Parish St. Michael's Community Center - 209 S Peabody Ave
This brick, two-story building is owned by St. Michael’s Parish. It was originally constructed as a bathhouse in the days when many homes lacked modern plumbing. When those days vanished, St. Michael’s Parish bought the property and converted the building into an orphanage for young Catholics in need. It served in this capacity for two decades, until pressure from the State Department of Social Services closed the orphanage in the early 1950s; by then only a handful of children were still at the facility, most of the others transferred to state-run institutions and dispersed into the foster home care system.
After relinquishing its orphanage duties, the parish converted the building to a much-needed parish activity center and classrooms for religious education. The parish often rents out the large hall and industrial capacity kitchen to civic groups, conducts bingo fundraisers, pancake breakfasts, and the parish-chartered Boy Scout Troop 729 uses the facilities for large pack meetings.
In the basement, behind the old, massive, disused bathhouse boiler system, exists a secret door hidden behind aged wooden paneling. The secret door opens to a concrete tunnel that connects with nearby St. Michael’s rectory. At the mid-point in the tunnel is a small room of bare concrete. The tunnel then continues on, leading to a similarly hidden door in the basement of the rectory.
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