Quo Vadis Marquees Removed. Full Demolition Next?

[Lowell]

Where are we going? The landmark Quo Vadis marquees were torn down earlier this month. Can full demolition of the Yamasaki designed theater be far behind? Let's take a look at this intriguing structure. Tour the Quo Vadis >

Do you have memories, recollections or thoughts of the Quo Vadis? Share them here?

[Wykkidx]

I remember going to the Quo Vadis when I was younger, it was a very nice theater. I couldn't wait till I hit 21 so I could go upstairs and order a drink. Never saw a theater that had a bar in it lol. I also remember the drive-in that use to be next door to the QV the Algiers, saw the man with two brains there. Sigh all the nice places are being torn down to make way for progression, Quo Vadis, Mai Kai, Terrace, Even the theaters at the Livonia mall were kinda a landmark from my youth. They all will be missed.

[Detroitnerd]

It's where I saw Return of the Jedi as a 13-year-old with my friends.

[brougham]

I saw many a great film there, too many to list here. There was always something cool about seeing a film up in one of the Penthouse theatres. You had to climb stairs and snake around these narrow corridors to get to your seats. But it was probably a nightmare from a safety standpoint. I can imagine in an emergency it would have been difficult to get out of there. Too bad it hasn't been rennovated and put to some other use.

[GREENTROIT]

Yeah, I remember it being very creepy inside when I was a kid. Now I consider it a giant reminder of Detroit's and Westland's shortcomings. It has been vacant for over 5 years now, and was pretty sad before that. It sits in the front of a giant sea of broken concrete. It isn't a building that quietly sits vacant, either. The giant marquees and vertical windows attract attention. It is one of many failing businesses in the immediate surrounding areas of the Westland Mall [[Sams Club, Denny's, Service Merchandise, Laser Quest, Michaels, countless restaurants, countless local stores).

Before we complain about supposedly architecturally important buildings being demolished, lets consider redevelopment. This Quo Vadis has no realistic chance of redevelopment. The area has proven it won't support business, and the structure isn't welcoming to any rational idea. For years I've heard whispers that it might become a night club, or restaurant, or any other idea. Those would just be wastes of money when business closes in a few years and guess what? The marquees would have been torn down anyway. Additionally, demolition isn't immenent as you make it seem. The city of Westland is placing the theater into its Nuisance Abatement program which forces owners into either cleaning up properties and bringing them to code, or tearing them down. Demo wouldn't happen for at least a year and the building would enter the Westland Land Bank before the city could acquire it anyway. [[http://www.journalgroup.com/Westland...d-be-torn-down)

Lowell, in your picture tour you write an anectode about a Sears driver calling Westland "Wasteland" [[completely unoriginal, by the way.) Well it is vacant and unsightly structures like the Quo Vadis that lead to such easy characterizations of the city. So while you complain about the loss of some marquees and imply impending doom for the theater, it directly contributes to a nickname that you have no problem poking fun at. So, it's either keep the empty building up for nostalgiac reasons and help facilitate the idea of Wasteland, or move on into the 21st century.

[detmich]

Where are you going, Quo Vadis?

[Detroitnerd]

Westland: The place to be.

Never could figure whether it meant it was a hot place or coming soon.

[Lorax]

Hey Green, what an empty, hopeless post. Your premises are also off, by a long shot.

If Bally's can reconstitute Yamasaki's Reynolds Metals Building in Southfield as a health club, LA Fitness, the firm presumably going to replace the QV with a fitness center, can reuse the QV for the same purpose.

Use the auditorium for the pool/saunas/hottubs/showers, etc. Use the lobby as the lobby for the fitness center, add a juice bar/restaurant, and relight the fireplace in winter. Put a coffee shop in too.

See, how hard was that?

What's amazing in this story is the lack of foresight on behalf of the City of Westland, the developers, and the audience at the city hall meeting who cheered the pending demolition.

It's the most architecturally significant building in Westland, and they want to replace it with a beige stucco box with molded styrofoam cornices.

The QV is just the kind of building being celebrated in other, more forward thinking parts of the country, a style enjoying a renaissance in books like Kelly Wearstler's Modern Glamour. The high-quality glass mosaic tile facade alone would cost 250,000 bucks to replace, and this is something I know a little something about.

Wasting any stand-out piece of architecture, especially when it's the only one you have is simply stupid.

Westland should mandate that the shell of the building be reused, and the lobby landmarked as well. It's done in every other city, why not Westland?

What's doubly maddening is that Detroit was once the most progressive design city in America up and through the 1960's, in autos, architecture and the like. Now it keeps showing itself to be behind the times design wise, and backward thinking, settling for just about any business that promises a few jobs and a bump in the tax base, no matter how much it really costs the cities in the long term.

