Temple Beth-El (Lighthouse Cathedral)

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Temple Beth-El
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Facade from Woodward
Facade from Woodward
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates: 42°22′49.82″N 83°4′51.55″W / 42.3805056, -83.0809861Coordinates: 42°22′49.82″N 83°4′51.55″W / 42.3805056, -83.0809861
Built/Founded: 1921
Architect: Albert Kahn
Architectural style(s): Classical Revival
Added to NRHP: August 03, 1982
NRHP Reference#: 82002912[1]
MPS: Religious Structures of Woodward Ave. TR
Governing body: Private

The Lighthouse Cathedral is located at 8801 Woodward Avenue (Woodward at Gladstone).[2] It was originally built in 1921 as the Temple Beth-El.

Contents

[edit] Construction

In 1921 Detroit's Temple Beth El, under Rabbi Leo M. Franklin's leadership, had outgrown their previous building at Woodward and Eliot.[3] In addition, many members of the congregation had moved to areas such as Boston-Edison and Atkinson Avenue that did not proscribe Jewish residents.[2] The congregation obtained a parcel of land near these neighborhoods at Woodward and Gladstone and engaged congregant Albert Kahn to design a new temple. The cornerstone for the new building was laid on September 20, 1921, with the dedication on November 10-12, 1922.[3]

[edit] Building[2]

The Kahn-designed temple is a classical, flat-roofed structure built from limestone. On the facade facing Woodward, eight ionic columns form an enormous porch and frame three large pairs of doors. Along the facade facing Gladstone, eight tall, narrow are framed by massive piers.

[edit] Later use

In the early 1974, the Beth El congregation moved again, this time to Bloomfield Hills, and the building was sold to the Lighthouse Tabernacle, becoming known as the Lighthouse Cathedral.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
  2. ^ a b c Temple Beth-El from Detroit 1701.org.
  3. ^ a b Katz, Irving I., The Beth El Story (with a History of Jews in Michigan Before 1850), Wayne State University Press, 1955, pp. 105-106.
  4. ^ Lighthouse Cathedral from Woodward Avenue Historic Sites
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