Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/895657
10 November 2 • 2017 jn I n a nondescript white building with bricked-over windows in Detroit's North End, an unlikely renovation project is sim- mering. A multigenerational trio of Metro Detroiters is breathing new life into a famous, if not infamous, Oakland Avenue gem: The Schvitz Health Club. The 87-year-old bathhouse's tight-lipped walls have borne witness over the years to Depression-era lodg- ers, Jewish mobsters, (possibly) ritual mikvah bathers, judges and politicians, even swingers. Now, the trio hope to return the building to its original pur- pose: good old-fashioned relaxation. At an early October public open house, staff showed off their progress on the aging but sturdy interior — newly exposed original black-and-white tiling, a new ventilation system, semi- renovated upstairs event space and an outdoor wood-canopied deck for dining. The one thing that hasn't changed at all is The Schvitz's most beloved room: the "steam." "There were lessons to be learned here, and the steam room is where they were taught," recalls Alan Havis, 57, an attorney living in West Bloomfield and co-partner in the restoration project. His nostalgia for the days he spent there with his own father led him to join owner Paddy Lynch in the project, and he envisions his role expanding as the business grows. Growing up in Southfield, Alan attended Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State Law School) in the early '80s and would steam on Thursday nights with his father and great-uncle, who was an Orthodox Jew. The Schvitz never kept a strictly kosher kitchen, so they would bring his great-uncle boiled pota- toes, whitefish herring, tomatoes, onions and peppers to eat while the others enjoyed steaks and burgers prepared fresh by "Toots," cook and general manager Eugene Johnson, who lived in and ran The Schvitz for more than 50 years before his passing in 1987. It was also the many hours of relaxation in the steam that brought Paddy Lynch, owner and lead partner in the restoration project, to catalyze such an unusual building resurrection. Lynch, 33, a funeral director with Lynch & Sons, bought the building and two adjoining lots for $160,000 in March 2017, six years after completing most of an impressive restoration on a home he pur- chased in the North End's historic Arden Park section. "Not too long after discovering The Schvitz, I began going through an especially difficult time in my life: spiritually, emo- Multigenerational trio works to restore a Detroit bathhouse to its former glory. Puttin' On The Schvitz JUSTIN WEDES SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS ABOVE: Alan Havis, one of The Schvitz co-owners, shows the rocks that pro- duce steam at The Schvitz. He holds a bundle of oak leaves traditionally used to hit bathers to stimulate circulation. RIGHT: This historic photo shows the outside of the Oakland Baths. o n t h e c o v e r jews d in the PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MELTZER FAMILY PHOTOS BY JERRY ZOLYNSKY continued on page 12