Excerpt from March 9, 2008 Free Press article:
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Hymns and hallelujahs once rang throughout a church in downtown Mt. Clemens. Today, those sounds have been replaced by jazz, rock and roll and punk music flowing from the iPods and stereos of young people living in the old house of worship.

From outside appearances, the historic Gilbert Baptist Church at New and Pine still seems like somewhere parishioners will arrive in their Sunday best -- even though the building hasn't housed a church since 1940. The interior was completely renovated this winter into lofts.

Mary Steiger handpicked the loft in the former bell tower with ceilings 25 feet high.

"That's what I loved about it," said the 28-year-old who was the first resident in the lofts. "It looks just like the tower, only the bell is gone."

Ever since a fire ripped through the 100-year-old building in 1970, there's little else to show of the church's past.

But for tenants of the New Street Lofts, the present includes an appreciation of the exposed ductwork, arched windows and walls formed with uncovered rough-edged gray brick and wooden planks near modern stainless steel appliances and contemporary ceramic tiles.

Business owners in downtown Mt. Clemens have closely watched the three-month progress at the historic church, with high hopes that the architecture would be preserved and more residents would soon move in to frequent their establishments.

"There are so many times when they don't recycle the building," said Shelly Buckman, an employee at City Knits of Mt. Clemens on nearby Cherry Street. "At least they're reusing the cool architecture of the old building."