The century-old bells that once called residents of Detroit’s Poletown neighborhood to mass at the long-closed St. Stanislaus Catholic Church now ring at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Orchard Lake.

Former parishioners of St. Stanislaus, closed in 1989 and most recently home to Promise Land Missionary Baptist Church, have found other places to worship. Hedy Gaskey – baptized, schooled and married at “St. Stannie” as it was nicknamed – remembers the Polish parish’s glory days.

“Every time I drive by, I look over, because you can see it from the freeway, and I think of the old memories and still feel bad that it’s not being used for our devotions,” said Gaskey, 85, of Clinton Township, who now attends St. Hyacinth, a landmark Polish parish that survives on Detroit’s east side.

The St. Stanislaus church, visible from I-94 just east of downtown, was sold in September to an Oakland County investor for $2,500, after the Promise Land congregation lost the building through foreclosure, according to Wayne County land records.

The current owner, Majid Shaukat of Rochester Hills, has put the church back on the market for $79,000.

http://archive.freep.com/article/20130110/NEWS01/130110057/st-stanislaus-church-detroit-on-market