10814 Mack Avenue
W. J. Berhardt Store, Bar, Saints Temple of Truth Church of God in Christ, Saints Temple
Today, this structure doesn’t look like much of anything. The structure was drastically altered a few years ago, losing at least ten feet in height. More on that later, though!
I believe that this structure was built around 1920. There may have been a prior building that was added onto, but I can’t be sure.
In 1929, a business inside the structure was selling a Crispette Machine. A Crispette is a chocolate treat that’s chocked full of biscuits, coconut, and other crunchy goodies. W. J. Berhardt wanted $400 cash, but the machine was still for sale months later with no price listed, so it probably went for less than that.
In 1933, the paper reported that George Haddad, 29, was injured in a traffic accident outside his home at this address. This may have been a misprint, or George lived in one of the apartments upstairs.
In December 1933, Michigan ended Prohibition by ratifying the 21st Amendment. However, it took a while for bars to be allowed to open. In February 1934, the State Liquor Control Commission granted licenses to 323 establishments to serve liquor by the glass. Roughly 50% of the applicants were denied, as the Commission only granted licenses to businesses that could seat 60 patrons or more. The structure pictured here, located in the 5th Precinct, was licensed to sell booze in a glass at the hands of Edmund Degryse. It’s a big building, but 60+ patrons seems like a full house.
In January 1938, the structure caught fire. According to the Detroit Free Press, there was a fire in the bar’s basement, and the smoke was so bad that it forced the people living in the apartments upstairs to flee. Traffic on Mack Avenue was brought to a standstill, and busses were brought in to take the passengers off the stranded street cars. A few pieces of that story are dated, considering it’s unfathomable to think of Detroit having a street car system in 2023, and it’s also shocking that it was news that those on the upper floors of a building had to flee during a fire.
I’m unsure, but I think the structure may have been modified around this time. A photograph of the fire in the paper makes it look like the structure had a flat roof, as it does now. However, until a few years ago, the structure had a gable roof, not a flat one. Again, more on that later.
In May 1964, the articles of incorporation were filed with the state to form the Saints Temple of Truth Church of God in Christ. Among others, Reverend Charles Williams founded the church. The congregation occupied the building until the 2000s, but I’m not certain when they stopped meeting inside the structure. Their last filing at the state level was from 2011, so I’d assume they left around that time.
Since then, the structure has deteriorated. The decorative cross was removed, the hand-painted signs on either side of the structure have faded, and significant changes are apparent in the roof.
Around 2020, the gable roof was transformed into a flat one. I’m not certain how this was done—it looks as if it may have collapsed. However, I can’t be certain, as I do not recall seeing any cleanup. The bricks on the top of the facade were recently modified, so that may have been the case. They wouldn’t have taken the bricks down that far if they just wanted to remove the upper portion of the structure.
More detrimental changes occurred here in the past decade in terms of ownership. It’s currently owned by an LLC tied back to the Kefallinos family, who are notorious Detroit slumlords. If you’ve followed this page for a while, you’ll know that they own many properties in Detroit and rarely do anything with them. They do just enough to keep the city off their backs (sometimes) and don’t redevelop or sell anything. I won’t dive much further into this, as you’ve probably heard it from me enough already.
This structure is on a lonely part of Mack Avenue, but there has been new activity with structures further down Mack Avenue near Van Dyke. I don’t know that it’ll spread this far up Mack any time soon, but it would be great if it did. There’s a sizable population in the surrounding neighborhoods, and turning this structure into something that the community can utilize would be spectacular.
Like most of my posts about buildings involving Mr. Kefallinos, I’m not holding my breath.
