44045 Five Mile Rd. Built in 1948. St. Johns Provincial Catholic Seminary. This was built as the major seminary in Michigan by the bishops of the state under the leadership of Edward Cardinal Mooney. At the time, there were not enough seminaries in the Midwest and the bishops decided to establish a major seminary, a designation that reflects the institution conferring graduate degrees.
St. John’s provided graduate-level theological education and spiritual formation for diocesan priesthood candidates from the dioceses of Detroit, Lansing, Grand Rapids, Saginaw, Gaylord, Kalamazoo, and Marquette.
The Archdiocese of Detroit owns the buildings and land at St. John’s (approximately 200 acres) except for the hotel building, which is owned by a private investor.
Under a contract with the Archdiocese, the Troy, Michigan-based Hotel Investment Services Inc. (HIS) operates the hotel, conference center, and golf course. Carl’s Golfland has operated the driving range and golf store since 2000.
No archdiocesan funds were used to construct The Inn at St. John’s, which is connected to the northeast side of the St. John’s Conference Center and opened in January 2006 as part of the St. John’s Golf & Conference Center. The conference center is open to the public for events such as Weddings, Conferences, Banquets, etc.
Each year the Inn at St. John’s also attracts national and international visitors for the Concourse d’Elegance of America
This is now the site of the Concourse d’Elegance classic car show the last Sunday in July. This show, often called the 3rd most prestigious in the USA, was located at the Meadowbrook Estate in Oakland county for many years and was moved to St Johns in 2012. The new location is a nearly perfect setting for the car show, with lots of manicured lawn on the greens of the golf course for the cars and attendees to wander. Its really worth the $25 fee to attend . You will see cars going back to the very beginning of autos up to the most current race cars. Mostly, there are many perfectly preserved or restored cars and the proud owners are usually nearby to chat with. All cars must run and drive past the “review” stand where you can sit in the shade and hear them run as well as be entertained by the knowledgeable experts who narrate the review. A few cars are valued at well over one million dollars, but often “barn finds” are shown for their originality. All must run, however !