Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church Complex

The Assumption Grotto Church Complex possesses significance in architectural terms for its well preserved nineteenth-century grotto structure and early twentieth-century church. The Grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes is an early example of the many Catholic grotto structures built in Michigan and the United States in emulation of the famous grotto at Lourdes. Constructed in 1881-83 (with further refinements added over the next few years) at the instigation of the parish priest, Rev. Amandus Vandendriessche, who had visited Lourdes in 1876, the grotto is an early and innovative work of Detroit architect Peter Dederichs, Jr., the earliest known Michigan architect who specialized in the design of Catholic churches and institutional buildings. The late 1920s Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a distinguished example of Neo-Gothic Catholic church architecture in the Detroit area.

The Assumption Grotto Church complex faces west-northwest on Gratiot Avenue in northeast Detroit. The church, rectory, convent, grotto, and cemetery, along with a utilitarian boiler house that are included in this nomination form the larger part of the parish complex. The complex also contains modern school and activity buildings that stand behind the convent, but this portion of the property is not included in the nomination. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a basilica-plan, Neo-Gothic, limestone structure built in 1928-29, stands at the center of the complex fronting on Gratiot Avenue with the red brick, 1917-18 rectory next door to the south-southwest and matching early 1920s convent to the north-northeast. The very modest boiler house stands beside the convent. Behind the church, located near the back of the parish cemetery, stands an impressive grotto structure built in 1881-83.