The Fillmore Detroit

Infobox Venue
name = The Fillmore Detroit


image_caption = Deftones played the Fillmore Detroit
on the eve of its official rebranding.
nickname =
location = 2115 Woodward Ave
Detroit, MI 48201
USA
coordinates =
type = Concert venue
genre =
broke_ground =
built =
opened = 1925
renovated = 2007
expanded =
closed =
demolished =
owner =
former_names = State Theatre
Palms Theatre
seating_type =
seating_capacity = 2,200
website = [http://www.livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/1377 The Fillmore Detroit]

The Fillmore Detroit is a mixed-use entertainment venue operated by Live Nation. Built in 1925, the Fillmore Detroit was known for most of its history as the State Theatre, and prior to that as the Palms Theatre. It is located beside the larger Fox Theatre in the Detroit Theatre District along Woodward Avenue across from Comerica Park and Grand Circus Park. It contains a theatre with a Grand Lobby and two levels of seating, as well as the State Bar & Grill which has a separate entrance and is open when the theatre is not hosting events. During many concerts the lower seating is removed for dancing.

The theater was designed as a movie house in the Renaissance Revival style of architecture. C. Howard Crane was the original architect, and the building is still called the Francis Palms Building. An earlier theatre called the Central that changed its name to the Grand Circus Theatre (1913-1924) once stood at 2115 Woodward Avenue and had been demolished. Then, what is now the The Fillmore Detroit (1925) arose on the 2115 Woodward site. The present Detroit Opera House (1922), originally known as the Capital at 1526 Broadway Street, had also used the name Grand Circus Theatre. The Fillmore Detroit is a busy concert venue for popular music acts, and rarely hosts larger, multiple-night, Broadway-style theatre shows like the Fox Theatre does. Its current seating capacity (with cabaret style terraced seating and a dance floor) is 2,200. If the original seats (in storage) were reinstalled and the original grade brought back to the theatre orchestra level, its seating would be 3,000. The mezzanine and balcony levels still contain their original theatre seating. Currently the main floor has seating for 700, and the mezzanine and balcony have a combined seating for 1,500.

All-age shows as well as adult-only concerts are held; during 21 years plus events, alcohol sales are offered at several theatre concessions including access to the State Bar & Grill.

In March 2007, Live Nation announced that the State Theatre would become the Fillmore Detroit as part of a multi-city extension of the Fillmore brand, similar to what has been done previously with their House of Blues franchise. Various changes were implemented to evoke the Fillmore's iconic venue in San Francisco, California. The official inaugural show under the Fillmore Detroit re-branding was Fergie's June 13, 2007 performance.

References

*Cite book | author=Hauser, Michael and Marianne Weldon| title= Downtown Detroit's Movie Palaces (Images of America)| year=2006 | publisher= Arcadia Publishing | id=ISBN 0-7385-4102-8
*Cite book | author=Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher | title= AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture| year=2002 | publisher= Wayne State University Press | id=ISBN 0-8143-3120-3
*Cite book | author=Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A.| title=Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition | year= 1980| publisher= Wayne State University Press| id = ISBN 0-8143-1651-4
*Cite book | author= Sharoff, Robert | title=American City: Detroit Architecture| publisher=Wayne State University Press| year=2005| id=ISBN 0-8143-3270-6

External links

* [http://www.livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/1377 The Fillmore Detroit]
*"Cinema Treasures" website of old movie houses profiles [http://cinematreasures.org/theater/241/ The State Theatre] .
* [http://www.myspace.com/fillmoredetroit Fillmore Detroit Myspace Page]