275 E. Ferry, the building
in 1926 became home to both
Pisgah Lodge No. 34 and the
lodge's ladies auxiliary.
Formerly, it had been the
residence of Minot C.
Morgan, pastor of the Fort
Street Presbyterian Church.
The auxiliary was respon-
sible for a number of fund-
raisers to benefit the poor
and needy. It hosted card
and theater parties and
other social affairs.
The Pisgah Lodge mem-
bers met every Monday eve-
ning and hosted special
events, such. as a 1925
speech by attorney Clarence
Darrow, who spoke on
"Evolution."
The house at 275 E. Ferry
has since been destroyed.
The site is today a vacant
lot. For a short while, the
Detroit Armenian Club was
located on the same block.
Mr. Colburn believes a
new arts and heritage
district on Ferry Street
would extend to nearby

neighborhoods, where some
of Detroit's most prestigious
institutions once stood.
Principal among these,
located at the northeast
corner of Kirby and St. An-
toine, one block south of
Ferry, was the old United
Hebrew Schools building,
known as the Kirby Center.
The UHS was established
in 1920 when the Division
Street and Wilkins Street
Talmud Torahs merged.
Soon after, Congregation
Ohel Moshe and Ahavath
Achim also turned their
schools over to UHS. Seek-

The area is
registered as a
city, state and
national historic
district.

ing a site to accommodate all
the new students, the UHS
established the Kirby
Center.
Opened in 1923, the Kirby
Center served much like a
Jewish community center. It
featured 10 classrooms, a
library, meeting rooms, a
kitchen, an auditorium that
could seat more than 1,000
and the offices of the Hebrew
Free Loan Association.
At first, skeptics doubted
the UHS building would
succeed. In 1925, the Detroit
Jewish Chronicle reported
on a meeting led by UHS
President E. Rabinowitz.
"There were people who
discouraged the schools at
the time of the building of
the Kirby Center, according
to Mr. Rabinowitz," the
paper said. "They argued
that a large building like the
one planned could never be
filled with Hebrew
students."
Yet, in fact, the Kirby
Center served as a magnet
for much of the Jewish com-
munity, who soon began
leaving their homes in the
lower Hastings Street