Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / St. Florian in Hamtramck gets historical designation
St. Florian in Hamtramck gets historical designation
Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published October 19, 2007
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
St. Florian Parish's outgoing pastor, Fr. Tomasz Sielicki, SCh, and incoming pastor, Fr. Miroslaw Frankowski, SCh, with the parish's new historical marker. |
Hamtramck — St. Florian Parish has long been full of history for its 600 parishioners and friends, and with the installation of its new marker all that history became official.
St. Florian now has a marker from the Michigan Historical Commission installed outside its main doors, which memorializes the church and the archdiocese on one side and the surrounding Polish community on the other. It was dedicated earlier this month in a ceremony attended by current and former parish members, said former pastor Fr. Tomasz Sielicki, SCh.
He pointed out that St. Florian is the tallest building in Hamtramck, and its silhouette is already used in the city's logo. "I think it will make our church even better known in the area," he said.
The church itself, built in the late 1920s, is taller than the cathedral and seats 1,200, which Fr. Sielicki knows because "I counted it myself," he says. It was built in the English Gothic style, with the altar made in Italy and the stained glass windows representing Polish saints.
The marker came about because some of the parish members are also on the Hamtramck Historical Commission, he said. Although there was a bit of concern that giving the church historical designation would hamper any future renovation efforts, he said the parish didn't want to make any unnecessary changes, anyway.
Fr. Sielicki said it's important to recognize the parish's history especially since it will start celebrating its 100-year anniversary this Christmas. "We see in it recognition of our spiritual, cultural and social contribution of this parish to the life of Metro Detroit," he said. "It is for ourselves a reminder to do the same in the future."
Around the base of the marker, one of four in Hamtramck, are brick pavers, some of which parishioners and friends have contributed to have engraved with their name or a particular sentiment. It's made the place where the marker is someplace special, as people gather to look for the bricks they've purchased, Fr. Sielicki said.
"They are proud about the things that are being done," he said. "They know we are something special — this church, this parish."
St. Florian, which had as many as seven priests and 3,000 students in the school during its heyday, said Fr. Sielicki, has kept many of its parishioners for their whole lives. "Many received all their sacraments from here," he said. "People are really very strongly connected to their church."
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