Any bets on how many months the LA Fitness stays open once they've erased the QV and built their beige box? Guaranteed it will close soon after, as they have here in Florida.

Just another example of a corporation with too much credit, ready to waste it by wasting our built environment.

[Danny]

Qvo vadis, collisevm?

[diver1369]

Lorax, I welcome you to bring the wisdom of your insights to the next Westland council meeting and share with them your ideas about how the significance of the Quo Vadis should be recognized. They are scheduled on Monday evenings. Let me know if you have any interest in that.

http://ci.westland.mi.us/images/pdf/...tings_2009.pdf

[Lorax]

Lorax, I welcome you to bring the wisdom of your insights to the next Westland council meeting and share with them your ideas about how the significance of the Quo Vadis should be recognized. They are scheduled on Monday evenings. Let me know if you have any interest in that.

http://ci.westland.mi.us/images/pdf/...tings_2009.pdf

Thanks Diver,

If I am in town, and I may be one of those days, I will be happy to show up. I live in Miami, and travel back and forth each month, up to 2 weeks at a time. So we'll see.

I though the solutions were simple, and Westland needs to try and fill the other vacant big box retail store first, since they are certainly in better physical condition than the QV.

The QV needs to be protected by the city for future development, with conditions placed on it. Even the mayor would have the ability to issue an executive order halting any movement toward demolition.

I would suggest using the analogy of how close Orchestra Hall came to demolition, to be replaced by a McDonalds, and was saved in the 11th hour. And Orchestra Hall was in a helluva lot worse shape.

Elected officials are by and large devoid of any ability to see beyond the immediate- it's rare to have one be forward thinking and proactive. With Westland being no exception.

What can be the biggest asset is often seen as a liability, and is erased in favor of some promise of something bigger and better, which is rarely the case.

Dearborn made the same mistake by demolishing the Montgomery Ward store on Michigan Avenue. This building was an anchor, and an exceedinglly beautiful retail structure that could have been many uses, was well built, and in great condition. But this creeping myopia with regard to the built environment has rendered our streetscapes void of anything remotely attractive.

Funny how if European cities had this backward mindset, there wouldn't be any historic architecture left standing at all. For this kind of slash and burn action to be taking place in 2009, shows how we have regressed, and will have that much harder of a time connecting with our past.

[56packman]

The Quo Vadis is about the age that the great movie palaces were when they met the wrecking ball, the Hollywood in Detroit, the Roxy and Paramount in new york, the Paradise in Chicago, the Fox in San Francisco. Movie theaters are inviting targets for demolition and redevelopment because of their large footprint, easier to purchase in cities than buying up multiple commercail structures to assemble an equal sized footprint.
The Quo Vadis was somewhat unique in design, but it all comes down to commercial viability. The movie palaces came down because there were a lot of them and the land underneith them became more valuable than the operation of the theatre. The Roxy and Paramount were turning a profit at the end of their life, but an office building could make more.
In this economy I don't know what would go there.
I'm sure Gistok can extoll on this subject.

[Gistok]

The Quo Vadis is about the age that the great movie palaces were when they met the wrecking ball, the Hollywood in Detroit, the Roxy and Paramount in new york, the Paradise in Chicago, the Fox in San Francisco. Movie theaters are inviting targets for demolition and redevelopment because of their large footprint, easier to purchase in cities than buying up multiple commercail structures to assemble an equal sized footprint.
The Quo Vadis was somewhat unique in design, but it all comes down to commercial viability. The movie palaces came down because there were a lot of them and the land underneith them became more valuable than the operation of the theatre. The Roxy and Paramount were turning a profit at the end of their life, but an office building could make more.
In this economy I don't know what would go there.
I'm sure Gistok can extoll on this subject.

Preservation Wayne's former Executive Director Katherine Clarkson once said... "at some point in the future we're going to have to save at least one of those cookie cutter mall theatres and put it on a historic preservation list."

Well I guess maybe that time has come...

I have to say that as an eastsider, I've never even driven past the Quo Vadis, let alone been inside. And from the street it doesn't look like much. But upon Lowell's closer inspection, it does look like it was made of some quality materials.

I too am not a big fan of a lot of modern architecture. But I do understand that just because something isn't currently "in vogue"... that we shouldn't save some of the best of that era.

