The Fillmore Detroit

The Fillmore Detroit

Deftones played the Fillmore Detroit on the eve of its official rebranding
Former names	State Theatre Palms Theatre
Location	2115 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates	42°20′15″N 83°3′7″W
Type	Concert venue
Capacity	2,888
Construction
Opened	1925
Renovated	2007
Website
thefillmoredetroit.com
Francis Palms Building & State Theater
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	2111 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates	42°20′16″N 83°3′7″W
Built	1925
Architect	C. Howard Crane
Architectural style	Beaux Arts
NRHP reference No.	82000551
Added to NRHP	November 24, 1982

The Fillmore Detroit is a multi-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 near the larger Fox Theatre in the Detroit Theatre District along Woodward Avenue across from Comerica Park and Grand Circus Park. The Fillmore Detroit features a theatre with a Grand Lobby and three 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. The Detroit Music Awards are held annually at The Fillmore Detroit in April. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

History

The site of the Fillmore was previously home to an earlier theatre known as the Central and then, from 1913-1923, as the Grand Circus Theatre. This theatre was demolished to make way for the 1925 construction of what was then called the Francis Palms Building. The building was named for Francis Palms, a Belgian native who moved to Detroit in 1832 and made his fortune in real estate development. Palms' descendants continued in real estate as the Palms Realty Company, and constructed this building at a time when Detroit's population and the popularity of movies was booming.

The Fillmore Detroit was constructed in 1925 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.

The theatre was originally called the State Theatre when it opened in 1925. It was renamed the Palms-State Theatre in 1937. In 1949 it was renamed the Palms Theatre. In 1982 it was renamed back to the State Theatre. And in 2007 (as a national re-branding) it was renamed, this time the Fillmore Theatre.

The building is twelve stories high and covered with terra cotta, with an eight-story auditorium extending to the rear of the building. The office tower has elaborate Beaux-Arts Italian Renaissance decorations on all but the ground floor, which was modernized in about 1960.

Current use

The Fillmore Detroit is a concert venue for popular music acts as well as hosting many special events . The venues current seating capacity (with standing room only on the main floor) is 2,888. The mezzanine and balcony levels still contain their original theatre seating. Currently the main floor has a standing room capacity of 1530, and the mezzanine and balcony have a combined seating for 1,358.

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 the 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.

Live Nation has continued the gradual restoration of the Italian Renaissance theatre. The outer lobby and rotunda lobby were restored in the 1990s. The grand foyer columns and auditorium proscenium arch were more recent restorations. Live Nation has restored the barrel vaulted ceiling of the three story grand foyer, and has plans to work on the upper reaches of the auditorium in increments.

American Idol

In 2015, American Idol organized one session in Detroit. The February 25th episode featured the Top 12 Guys and the February 26th episode featured the Top 12 Girls from Season 14.

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  The Palms Building houses the Fillmore Detroit theatre
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  The marquee extends over Woodward Avenue
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  The Fillmore Detroit was known for most of its history as the State Theatre

Further reading

• Hauser, Michael; Marianne Weldon (2006). Detroit's Downtown Movie Palaces (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4102-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Hill, Eric J.; John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
• Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.

External links

• The Fillmore Detroit website
• Cinema Treasures website of old movie houses profiles The State Theatre.
• Fillmore Detroit Myspace Page