(Image: Bob Jagendorf, cc-3.0)
Urbex photography often depicts abandoned buildings in a creative new light. But in the case of Detroit’s Michigan Theater, little imagination is required on the part of the photographer. Long disused, the Michigan has been transformed into Detroit’s only Italian Renaissance-style parking garage. Built on the site of Henry Ford’s first automobile workshop, the building has ironically returned to the place from whence it came.
(Image: When it opened in 1926 at a cost of $5 million, the Michigan Theater was one of the largest in the state, seating over 4,000 people. Serving as a traditional theatre, concert hall and movie house, the venue boasted 10-foot crystal chandeliers, mezzanine seating for black tie guests only, and a magnificent gilded lobby, four stories high and covering 1,000 square feet. Suffice to say, the Michigan was a marvel of the entertainment world and symbol of Detroit’s manufacturing preeminence.
(Image: Jim Garrett, all rights reserved, reproduced with permission)
“It is not merely a theatre for Detroit,” owner John H. Kunsky told The Detroiter in August 1926. “It is a theatre for the whole world. It is designed to be the great showplace of the middle west.” The Detroit Free Press agreed, stating in their review: “It is beyond the dreams of loveliness; entering, you pass into another world.” But dwindling profits mirroring Detroit’s industrial decline ended the glorious heyday of the Michigan Theater.
(Image: dustindwyer, all rights reserved, reproduced with permission)
Used to screen Red Wings ice hockey games for those who could not attend the nearby stadium in the 1960s, and as a rock venue during the ’70s, the theatre was eventually abandoned and partially demolished in 1976. Heralding the end of an era, plans to completely demolish the Michigan fell through when studies determined it would destabilise the adjoining office building.
(Image: Jim Garrett, all rights reserved, reproduced with permission)
In an unprecedented move, the auditorium was gutted, a gaping hole smashed through the wall and three levels of car parking space installed. The former Michigan Theater is a bizarre sight today, with cars parked several storeys below the gilded ceiling, watched over by cherubs that flank the disused stage. Even the torn remains of the red velvet curtains hang amid peeling plaster, while several steps of a still-carpeted staircase can be seen rising to the abandoned balcony.
(Images: Jim Garrett, all rights reserved, reproduced with permission)
Weburbanist wrote that “one of the factors that forced the closure of the opulent theater was a lack of parking” and pointed out how this is one urban abandonment among Detroit’s enigmatic modern ruins that is not off limits to urban explorers – all they need is a car and valid parking ticket. As for Detroit’s other abandoned theatres and music halls, the Michigan joins a long and distinguished list that includes the Vanity Ballroom, the notorious Grande and many more.
