Preserving Wyandotte’s Theater
Wyandotte has enjoyed live performance and entertainment downtown for well over a century – but not today. In previous articles we spoke about the Marx/Rialto Theater that was on the site of the Stroh’s Ice Cream Parlor. This was joined by several other theaters downtown, which added to the vitality of our community by providing a place for people to gather together and creating a crowd that directly and indirectly benefited other businesses and created a sense of action and activity downtown.
When the Wyandotte Theater was constructed in 1938, it appeared to be wise to close other theaters downtown, demolish them, and replace them with commercial buildings – but that decision has since come to haunt us.
A second screen – “The Annex” – was added in 1942 and for several years ran the same movies that appeared on the “Main” screen; helping to accommodate overflow crowds. It was not until several years later that it occurred to the management that different movies could be played on each screen. A writer from the Detroit Free Press later remarked how the Wyandotte Theater one of the first 2-screen theaters in the country. As local residents remember things, often kids would go to see a movie on one screen, and then sneak in and see a second movie on another screen. So two traditions – the multi-plex and theater jumping very well may have originated in our little town.
Because the Wyandotte Theater replaced all other theaters downtown, and was itself subsequently closed, Wyandotte has been without a place for entertainment and live performance downtown for several years.
Today the community seems split between those who feel the theater should be preserved and those who wish to see it torn down. Those who want to see it torn down claim that the theater has been “gutted”, that restoration would be cost prohibitive, and that there are better uses for this prime real estate. While those who wish it to be preserved recognize that the theater is an important part of our heritage, and that a rehabilitated theater would strengthen Wyandotte’s reputation as a center of arts, and add much needed vitality to our downtown. These two views are not necessarily in opposition.
Historic preservation encompasses very different activities. Restoration is the “depiction of a building at a particular time in its history.” Both because of a renovation in the 1960s and additional work that was done in 2001 – a significant amount of the historic fabric inside the building has been removed. What this does not acknowledge, however, is that what was removed consists largely of materials from the 1960s renovation, with many of the original fixtures, furnishings, and furniture removed much earlier.
Adaptive reuse is another treatment that adapts buildings for new uses while retaining their historic features. What this usually means is that an interior may be reconfigured or even “gutted” while the exterior and important historic features of the building are retained (like the marquee, ticket booth, etc.).
So the argument that the theater has been “gutted” holds little weight, because through adaptive reuse this is actually encouraged, and historic preservation remains a real possibility.
Then there is the argument of cost. It appears that the DDA will allocate the $5,000 to determine whether preservation of the theater is viable. This is a positive step. What experts conducting this study will likely find is that through a combination of state and federal tax credits, grants, and other creative economic development mechanisms (such as tying the theater in with a new development to the north), that preservation is indeed possible.
Perhaps the greatest argument for preservation of the Wyandotte Theater might not be found in Wyandotte. Royal Oak’s Main Art Theatre is a multi-plex much like Wyandotte’s – except Royal Oak’s theater is OPEN. The theater has been joined by new condo developments, restaurants, and boutique shops, that have helped Royal Oak to realize the potential of the “Cool Cities” concept that Governor Granholm introduced over two years ago.
Wyandotte would be well served to look to Royal Oak for an example of how to revitalize its downtown. Wyandotte simply will not be a cool city until it 1) takes better care of its historic buildings, 2) discovers a way to provide live entertainment downtown, and 3) encourages construction of lofts and condos like Royal Oak has done that creates a residential population downtown that supports lively restaurants, shopping, and a cultural scene.
As published in the Downriver Review.