
St Luke Parochial School
8091 Ohio St, Detroit, MI 48204
-Abandoned 2013
|High Resolution Page|
Locate it!
History of St Luke Parochial School
St Luke School is a abandoned Parochial School on the west side of Detroit, built in 1928. The St Luke Church was built a year earlier, by 1936 the services of the church were moved into what would later be the school Gymnasium and Auditorium room, similar to the St David School. as church attendance reached over 800+ church worshipers. As St Luke continued to grow as a parish more and more, the school received a second floor addition in 1950, and the church moved services into a newly built church building in 1958. With heavy population decline in Detroit throughout the 60s and 70s, St Luke was to close in 1989 alongside over 30 other Catholic Churches in Detroit, under the order of the Archdiocese. However escaped closing, when it merged with the Epiphany Church located just over 1 mile to the northwest. St Luke as a parish lasted until 2011, and the school until 2005 between 1989 and 2005 the school was merged with St. Brigid located just under 3 miles to the north. In 2005 the St Luke school was closed due to low enrollment, At least two private schools used the St Luke school most recently being DCC Dar Al-Arqam School, a Islamic School. The St Luke school building has been unused since 2013, however the school remains one of the best shape schools in Detroit with minor vandalism, and little to no scrapping done to the school. This is likely due to the building still being maintained and upkeeped, just not in use. Most of the school desks, chairs, and other school furnishings have been removed. Boards on the school windows display dates as recent as early 2024. Since 2013 a fire has clearly swept the Gymnasium, however remains in great shape due to its concrete construction. The school is likely to be sold to a new owner with the excellent shape the building sports.

Recollection from the author
St Luke though mainly empty was one of the best examples i’ve seen of a preserved school. From little to no scrapping being found to fully intact rooms still able to be identified with ease. The hallways though empty, still had a character of its own. The Gymnasium a sight to behold, though fire damage had hit it hard, the beauty of the space still well preserved. Most interestingly a clock was still able to be found on the wall, which is extremely rare to find in the school’s, Detroit Public School counterpart.
One of the main entrances
1st floor hallway
1st floor hallway
Room 102
Concreate bags can be sitting on the ground by one of the main entrances, showing some work had been done to maintain the building in some degree
A first floor classroom, most classrooms are gutted and don't show signs of being scrapped
Another 1st floor classroom
Gymnasium shot 1 (The gymnasium is a Gym/Auditorium Combo, and hosts a stage inside the gym space, above the gym floor is were bleachers once would have been
Gymnasium shot 2
Gymnasium shot 3
Gymnasium shot 4
Gymnasium shot 5
Gymnasium shot 6
Gymnasium shot 7 (Note the still intact and present desks and chairs, when the school closed orginally the gym floor space was used as storage)
Gymnasium shot 8
Gymnasium shot 9
Gymnasium shot 10
Gymnasium shot 11
Gymnasium shot 12
Staircase nearby to the gym leading to 2nd floor
A very unique type of staircase design
That same staircase
staircase landing area below is the 1st floor above is the 2nd floor and the area above the camera is janitor space
2nd floor hallway note the fully intact clock
2nd floor hallway
Cafeteria space with a kitchen serving window present in the background on the 2nd floor
Kitchen serving window
Kitchen space
A science classroom with murals throughout
That same science classroom has a outline of a once chalkboard
A 2nd floor classroom hosts a chalkboard and is one of the only rooms in the school to have a board still intact and not removed by the owner
2nd floor classroom
2nd floor classroom
2nd floor classroom
Another 2nd floor classroom
2nd floor hallway from the other side of the hallway
2nd floor hallway longshot
Staircase on the other side of the school