Answering the question

    The Friends of the Grande are a grass roots group that for over ten years has advocated for the preservation and the restoration of Detroit's legendary Grande Ballroom. Recently our group has partnered with the property's owners, Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church to stabilize and assess the viability of the structure. This partnership now needs your help to pay for a structural engineer that will inspect the property and generate a Structural Engineering Report.  




Where does my money go?   

   Donations will go towards the engineer's fee and any  inspection costs to include construction/carpentry and equipment rentals. This report will be used to make a decision for launching a 501-(c)3 non-profit organization, aid in determining a business case and to calculate the extent of work necessary to stabilize the structure.  Assuming positive viability can be determined, any balance will go towards startup costs and a much larger construction fund raising campaign. Exercising this due diligence will benefit the church in pursuing grants and additional funding. As the building has a perforated roof, time is of the essence and we hope to have the inspection complete as soon as possible, weather permitting. Our latest potential inspection date is December 15. 

5 seconds to decide...



   All of this effort towards making this building usable again means a great deal to our beneficiary, Rev. LaMont Smith and Chapel Hill. The Friends (FOG) and the Church believe the Grande, as a revitalized keystone property, could potentially spur more development for the Grand River-Joy neighborhood. To help us towards our number, Margaret Saadi Kramer and Wayne Kramer (MC5 ) have graciously offered to match the first $1000 dollars in donations. This means that "early birds" will have their gift doubled! Would you please help us reach our goal?

Leo Early - Coordinator The Friends of the Grande
thegrandeballroom.com