Music Hall and the Downtown Entertainment District are getting a facelift! The 500 yards of Madison Avenue stretching from the I-375 exit to Grand Circus Park are currently enjoying investment from multiple sources. The comprehensive scope of the work serves as recognition of the District’s extremely high visibility (40 million visitors per year), the importance of the performing arts to Detroit’s reinvigoration, and the powerful ability of the sector to build tourism and drive economic growth.
A Return To The Roaring 20s!
The 1920’s facade for the Music Hall canopy, which is supported in part by a $100,000 grant from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) and the National Endowment for the Arts – has begun and we couldn’t be more excited!
It will be a radical transformation back to the original look and will complement the original Art Deco design of the building while adding a major aesthetic improvement to Madison Avenue’s overall appearance.
Music Hall is a 100′ x 160′ rectangular, six-story Art Deco structure with walls of light-colored stone. Orange and tan brick were used as ornament and the building is trimmed with colorful mosaic tile inside and out. The facade is divided into several bays by wide stone pillars topped by theatrical terra cotta masks representing comedy and drama by Italian sculptor Corrado Parducci. The stunning interior, done in an elaborate Spanish Renaissance style, seats 1731 guests. The venue boasts perfect sight-lines, polycylindric walls for impeccable acoustics and not one seat more than 77 feet from the stage. It is a National Landmark Building and Detroit architectural gem.
CANOPY CONDITION AND PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Music Hall’s beautiful 1928 canopy, designed to complete and complement the building’s Art Deco façade, sadly fell victim to vandals during a low period in our city’s history. Its grand iron ore columns, Fleur de Lis cast iron lintels, one-of-a-kind lighting fixtures and supporting soffit grid were all stolen by scrappers in the late 6os. All that is left to this day is some of the infrastructure in the center over the front doors. In place of the Fleur-de-Lis ironwork is temporary fiber signage and temporary industrial lighting. Even so, the existing canopy infrastructure is no longer viable. It suffers from leaks, electrical breakdowns, potentially dangerous structural flaws, and aesthetics that can generously be described as ‘makeshift’. Our new canopy will recall the original, but using modern and cost-efficient materials. Energy-efficient directional LED lighting – more efficient, durable, versatile, and longer-lasting, will replace industrial sodium fixtures and will be installed and maintained for optimal thermal management. The decorative ‘iron’ columns will in fact be molded from polycarbonate resin and distressed to match the originals.
The project will use 100% recycled steel and re-captured historic porcelain tiles graciously donated by our neighbor, The Detroit Athletic Club as they undergo their own historic façade renovation. A new roof and supporting hangers will ensure that it is watertight and structurally safe for another 85 years of service. It provides a fitting portal as originally envisioned by Mr. Kapp and Mrs Dodge Wilson – one that supports and enhances the structure as well as the good work performed in it. It will also bring to the increasingly vibrant Cultural District,(an area of vital importance to the city’s identity), a visual delight that adds to the area’s renaissance.
Music Hall’s additional improvements include:
– New LED uplights, courtesy of David Ely and Energy Design Service Systems. These lights, called ‘Color Kinetics’, are the same ones that light the Empire State Building and bring the best of 21st c. technology to draw attention to the gorgeous Corrado Parducci masks that adorn our building.
– New travertine thresholds at our front entrance, replacing our vintage and somewhat age-damaged travertine.
– Banners on Madison Avenue’s new decorative lampposts, installed as part of $7.7MM streetscape renovation by the Michigan Department of Transportation. MDOT’s investment responds to the renewed interest in walkable cities that welcome pedestrians and encourage development. The project includes the narrowing of traffic lanes from 3 to 2 on each side of Madison, the addition of brick pavers at crosswalks, trees and landscape plantings, and decorative lampposts with space for banners.
WORK TEAM:
The core organizational group consists of Music Hall’s President & Artistic Director Vince Paul, Brian Mooney, President of Integrity Building Group (IBG) – the commercial and residential contracting firm that will carry out the project and whose offices are on our building’s fourth floor, and our Board’s Executive Committee.
Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts
Jazz Café
3 Fifty Terrace
350 Madison
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 887-8501
www.musichall.org
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