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The Schvitz, a classic bathhouse at 8295 Oakland Avenue in Detroit that opened in 1930, is holding an open house Sunday from 1-5 p.m. to show its renovations.
Alan Havis, Paddy Lynch and Jessie Nigl are partners who recently took over the business, which Bridge Magazine had described as "a dilapidated, notorious and history-rich steam bath and club in the city’s North End neighborhood." During Prohibition early last century, it was a hangout for Jewish liquor smugglers in the Purple Gang.
Schvitz is Yiddish for sweat.
Nancy Derringer writes at Bridge:
"What Nigl, Lynch and Havis want to build in its place is a hybrid Schvitz and spa, open to men some days, women on others, with co-ed days – swimsuits required, no sex tolerated – in between. On weekends, it’ll be available for private events.
Havis hopes to rekindle the tradition of fathers bringing their sons and more family-friendly activities. A Sunday ladies’ brunch potluck was attracting good business before the Schvitz changed hands, so the partners hope there’s a female customer base ready for communal sweating, too.
The owners plan to build a separate dry-heat sauna, offer conventional spa treatments – massage and barbering for men, massage and skin treatments for women – and eventually reopen the kitchen. The unsavory history will be part of the allure.
"This was a wild place, and we embrace that," said Havis. “The sex, drugs, gambling, Purple Gang – we embrace it, but call it folklore. We’re about therapy, not sexuality."
Havis, who has been going to the Schvitz since 1981, when he was attending law school downtown and began meeting his father and great-uncle there on Thursday nights, tells Deadline Detroit more renovations are planned.
The partners want the surrounding community to feel welcome. In that spirit, Havis attended a service last Sunday at the church across the street for the first time.