One case in point is the Marcel Breuer designed Grosse Pointe Library on Kercheval behind Grosse Pointe South High School. I've driven past it a hundred times, and never gave it a second glance... nor appreciated it as a work by a notable architect. It just didn't give me the "wow" factor that many older structures would give off. The Grosse Pointe Library folks were going to expand it and obliterate the Breuer exterior. It then became a "cause celebre"... and now will be saved as is [[with an expansion that is sensitive to the original structure).

Although Minoru Yamasaki is now somewhat more famous as the designer of the ill fated World Trade Center, his work is IMHO underappreciated. Some of his best work is in Detroit [[downtown and WSU) and Oakland County. I was unaware that he designed the Quo Vadis... due in great part to the fact that I am not familiar with his architectural portfolio.

It would be interesting to know how many theatres he designed [[was it just one like with Albert Kahn's National Theatre on Monroe?).

Based on the comments of a few here who have been there, it sounds like the inside was made of quality material and design. I guess if we have to save a multiplex theatre, it might as well be this one.

As 56packman pointed out... theatres took up a big footprint. And often they weren't easy candidates for adaptive reuse [[except performing arts venues). That explains why so many old [[and even new) theatres have been pounded to rubble.

Maybe someone who is interested in saving it should contact the National Trust, so they can put it on their 11 Most Endangered List. Although that's not always a guarantee... since 2 of the 3 buildings on that list that were eventually razed were right here in Detroit [[Madison-Lenox and Tiger Stadium).

But I think that someone interested in saving this theatre should do some research, and find out if Yamasaki designed other theatres.

As someone pointed out... this may be the most architecturally significant building in Westland... and maybe the city doesn't even know it?

[Catman]

I grew up in Westland. Lived there when it was Nankin Township, then Westland and moved on to college in 1979. Moved out of state in 1987. The last time I was in Westland was 2004 and it didn't look bad then. But after reading the previous posts, Westland has gone to hell in just 5 years? Other than the original parts of Westland Mall and the City Hall, QV does have distinctive design of a better long-gone time of a bright future. Of all of the non-descript buildings that surround QV, why demo QV? It's one of a kind!

With the way how Detroit and all the surrounding suburbs are going, why don't we just tear down all buildings built in the past 50 years and return to farmland? Revert back to townships and villages. We all had a great time the past 100 years riding the automotive wave. Let Detroit go back to making stoves, cigars, and whathaveyou and let the rest of the Metro area return to sleepy country.

"There once upon a time was a City named Westland. They were proud to have turned back the evil Livonians who wanted to take their land upon which a mighty mall was built. They prospered and reached 100,000 in population! But bad times came. One by one, stores and businesses closed. One day, in act of economic desperation, they killed their prized building, the Quo Vadis. The days turned cold and the skies darkened and from then on, Westland was no more. This marker marks the spot in the middle of this vast farm field where the QV, Wayne and Warren Roads, and the Westland Mall once stood. Dedicated on this day September 11, 2021."

[GREENTROIT]

"There once upon a time was a City named Westland. They were proud to have turned back the evil Livonians who wanted to take their land upon which a mighty mall was built. They prospered and reached 100,000 in population! But bad times came. One by one, stores and businesses closed. One day, in act of economic desperation, they killed their prized building, the Quo Vadis. The days turned cold and the skies darkened and from then on, Westland was no more. This marker marks the spot in the middle of this vast farm field where the QV, Wayne and Warren Roads, and the Westland Mall once stood. Dedicated on this day September 11, 2021."

Haha! Relax, though. It's hardly appropriate for someone who left in 1987 and hasn't seen the city in 5 years to write an obituary for it based on the possibility that the freaking Quo Vadis is demolished. Westland is doing fine. It's just like every other inner-ring suburb, nothing extraordinary but its not like its a war zone. Losing the Quo Vadis doesn't signal the end of Westland by any means, in fact I would much rather see them tear up the concrete on the site of the demo'd building and put in a large park with a connecting footbridge to the Mall parking lot. It would be better looking than the QV and actually usable. You should come back sometime soon, you wouldn't be shocked and dismayed with Westland it will probably look just about the same.

@ Danny... "The stores surrounding Westland Mall just sit empty for more the 10 years while the mall is still booming" is a terribly ignorant statement. Plenty of stores around the area are doing just fine. Target and Best Buy are always busy. Dick's Sporting Goods has somehow stayed open through the years. There are countless other smaller stores that have stayed open. Admittedly the area hasn't supported business extremely well, but it isn't like nothing can stay open.

[catch22]

I have lived within 5 miles of this building most of my life. I drive by it at least twice every day. I don't care who designed it, I've alway considered it cheap and gaudy looking. It's just a box that someone slapped that ugly extruded trim onto. It has none of the ambience that the older theaters do. If it disappears I will not miss it one bit.

