Clubhouse of 112-year-old Grosse Pointe Equestrian Center to be demolished within weeks

Down the street from the shores of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Woods lies Grosse Pointe Equestrian, where ponies have roamed and youngsters have learned how to ride horseback for over a century.

But now, dressage and jumping are to take place against the backdrop of a bulldozer as construction teams work to tear down the decades-old and nonfunctional clubhouse.

General manager Gabe Hernandez said the clubhouse, which used to contain a restaurant and bar, had sat unused for at least a couple of years before the property came under new ownership in 2017. After a demolition permit was issued by the city of Grosse Pointe Woods in October, management finally decided to tear it down.

"Since (the clubhouse) was no longer in use, the equestrian focus that we have … is better implemented by the house not being there, and the space being used for more grass area and additional outdoor paddocks for the horses to be outside," said Hernandez.

The demolition of the clubhouse began on Wednesday and is expected to continue over the next couple of weeks before construction begins to remodel the vacant space.

Grosse Pointe Equestrian began as Grosse Pointe Hunt Club in 1911, a club originally dedicated to fox hunting that quickly grew intrigued in other equestrian activities. In response to their members' interest, Grosse Pointe Hunt Club expanded to include a full-service barn, stables, and a professional riding staff to teach recreational and competitive horseback riding and jumping.

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The club persisted like that until 1989, when $1.4 million went into expansions and renovations, refurbishing the tennis house and riding stables and adding a six-lane swimming pool and two tennis courts, turning the facility into a borderline country club.

However, in 2001, the Hunt Club was met with tragedy. A young man threw a lit firecracker into the club's 90-year-old barn in the middle of the night, igniting the hay into a smoky blaze, burning down the barn, and killing 19 of the 25 horses that were sleeping inside. But even with broken hearts, the Hunt Club didn't lose heart. Using donations from the community, the club built a new barn, along with new stables and a shower area for the horses.

After declining membership and a bout of bankruptcy in the decade and a half that followed, in Sept. 2017, the Grosse Pointe Hunt Club was sold to former members Gerald and Lynne Krueger. In line with their new vision for the club, the Kruegers renamed the club Grosse Pointe Equestrian Center, as it's called today, with a greater focus on its function as an equestrian facility as opposed to a social club.

Grosse Pointe Equestrian now operates as a boarding, training, and lesson facility, featuring a 50-stall barn, 26 paddocks, two indoor arenas, three outdoor arenas, and two full-size dressage arenas. With the help of 10 patient school horses, it offers lessons for beginners, experts, and intermediates returning to the saddle, as well as summer camps and equine therapy.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Grosse Pointe Equestrian's abandoned clubhouse undergoing demolition