The National

How many times have you walked or driven by it?  A solitary structure that stands defiantly as a reminder of what once was. 

photo credit: R.Saxon

Albert Kahn's' National Theater is the only surviving theater in what was Detroit's first entertainment district.  Designed in partnership with Ernest Wilby, it would be Kahn's only theater.  Today, it sits prominently at 118 Monroe Street slowly decaying.  Like an abandoned and rusting vintage car, it's not hard to imagine restoring what was once a magnificent entertainment venue.  But the relentless clock of Mother Nature is loudly ticking off the few remaining days for its rescue. 

The National Theater shortly after opening
Photo Credit (State Historic Preservation Office)

The National Theater light at night
Photo Credit (Manning Bros.)

The 800 seat theater opened on September 16, 1911, surrounded by the old Detroit Opera House, the Gayety, Temple, Columbia, Liberty and Family theaters.  Two 65 foot high towers, capped with gold domes, flank its symmetrical facade.  They contain staircases that give patrons access to the theater's balcony. Between the towers, one enters the theater through what was once a large stained glassed archway. A white terracotta skin from Detroit's Pewabic Pottery encases its north facade.   Stone carved eagles, rosettes, cupids and other details cover the facade that was lit up at night by hundreds of lights.

Main Entrance
Photo Credit

Ticket Booth and Entrance
Photo Credit

The theater opened as a live-act and vaudeville venue, but quickly changed to motion pictures after competition from the opening of The Madison in 1917. Because of its small size, it proved difficult to compete.  By the 1940s, the theater became Detroit's biggest and best Burlesque venue.  Its success continue into the 1960s (refer to this link for a video produced by Preservation Detroit). It wouldn't be until the 1970s that Burlesque's popularity began to fade.  For a brief period, under the new name The Palace, the theater featured adult films.  But by 1975, the theater was forced to closed. On February 13, 1975, the theater was added to the National Register of  Historic Places.

View from the Stage
Photo Credit

View of the stage from the upper balcony
Photo Credit

 Today, the theater is owned by the City of Detroit.  Dan Gilbert's Rock Ventures has proposed saving the theater's facade and preserving it as a gateway to its proposed mixed-use Monroe block redevelopment. Negotiations between the two continue, without the support of many of the City's preservationist groups.  These groups continue to hope for the theater's full restoration.

Bedrock’s current plan to save the facade and use it
as a gateway to a new mixed-use development.
Photo Credit (Robin Runyan)

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Austin, Dan, "National Theater", HistoricDetroit.org.

Runyan, Robin, "Can the National Theater be Saved?", Curbed Detroit, Sept. 29, 2017.

"National Theatre", Detroit-ish.com.

McGraw, Bill, "Raw Video: A Rare Visit Inside Detroit's Long-Abandoned National Theater", Deadline Detroit Lifestyle, Jan. 17, 2014.