Cadillac Club becomes Riverview in Reo Town

Originally built as a car dealership in the hay day of Reo Town, the building had been home to a variety of business’s, bowling alley, nightclub and now a church! Reo Town had fell on hard times over the decades, but was now seeing a revitalization, and Riverview Church thought it would be the perfect location for their third venue.

“When we looked at the Lansing location and a lot of area where there was a lot of revitalization in the area, that had easy access to bus lines, the river trail, Reo Town was the perfect location,” Riverview Church Pastor Noel Heikkinen told WLNS. “In a place like REO Town, where they can walk there, live there, eat there, where they can worship there, it’s going to bring a lot more than a church to that city.”

“I will never forget the call we got to meet Riverview’s Project Manager down at the site on a Wednesday in November. As we walked around, he said they could not afford the bid they got for the project, as he told us what they wanted done, we were looking at a 20,000 square foot “gut job” just to get started. As we walked around and talked some more, we thought it would be a great opportunity for our company, and then we were told we would like you to start Saturday, and it needs to be finished by Easter!”

Chris Klingler CEO RC Contractors

The job presented many challenges, from a tight budget, hard and fast time line, to starting the job in the winter with only 1 of 7 roof top heating units working. One of the great things we found thought was a fully intact bowling alley floor that had been carpeted over. After refinishing the floor, a unique space was made called the “Cadillac Room”

Riverview Reo Town held its first service on Easter 2014, and is now a part of the revitalization of the Reo Town neighborhood.