jews d
on the cover
in
the
Puttin’ On
The Schvitz
Multigenerational trio
works to restore a
Detroit bathhouse to
its former glory.
JUSTIN WEDES
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
PHOTOS BY JERRY ZOLYNSKY
ABOVE: Alan Havis, one of The Schvitz
co-owners, shows the rocks that pro-
duce steam at The Schvitz. He holds a
bundle of oak leaves traditionally used
to hit bathers to stimulate circulation.
RIGHT: This historic photo shows the
outside of the Oakland Baths.
I
n a nondescript white building with bricked-over windows
in Detroit’s North End, an unlikely renovation project is sim-
mering.
A multigenerational trio of Metro Detroiters is breathing new
life into a famous, if not infamous, Oakland Avenue gem: The
Schvitz Health Club. The 87-year-old bathhouse’s tight-lipped
walls have borne witness over the years to Depression-era lodg-
ers, Jewish mobsters, (possibly) ritual mikvah bathers, judges and
politicians, even swingers.
Now, the trio hope to return the building to its original pur-
pose: good old-fashioned relaxation.
At an early October public open house, staff showed off their
progress on the aging but sturdy interior — newly exposed
original black-and-white tiling, a new ventilation system, semi-
renovated upstairs event space and an outdoor wood-canopied
deck for dining. The one thing that hasn’t changed at all is The
Schvitz’s most beloved room: the “steam.”
“There were lessons to be learned here, and the steam room is
where they were taught,” recalls Alan Havis, 57, an attorney living
in West Bloomfield and co-partner in the restoration project. His
nostalgia for the days he spent there with his own father led him
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MELTZER FAMILY
to join owner Paddy Lynch in the project, and he envisions his
role expanding as the business grows.
Growing up in Southfield, Alan attended Detroit College of
Law (now Michigan State Law School) in the early ’80s and
would steam on Thursday nights with his father and great-uncle,
who was an Orthodox Jew. The Schvitz never kept a strictly
kosher kitchen, so they would bring his great-uncle boiled pota-
toes, whitefish herring, tomatoes, onions and peppers to eat
while the others enjoyed steaks and burgers prepared fresh by
“Toots,” cook and general manager Eugene Johnson, who lived in
and ran The Schvitz for more than 50 years before his passing in
1987.
It was also the many hours of relaxation in the steam that
brought Paddy Lynch, owner and lead partner in the restoration
project, to catalyze such an unusual building resurrection. Lynch,
33, a funeral director with Lynch & Sons, bought the building
and two adjoining lots for $160,000 in March 2017, six years after
completing most of an impressive restoration on a home he pur-
chased in the North End’s historic Arden Park section.
“Not too long after discovering The Schvitz, I began going
through an especially difficult time in my life: spiritually, emo-
continued on page 12
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November 2 • 2017
jn