United Artists Theatre

**Detroit500** · July-17-09, 03:55 PM

Was the Adams structurally unsound? What was Illitch's logic with destroying that property and doing "something" to this one? I would love to see this district be filled with more performances, making Detroit almost a "little Broadway" with plenty of first-run or replica performances similar to Chicago.

Lincoln Center, in many respects is a disaster. The acoustics and artistic venues that we have here in Detroit are absolutely remarkable, something I didn't realize until I spent a bit of time on the east coast.

**Gistok** · July-17-09, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by Detroit500

Was the Adams structurally unsound? What was Illitch's logic with destroying that property and doing "something" to this one? I would love to see this district be filled with more performances, making Detroit almost a "little Broadway" with plenty of first-run or replica performances similar to Chicago.

Lincoln Center, in many respects is a disaster. The acoustics and artistic venues that we have here in Detroit are absolutely remarkable, something I didn't realize until I spent a bit of time on the east coast.

Detroit500, I wish I knew what Ilitch was thinking right now... The 1700 seat Adams was always the "ugly duckling" of the Grand Circus Park theatres. It was built in 1917 [[well before movie palaces were in full bloom), built in a very tame style as a legitimate theatre, and became a movie house within a year of its' opening. Much of anything resembling ornate plasterwork was removed decades ago during several unsympathetic remodelings. So it was more likely a question of "is it worth the bother", rather than "can it be restored"?

Is the Adams the sacraficial lamb so that the United Artists can one day be reborn? I don't know... only the Ilitch family knows the answer to that.

But there is one member of that family... Atanis Ilitch, who was sidetracked for many years with a serious form of cancer, who is now back at the family company. He's known as "the creative Ilitch"... and may be the the inspiration behind doing something with the United Artists. And Atanis Ilitch is a close friend of Quicken owner Dan Gilbert.

But we really don't yet know what the future holds...

**Paris_of_the_Midwest** · July-17-09, 04:18 PM

I don't get how work is being done without any city permit and any accountability. This seems very fishy. Usually politicians jump to announce new buildings years before ground is broken and even when the plans are very tentative... what's going on here?

Citizens have a right not to be kept in the dark. Next time someone has a chance they should pose a question about the United Artists to a public official and demand a response/information.

**Gistok** · July-17-09, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by Paris_of_the_Midwest

I don't get how work is being done without any city permit and any accountability. This seems very fishy. Usually politicians jump to announce new buildings years before ground is broken and even when the plans are very tentative... what's going on here?

Citizens have a right not to be kept in the dark. Next time someone has a chance they should pose a question about the United Artists to a public official and demand a response/information.

Paris... the only reason that comes to mind is that the Ilitch's don't want to further drive up the price of land parcels that they don't yet own in west Foxtown [[for a possible arena and U/A renovations)... and he has to have the city's OK on that possible scenario. No other reason sounds plausible. Can't be a secret for setting it up for demolition... the Ilitch's haven't made demolitions a secret, have they?

And on the other question... other not mentioned GCP theatres include the Gem and Century.

**Paris_of_the_Midwest** · July-17-09, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Paris... the only reason that comes to mind is that the Ilitch's don't want to further drive up the price of land parcels that they don't yet own in west Foxtown [[for a possible arena and U/A renovations)... and he has to have the city's OK on that possible scenario. No other reason sounds plausible. Can't be a secret for setting it up for demolition... the Ilitch's haven't made demolitions a secret, have they?

And on the other question... other not mentioned GCP theatres include the Gem and Century.

Yes but how can the Illitchs do all this work without any sort of city permit and without any accountability to the public? This is a public place in the downtown of a major city. If the DEGC is alerted to all of this activity and the lack of permits they will have to act or at least acknowledge what's going on won't they? What can a private citizen do about this situation?

**Gistok** · July-17-09, 04:32 PM

Also, I wanted to post 2 very old images of the exterior of the United Artists Theatre/Building.

Back in the mid 20th century the UA had a hack remodeling job very similar to the Lafayette Building, with several stories of dark gray slate attached to the first 3 floors of the building exterior. The 1st picture shows the old building facade with the original Romanesque arches and columns. Do they exist underneath the current facade [[as is the case with the Lafayette Building), or was the old facade first stripped away. I doubt they're still there, but I really don't know....

The 2nd picture shows the United Artists from the northeast back around 1930. This pic shows that the north wall of the UA Building originally as a blank wall. Apparently it was anticipated that a tall building could be built on that small lot between the UA and the Tuller Hotel. But no building was ever built there. And eventually windows were inserted into the north wall of the UA Building. This explains why the architecture of that side of the building doesn't match the other sides.

**wolverine** · July-17-09, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by Detroit500

Was the Adams structurally unsound? What was Illitch's logic with destroying that property and doing "something" to this one? I would love to see this district be filled with more performances, making Detroit almost a "little Broadway" with plenty of first-run or replica performances similar to Chicago.

Lincoln Center, in many respects is a disaster. The acoustics and artistic venues that we have here in Detroit are absolutely remarkable, something I didn't realize until I spent a bit of time on the east coast.

There was nothing wrong structurally with the Adams Theatre, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to save it from a preservation standpoint. There was nothing left about it of any historical value. It was essentially a brick and steel shed prior to its demolition....say for a very small amount of detailing.