Michigan Theater (Detroit)

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The lobby of the Michigan Theater as it appeared in 1927, left and as it appears now, right.

The Michigan Theater is a movie theater in Detroit, Michigan of the United States of America. It was built in August 1926 by the architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp for Detroit philanthropist and movie theater owner John H. Kunsky. With a seating capacity of 4000, the concert hall/movie house was one of the largest in Michigan. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the theater changed ownership several times. It was subsequently used for various events: in the 1960s a closed-circuit television provided views of Red Wings ice hockey games for those who could not attend the actual event in nearby Olympia Stadium, and in the 1970s the theater was a nightclub and concert venue for rock bands.

After this period of closures and re-openings, the Michigan Theater was permanently closed and partially demolished in 1976. Due to problems with the structural integrity of adjoining office building, the main hall and lobby were gutted and converted into a parking structure. Cars, Detroit's primary industrial product, now fill the once-bustling theater, and the derelict remains have, for many historians, become a symbol of the decline of Detroit. Ironically, the Michigan Theater is built on the site of the small garage where Henry Ford built his first automobile (the garage was transported brick-by-brick to The Henry Ford Museum in nearby Dearborn).

The Michigan is featured in two films. In 8 Mile, the theater was used as the parking garage where the crew rapped at before entering the Chin Tiki A scene of The Island was shot there, as a part of a future Los Angeles.

[edit] References

• Hauser, Michael and Marianne Weldon (2006). Downtown Detroit's Movie Palaces (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4102-8. 
• Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. 
• Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4. 

[edit] "Preserve Me A Seat" documentary

Preserve Me A Seat is an independent film produced by Jim Fields about the struggle to preserve the disappearing historical theaters of America. The Michigan Theater, along with other historical but endangered theaters (most prominently the late Indian Hills Theater in Omaha, Nebraska, which was demolished to make a parking lot) were documented in the film. Filmmakers site: apartment101films.com

[edit] External links

• Detroit's fabulous Michigan Theater (Detroit News)
• DetroitYes.com tour of the Michigan Theater
• BuildingsOfDetroit.COM - Michigan Theater
• Michigan Theatre parking garage conversion

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