Detroit — As part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its financial situation, the Archdiocese of Detroit is “evaluating options to repurpose” the former Retreat Center at St. John’s in Plymouth Township.

In one of his series of Sharing the Light updates, posted Tuesday on the archdiocesan website, Archbishop Allen Vigneron reported on the situation regarding the former St. John’s Provincial Seminary complex at Five Mile and Sheldon roads.

While the property is not hurting the archdiocese’s finances — revenues from the hotel, golf course and conference center operations provide enough funds to maintain the complex — the question of how best to use the former retreat center going forward is still up for discussion.

Key points Revenues from a hotel, conference center and golf course on the property provide enough funds for the archdiocese to maintain the property and to provide a small subsidy to its wedding ministry. The chapel and reception rooms host about 200 weddings per year. The Archdiocese had invested $30 million into transforming the former seminary into a youth and family center, then a retreat center. The Archdiocese will continue to examine ways to best use the Retreat Center at St. John’s.

After the seminary closed in 1988, the property was put up for sale, but Cardinal Adam Maida later removed it from the market in order to continue using it for archdiocesan purposes.

It was first redeveloped as the St. John’s Center for Youth and Family, but it was later decided to change the focus of its mission, re-launching it as the Retreat Center at St. John’s.

“Unfortunately, the retreat center did not experience the volume of usage that was initially envisioned, and operations were suspended by the archdiocese in November 2009,” the archbishop said in his message (see page 6 for the full letter).

“St. John’s was redeveloped with good intentions in a better economy,” he added. “We are now evaluating options to repurpose the former retreat center to advance our mission of sharing Christ in and through the Church and to enhance the revenue earning capacity of operations at the complex.”

He reported that the archdiocese invested approximately $30 million in renovations and construction to repurpose the former seminary. In addition, $23.5 million was allocated to the retreat center and for several archdiocesan youth and family ministries based at St. John’s Center, including marriage preparation and marriage support programs.

Aside from its continuing support for St. John’s highly active Catholic wedding ministry, as well as the regular use of the chapel for Sunday evening Masses and other occasions, the archdiocese has not subsidized general operations at the site since late 2009.

As to other aspects of the complex, the golf course was expanded and its operations contracted to a private management firm that also operates the banquet and conference facilities onsite. Some of the land was leased to a private company that built and operates the Inn atSt. John’s, a luxury hotel.

All the land, and all the structures on the St. John’s property, except the hotel, are owned by the archdiocese.

The former St. John’s Provincial Seminary’s role as a theologate for the education and formation of priests was taken over by Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where a graduate school was added to what had been an undergraduate-level seminary.

More information about the history and status of the St. John’s property is available at www.aodonline.org/SharingTheLight/StJohns.