$7.5-million Donation to Launch jazz hub at Wayne State

[1953]

I was a bit disappointed when I realized that her generous gift is just going to retrofit Hillberry instead of build something new, but kudos to her anyway.

1953

[garyalex]

I was a bit disappointed when I realized that her generous gift is just going to retrofit Hillberry instead of build something new, but kudos to her anyway.

1953

I know what you mean but some of those old halls have great acoustics. Hopefully that's the case here. In any case this is great news.

[Gistok]

I was a bit disappointed when I realized that her generous gift is just going to retrofit Hillberry instead of build something new, but kudos to her anyway.

1953

Well your disappointment should be tempered by the fact that this is not a standalone building project. Although the Free Press article alluded to the "Hillberry Gateway Complex", they didn't go into any detail... This 2014 article is what they were talking about [[now with changes)....

http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/wa...nt?oid=2201355

The Hillberry [[as a former church) was becoming increasingly inadequate for WSU's Performing Arts School.

So what is planned is that most of the block is being turned into a performing arts development center with several venues. The Queen Anne style David Mackenzie house [[the whole reason that Preservation Detroit was founded in 1975)... will be relocated to another block, and there will be new performance spaces built for WSU's Maggie Allesse Department of Theatre & Dance, including a new 500 seat theatre.

Combining these two endeavors will really create a huge theatrical and music complex.... with a footprint 3 times the size of the Hillberry alone, and there will be plenty of "new building" as part of this complex.

Also exciting is that the Kresge Foundation is providing a generous grant to kickstart the expansion, and perhaps local philanthropist Maggie Allesse may cough up some additional coinage as well.

This is not just about retrofitting a century old building into a Jazz venue.... but so much more!

[downtownguy]

So what is planned is that most of the block is being turned into a performing arts development center with several venues. The Queen Anne style David Mackenzie house [[the whole reason that Preservation Detroit was founded in 1975)... will be relocated to another block, and there will be new performance spaces built for WSU's Maggie Allesse Department of Theatre & Dance, including a new 500 seat theatre.

Considering that WSU's record of historic preservation rivals that of the Ilitch Organization, should we be more than a little concerned that they will handle this well? Seeger seems a bit flippant about moving historic structures. Any guesses on where they will move it?

From the MT article--

There’s also the issue of the historic David Mackenzie house being located in the footprint of the new proposed theater, a building that has already escaped demolition once in the 1970s when student protesters saved it. The university is planning on moving the existing Mackenzie house to another location. “Actually, moving older homes is not challenging,” he [Matthew Seeger, professor and dean of Wayne State’s College of Fine, Performing & Communication Arts] says, noting that the much larger Gem Theatre was moved five blocks in 1997.