It was an OK place to watch a movie in the main auditorium, but I hated the upstairs theaters.

[ziggyselbin]

I have lived within 5 miles of this building most of my life. I drive by it at least twice every day. I don't care who designed it, I've alway considered it cheap and gaudy looking. It's just a box that someone slapped that ugly extruded trim onto. It has none of the ambience that the older theaters do. If it disappears I will not miss it one bit.

It was an OK place to watch a movie in the main auditorium, but I hated the upstairs theaters.

Gee whiz 22 do you really want/need to exhibit such blatant ignorance? Wrong and strong as they say.

It is a source of almost endless irritation on this forum. That some of you can claim to be appreciative of architecture; as long as it is what you like.

The quo vadis is a great example of mid twentieth century architecture. And it is the work of the same man that gave us the mich con and the world trade center.But then mid century gets no respect here.
I would remind those of you myopic in your vision that much of earlier architecture styles [[example:victorian) were thought of the same way. So when you come across some great bldg that has been cobbled up don't despair because the same sentiment is being applied that is being applied by some here regarding the quo vadis.

[catch22]

Gee whiz 22 do you really want/need to exhibit such blatant ignorance? Wrong and strong as they say.

It is a source of almost endless irritation on this forum. That some of you can claim to be appreciative of architecture; as long as it is what you like.

The quo vadis is a great example of mid twentieth century architecture. And it is the work of the same man that gave us the mich con and the world trade center.But then mid century gets no respect here.
I would remind those of you myopic in your vision that much of earlier architecture styles [[example:victorian) were thought of the same way. So when you come across some great bldg that has been cobbled up don't despair because the same sentiment is being applied that is being applied by some here regarding the quo vadis.

All I said is that I consider this building ugly and always have. Yes, I know who designed it. The QV is just a typical movie theater box with some junk trim slapped on and a horrible second-floor layout. To me, it's no more "significant" than any one of the other hundreds of cookie-cutter-design movie theaters out there. But that's just my opinion.

[GREENTROIT]

@ Lorax...

The LA Fitness plan fell through, hence the moves toward the wrecking ball. So if you are serious about your fitness center/spa/juice bar/coffee shop, then I'm sure the Westland City Council would love to hear your plans. Until then, its just an empty ugly building in a crappy parking lot.

[Lorax]

@ Lorax...

The LA Fitness plan fell through, hence the moves toward the wrecking ball. So if you are serious about your fitness center/spa/juice bar/coffee shop, then I'm sure the Westland City Council would love to hear your plans. Until then, its just an empty ugly building in a crappy parking lot.

Well, that's a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

Your opinion that it's an ugly building, however, is not.

The QV certainly isn't any uglier than any other building in Westland.

[ASR89]

I live in Westland, and I know the Quo Vadis well. I must have drove past it 20 times or so this past month and I didn't even notice they tore down the marquees. With the Quo Vadis gone for a few years now, and the closure of the Showcase Cinema within the past year or 2, there is nowhere in Westland to go see a 1st run movie. I imagine the much newer Emagine took away a lot of business. That's where I go now. I'm going to be disappointed if they tear it down because it has been a part of the streetscape for as long as I've been alive. If it could find another use, that would be great. The last proposal I heard was fitness centre [[even though there's one across the street).

Like another poster said, that area has lost a lot of businesses within the past 10 years. When I was really young, that strip mall by the theatre used to have sidewalk sales each summer. Every store was occupied and it was busy. The mall and the strip mall with Target don't seem to be doing too bad. I hate seeing the vacant Best Buy, Sam's Club and Service Merchandise properties. Development-wise, they're building a Sonic where the Denny's used to be on the outskirts of the Best Buy lot.

[7andkelly]

I live in Westland, and I know the Quo Vadis well. I must have drove past it 20 times or so this past month and I didn't even notice they tore down the marquees.

Do you remember Sparky's, the Chuckie Cheese / Major Magic type place out in those parts? Took the family there a couple times back in the mid-90s. Fun place. Now there's one building I wouldn't want to see torn down.

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "I've alway considered it cheap and gaudy looking. It's just a box that someone slapped that ugly extruded trim onto. It has none of the ambience that the older theaters do. If it disappears I will not miss it one bit."

Agreed, "Tear that schitt down".

[ziggyselbin]

the same mindset that gave us eugenics ....would it not be easier just to say you don't like it but understand that it might have historic and architectural significance? Or would you all rather blather on about how unacknowledged you are?

[Lorax]

Quote: "I've alway considered it cheap and gaudy looking.

That's the pot calling the kettle.......