7508 West Warren Avenue
Wayne County & Home Savings Bank, Church
I haven't found much information about this structure, but it's worth sharing. 7508 West Warren was built in 1925 for the Wayne County & Home Savings Bank.
The bank was created by the merger of the Home Savings Bank and Wayne County Savings Bank 12 years earlier. The company's headquarters was at 44 Michigan Avenue, which still stands today, albeit without most of its upper floors.
Robert Ovens Derrick designed this branch building. Even if I haven't found much about this structure—there's enough information about buildings Derrick designed to warrant a few dozen posts.
He was most known for constructing opulent Grosse Pointe homes, but he also dabbled in larger works. Just three years after designing this small bank building, he was tasked with drafting plans for a new museum in Dearborn.
The structure would be inspired by Independence Hall in Philadelphia and become one of Michigan's finest museums—The Henry Ford. Derrick would also design the Detroit Federal Building in the 1930s, which would be renamed the Theodore J. Levin Federal Courthouse in the 1990s.
As for the small bank branch at 7508 West Warren, I don't have much information. Eventually, the space was converted into a church. In 1991, it was available for lease, fully furnished. I'd guess that it was around this time that the World of Life Temple of Deliverance moved in, but I can't be sure. In 2005, the space was again available for lease or sale, fully furnished.
By 2009, the building was vacant and hit by scrappers and vandals. The sidewalk became overgrown, the sign faded, and paint began to chip off the maroon-and-white details above the main entrance.
Around 2017, the property was secured and now sits awaiting redevelopment. It's currently owned by an investor based out of New York.
This section of Warren Avenue is interesting. There aren't many active businesses, but cars are always flying by, coming to and from the Dearborn border a few blocks east. Many of the remaining buildings appear vacant at first glance but have active businesses inside. Many are automotive-related, and some are used for storage.
Bank buildings like this one are a dime a dozen in Detroit, so it's easy to pass over them. The details on this building are gorgeous, and I hope that it will be repurposed at some point so they'll be allowed to shine again.
