ROSEVILLE, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Macomb County judge has dismissed a lawsuit aimed at stopping the sale of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Roseville, clearing what may be the final legal hurdle for a proposed Sheetz gas station project.
Watch Randy Wimbley's video report:
Circuit Court Judge Diane Druzinski tossed the lawsuit filed by Pastor Curtiss Ostosh of Harvest Time Christian Fellowship in Warren, who had been fighting to halt the sale and demolition of the church.
"Unfortunately, we lost round one, but the fight's not over. Round two is coming," Ostosh said.
The legal dispute centered on Ostosh's 2021 purchase agreement to buy Sacred Heart for $1.5 million. He sued after the Archdiocese of Detroit accepted Sheetz's offer to buy the church, tear it down, and build a gas station on the site.
Ostosh said he invested significant money in the property before the deal fell through.
"We put up $25,000, plus we put up another $75,000 in costs. We had the electric turned on here, the heat, and the gas turned on here. We had contractors come in to check the boilers, and electric, and HVAC systems," Ostosh said.
The church's owner says Ostosh's claim to the property ended when he failed to send the remaining funds to complete the purchase. But Ostosh said he wanted the owners to restore the property to its original state after vandals caused extensive damage.
"We were negotiating with the Archdiocese of Detroit and Mooney Real Estate, their real estate division, in terms of how we could work this out. It was never worked out. We were in active negotiations, and it all just fell apart," Ostosh said.
Community members remain divided on the church's fate. Some residents believe the historic building should be preserved.
"I don't think they need to tear down the church; they can do something else with it. There are too many homeless people walking the street who need something like this," John Hardyway said.
Others say it's time to move forward with redevelopment.
"It would take a lot of money to kind of revamp it to restore it to a good church or a good place that we can worship, so I would say move on," Charles Laster said.
Gary Wilczynski expressed mixed feelings about the gas station proposal: "I think it's time to demo this and do something. I don't see a gas station improves downtown."
Sheetz provided a statement saying: "We respect the court's decision on this matter and look forward to being part of the Roseville community in the future."
Ostosh plans to continue his legal fight.
"We're going to proceed to the court of appeals and appeal judge Druzinski's opinion because to us this is sacred ground," Ostosh said.
Ostosh has until December 30 to appeal the judge's decision.
—————————————
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
