North West Islamic Community Center Grand Opening

The North West Islamic Community Center grand opening celebration was July 7, at its new location, 3300 Plymouth Blvd in Plymouth. The Center is in part of the Post Office building.

According to a Center press release, the event will bring together residents of Plymouth and the surrounding cities, Muslim community leaders and interfaith groups.

There was food and fun for all who attended, including a tour of the facility.

Last August, the Plymouth City Council approved the new Islamic center after hearing from residents during a packed public meetings. The Council granted a conditional use permit for the religious activity for the Center.

The Center was purchased for $770,000 and remodeled from being the city’s former post office building in downtown Plymouth so it could be used as an educational, spiritual, and community center. The new building will accommodate the growing Muslim community. The Center is leasing out the front portion of the property to the post office.

You enter the Center from west or back side of the building as the post office remains in the front part. The front door for the Center faces Plymouth Blvd.

When you enter the Center immediately to your right is the large prayer room. The room can fit up to 300 people in 2,300 square feet of space. The carpet in the room was shipped in from Turkey.

As you go further down the hall the locked Post office doors are to your left and to your right are several conference rooms that will be used as future Sunday School and educational classrooms.

The Center and the Post Office employees share the restrooms and breakroom area. Back to the right are the large garage areas, which are no longer being used by the Post Office and are currently being renovated and painted to become multi-purpose rooms for the Center. The garage space is about 10,000 square feet.

The use for this space will be determined by what is most needed in the community.Further funds are needed to accomodate what is desired for the rest of the building's use.

The Center is a nonprofit organization established in 2009 by residents of Plymouth and the surrounding cities.

The organization spent about three years raising $250,000 for the buying the building and another $150,000 for construction work on it.

The Post Office did not move out of the space that is now the Center until December. The permit to use the prayer room is still needed and the hope is for the facility to ready for Ramadan in late July. During Ramadan the Center will be quite busy every day of the week, especially for evening prayer services. The perdiction is about 50 to 100 people there every night for these services.

Prior to the Center opening the nonprofit rented out space at property in Hamel.